Black Sea domination: Putin and Erdogan tensions rise over control of seas

Turkey has been playing the part of the middleman in the Ukraine conflict, helping keep Russian trade lines open while also backing Ukraine’s Nato membership.

However, cracks are beginning to appear in the Russia-Turkey alliance after Ankara apparently broke a prisoner deal with Putin to return five high-profile commanders to Ukraine in July.

The situation was also made worse by Russia’s grain embargo combined with the harassment of civilian vessels in international waters.

Last month, Russian troops went as far as to fire warning shots and boarded a Turkish-owned cargo ship.

The Şükrü Okan was boarded by Russian troops who forced the crew to kneel at gunpoint.

“All vessels sailing in the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be regarded as potential carriers of military cargo,” Russia’s Ministry of Defence warned.

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The latest tensions come just ahead of a landmark talks between Putin and Erdogan.

Negotiations which could happen as early as Monday outside the Black Sea resort city of Sochi where Erdogan will attempt to brign Putin back to the negotiating table over the country’s grain deal.

The Kremlin withdrew from the UN-brokered deal which aimed to bring down prices on agricultural products and reinstate the flow of marine traffic across the Black Sea.

“For the Russians it’s a question of might equals right,” Sergey Radchenko, professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies told Politico.

“They have the capability to interfere with Ukrainian shipping, and they’re doing this.

“They want to think they are in a position to effectively impose a naval blockade on Ukraine and they may actually succeed.”

Radchenko added: “The Black Sea has been an object of Russian ambition going back centuries and, during the course of its imperial expansion, it’s had no end of clashes with the Ottoman Empire.

“So much so there are nationalist fantasies about it being a ‘Russian lake’ still.”

A former Turkish navy rear admiral said Turkey has a unique relationship with Russia but it lies in a “delicate position”.

“Russia is the second-largest economic partner of Turkey,” the ex-rear admiral Cihat Yayci said, “Turkey is the third-largest economic partner of Russia.”

“They can harm each other, so that’s why they can form an equal and balanced relationship.

“For Russia, friendly relations mean you should accept being a slave.

“Turkey is a unique example, the only one in the world right now, where a country has succeeded in having equal relations with Moscow.

“But it’s a very delicate position and if Russia catches an opportunity they’ll force us to be slaves.”