Turkey on January 2 announced that it would not permit two minehunter ships donated to Ukraine by the UK to transit its Bosporus and Dardanelles straits en route to the Black Sea as the passage of the vessels would violate an international pact on wartime use of the waters.

Without referring to the likely difficulty the pact would pose, Britain said in December that it would transfer two Royal Navy minehunter ships to the Ukrainian Navy in an effort at strengthening Ukraine's sea operations in its war with Russia.

Nato member Turkey, however, has informed allies that the vessels will not be allowed to pass along the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits as long as the war in Ukraine continues, the Turkish presidency's communications directorate said.

"Our pertinent allies have been duly apprised that the mine-hunting ships donated to Ukraine by the United Kingdom will not be allowed to pass through the Turkish Straits to the Black Sea as long as the war continues," it said in a statement posted on social media platform X.

When Russia commenced its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Turkey triggered the 1936 Montreux Convention. This blocks the passage of military ships of the warring parties.

The pact exempts ships returning to home bases, but neither Russia nor Ukraine has expressed an intention to pass their warships through the Turkish straits to the Black Sea since the conflict started, Reuters noted.

The Montreux Convention states that warships of non-belligerent parties can transit the straits at a time of war. But it adds that Ankara has the final say on the passage of all warships, if Turkey regards itself as beig in danger of being drawn into a conflict.

Turkey has deployed Montreux impartially and meticulously to prevent escalation in the Black Sea, the presidency added.

Since the war in Ukraine ignited, Ankara has sought to maintain amicable ties with both Kyiv and Moscow, arguing that in doing so it can preserve its status as a potential mediator that would be trusted by both Ukraine and Russia in the event of peace negotiations.

Nevertheless, Turkey has increasingly come under fire from the West for not cracking down on trade in the shadows running through Turkish territory that enables Moscow to source “dual-use” goods in sanctions-breaking business that helps the Kremlin to supply its war machine.

Turkey’s parliament, meanwhile, is yet to approve Sweden’s bid for Nato membership, with the Erdogan administration pushing for various concessions from major powers in the defence alliance, such as a green light from the US to acquire F-16 fighter jets. The US Congress blocks major defence sales to Turkey citing various disagreements in areas including foreign policy and human rights.

In another move to secure the upgrading of its aging fighter jet fleet, partly to keep pace with progress made by regional rival Greece, Turkey has asked the US for permission to co-produce GE Aerospace engines used in F-16 jets, aiming to use them in building its own domestically produced fighter plane, Bloomberg reported on December 28.

If permission is forthcoming, GE’s F110 engines would be relied upon in the initial phase of the TAI Kaan, an all-weather fighter plane scheduled to make its maiden test flight this month, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the news agency. The fifth-generation aircraft is under development by Turkish Aerospace Industries, which is working with the UK’s BAE Systems.

Turkey reportedly sees Kaan planes utilising two F110 engines until the country has the knowhow to develop its own version.