Turkey strictly follows Montreux Convention on Black Sea Straits, Erdogan claims

Strict compliance with the Montreux Convention that regulates navigation in the Black Sea Straits made it possible to avoid tensions in the Black Sea after the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday.

"Turkey strictly follows the Montreux Convention. By doing so, we have prevented tensions in the Black Sea basin," Erdogan said in his address to the national after the government meeting.

Previously, Turkish authorities have stated repeatedly that Turkey did not authorize a single military ship to pass to the Black Sea, utilizing its power under the Montreux Convention. In March last year, Turkey officially informed Russia and Ukraine that it will apply Article 19 of the Convention, which prohibits military ships from passing through the Black Sea Straits.
[TASS]
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*** On 28 February 2022, the Turkish government decided that Russia’s SPOP in Ukraine triggered the Article 19 of the Montreux Convention, treating Russia as a belligerent. However, one caveat is that Russian military vessels would be allowed to return their bases. While Turkey may be making a strategic interpretation of Article 19, legally this could be questioned. As an act of aggression against the territorial integrity of Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea would trigger Article 41 of the ARSIWA. In which case, the exception allowing a belligerent power to return to its naval base would not apply.
Nonetheless, understandably Turkey is once more engaging in a careful geostrategic calibration to avoid a dangerous naval confrontation between Russia and Turkey, a NATO member, in the Black Sea.
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#straits #dardanelles #gallipoli #territorialwaters #bosphorus #bosporus
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[https://youtu.be/g2pcWEwsn0c]