Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan pointed out the importance of preserving the Montreux Convention against the background of Ankara's plans to build the Istanbul Canal, the Kremlin press service reported this on Friday.
"In connection with Turkey's plans to build the Istanbul Canal, the Russian side stressed the importance of preserving the current regime of the Black Sea Straits in accordance with the provisions of the 1936 Montreux Convention in order to ensure regional stability and security," the statement reads.
The Kremlin press service noted that following the conversation between the leaders "fruitful Russian-Turkish dialogue is expected to continue in various formats".
The Convention adopted in 1936 at a conference in the city of Montreux (Switzerland) restored Turkish sovereignty over the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, preserving freedom of passage through the straits for merchant ships only. The regime of passage for warships of the Black Sea and non-Black Sea states differs. Thus, subject to prior notification to the authorities of Turkey, the Black Sea powers can conduct their warships of any class through the straits in peacetime. For warships of the non-Black Sea powers there are significant restrictions on the class and tonnage.
The Istanbul Canal west of the Bosphorus, a project first announced by Erdogan in 2011, is intended to be a new shipping artery connecting the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. In December 2019, Turkey's President issued an opinion that maritime traffic through the Istanbul Canal would not be subject to the Montreux Convention. On April 7 this year, Erdogan said that Turkey would not abandon the Istanbul Canal project under any circumstances.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS