Turkey continues to monitor the implementation of articles of the Montreux Convention, including limiting the passage of warships through the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits.
"Maintaining the Montreux Convention is beneficial, and we continue to work toward that end. We will continue to implement Articles 19, 20, 21 of the Montreux Straits Convention as we have done until today," Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted by NTV as saying on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the day before that Ankara had warned all coastal and non-coastal countries not to let warships through the straits of Dardanelles and Bosporus. He did not specify when Ankara issued the warning.
Cavusoglu also said that Ankara considers the events in Ukraine as a war, which is why it intends to monitor the implementation of the Montreux Convention. As the minister explained earlier, Turkey may close the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits for the passage of warships, but even in this situation the Russian Federation will have the right to use them to return the fleet to its base. Moreover, if Turkey makes this decision, it will also apply to Ukraine.
On February 26, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky published a message on Twitter, in which he noted "the importance of banning the passage of Russian warships to the Black Sea". Many media took this message as a sign that Ankara had made a decision in this regard. Meanwhile, Cumhuriyet newspaper, citing a source in the Turkish government, reported that Ankara did not impose restrictions on the passage of Russian warships through the straits. The Russian embassy in Turkey also told TASS that it had not received any notifications about the closure of the straits for the passage of Russian warships.
Montreux Convention
The 1936 Montreux convention on the status of the straits enshrined Turkish sovereignty over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits. Subject to prior notification to the Turkish authorities, the Black Sea powers could pass their warships of any class through the straits in peacetime. For warships of non-Black Sea powers, there are significant restrictions on class and tonnage.
The text of the convention has clauses concerning wartime as well. Depending on whether Turkey is a party to the conflict, it has additional powers to regulate passage through the straits. In some circumstances, Ankara may forbid a country to use the straits if it believes it would violate security in the region or pose a threat to itself.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
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Based on materials from TASS