ISTANBUL, April 25 (Xinhua) -- A Russian warship on Sunday passed through the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul to the Black Sea, the Ihlas news agency reported.
It took around two hours for the Russian warship, named "Novocherkassk," to complete its passage and sail to the Black Sea, Ihlas reported.
A Turkish coast guard vessel accompanied Novocherkassk during its passage on the 30-km-long Bosphorus Strait, one of the world's busiest waterways.
The warship entered the Marmara Sea from the Aegean Sea through the Dardanelles strait in the Canakkale province.
Two other Russian navy warships, Alexander Otrakovsky and Kondopoga, had also sailed to the Black Sea on April 17 through Turkey's straits.
The transit of naval warships through Turkey's Bosporus and Dardanelles straits is regulated by the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits, which was signed in 1936.
The convention, giving Turkey control over the two straits, stipulates that Turkey should guarantee the free passage of civilian vessels in peacetime and restrict the passage of naval ships not belonging to the Black Sea states. Enditem