ANKARA: Turkiye warned Moscow to avoid further escalations after a Turkish-owned cargo vessel was attacked by the Russian navy last weekend, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office said on Thursday.

“After the (Russian) intervention, our interlocutors in the Russian Federation were warned appropriately to avoid such attempts, which escalate tensions in the Black Sea,” the Turkish presidency said, breaking a days-long silence over the incident.

The Sukru Okan vessel was flying the flag of Palau when it was fired on by the Russian navy last Sunday.

Russian military personnel then boarded the ship to conduct an inspection, before letting it sail on toward the Ukrainian port of Izmail — the main export route for Ukrainian agricultural products.

The incident came during a spike in Black Sea region attacks that followed Russia’s decision to withdraw from a landmark Ukrainian grain deal last month.

Turkiye helped broker the UN-backed agreement, using its good relations with Moscow and Kyiv.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2023