Straits

Multiple Chinese planes and ships were detected around Taiwan Strait, simulating an attack on its main island, the defense Ministry said on Saturday adding that some of them have crossed the median line.

A 262-year-old mansion along the Bosphorus Strait of Istanbul will be sold via a court order.

The Saffet Pasha Mansion, one of the most magnificent waterside mansions located on the Asian side of the Turkish metropolis, will be for sale after an expert examination to be held at the end of May.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said Russia's military operation into Ukraine has turned into a war and Turkey will act accordingly over its straits in line with the Montreux Convention.

The Montreux Convention gives Turkey the right to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to warships during wartime, but Russia can still pass through the straits to return its fleet to its bases, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said.

Ukraine has demanded Turkey to close its straits for Russian vessels, Ukraine's Ambassador to Ankara Vasyl Bodnar said on Feb. 24, after Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine.

"We conveyed our official request to the Turkish side regarding the closure of the airspace, the Dardanelles [Strait] and Bosphorus [Strait] for Russian ships," he told reporters at a press conference.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has urged the Turkish government to preserve the Montreux Convention during the recent escalation between the West and Russia in Ukraine.

A Turkish prosecutor has drafted an indictment seeking up to 12 years in prison for each of the 103 retired admirals who issued a controversial statement in April to support the 1936 Montreux Convention.

The United States has canceled this week's planned deployment of two warships to the Black Sea, Turkish officials said on April 14, amid high tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Turkish diplomatic sources said the passage of the first ship through the Bosphorus due on Wednesday did not take place.

President Erdogan's ambitious plan to build a new canal in Istanbul next to the Bosporus is raising important concerns about the future of the 1936 convention governing the Turkish Straits.

A mega-project to build a canal through Istanbul, Turkey, will provide safe passage to 185 ships daily, compared to 118-125 ships through Bosphorus Strait, Turkey's transport minister said on Jan. 13.

"An estimated total of $1 billion per year will be collected from ships passing through Canal Istanbul," Cahit Turhan told Anadolu Agency.