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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
World
Umar Farooq

Giant chessboard: Istanbul ship-spotters monitor moves for war

Turkey polices the strait under the 1936 Montreux Convention that gives Ankara control over the Bosphorous and the Dardanelles to the southwest [File: Erdem Sahin/EPA-EFE]

Istanbul, Turkey – A light snow falls on Istanbul as Yoruk Isik boards a ferry and climbs upstairs, passing up the cosy enclosed lower deck where tourists and commuters sip tea for the open-air top of the small boat.

As the ferry embarks on its trip up the Bosphorus Strait, Isik pulls out a camera and begins snapping photos of a giant southbound cargo ship he recognises, one usually contracted to carry wheat purchased in Eastern Europe as humanitarian aid for Yemen.

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