Turkey’s silence explained after Russia opened fire on Turkish cargo ship

The absence of a diplomatic scandal between Russia and Turkey after the Russian military opened warning fire on a dry cargo ship owned by a company from the Islamic Republic, explained Hassan Unal, professor at the Turkish Maltepe University (Istanbul). According to him, Turkey’s restrained reaction is connected with the upcoming talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leader of the republic, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Recall that on July 12, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Russian patrol ship “Vasily Bykov” opened warning fire from automatic small arms at the dry cargo ship “Sukra Okan”. The ship was sailing under the flag of Palau and headed to the Ukrainian port of Izmail. The cargo ship’s crew, including its captain, ignored the demand of the Russian patrol ship to stop for inspection. As a result, “Vasily Bykov” was forced to start warning fire. After that, Russian servicemen boarded the dry cargo ship from a Ka-29 helicopter and inspected the ship. After the incident, no diplomatic scandal happened.

A professor at the Turkish University of Maltepe, commenting on the situation, noted that the Sukra Okan ship entered the Black Sea despite the “Russian blockade”, and Russia acted as it had warned earlier. “The silence of the Turkish government is understandable, since Turkey does not want to create unfavorable conditions under which it will not be possible to agree on the export of grains from Ukraine and Russia in the negotiations between the Turkish and Russian presidents, which are expected to take place in the near future,” Professor Unal explained.

On the eve of “MK” informedthat Putin’s visit to Turkey could take place as early as the end of this month. It is known that August 31 is considered as one of the possible dates.