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The Russian navy's large landing ship Caesar Kunikov sets sail in the Bosporus toward the Black Sea, in Istanbul on Nov. 25, 2015
Murad Sezer—Reuters

Turkey summoned the Russian ambassador Monday after images surfaced of a serviceman allegedly wielding a rocket launcher on the deck of a Russian naval ship as it passed through Istanbul over the weekend.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu described the incident as a “provocation” that “has to end,” reports German news service Deutsche Welle. Relations between Ankara and Moscow have deteriorated since Turkey downed a Russian warplane near the Turkey-Syria border on Nov. 24.

Moscow leveled economic sanctions against Ankara after the downing, which Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said could cost Turkey’s economy up to $9 billion.

The Bosporus Strait is the only passage Russia’s Black Sea fleet can use to access the world’s oceans.

[Deutsche Welle]

 

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Write to Mark Rivett-Carnac at mark.rivett-carnac@timeasia.com.

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