Turkey Announces Rights of Russian Ships to Pass Through the Straits

Turkey can close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles to the passage of Russian military ships, but the Russian side will have the right to return its fleet to its bases, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated. This was reported by RIA Novosti.

Earlier, Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey, Vasyl Bondar, stated that Kyiv demands the closure of the straits for Russians.

“We have received an official inquiry from Ukraine. The provisions of the Montreux Convention are extremely clear and precise. In a war in which Turkey is not a party, measures can be taken against participating countries. Turkey can limit the passage of Russian military ships through the straits. However, the Montreux Convention also provides that ships of countries participating in the war can return to their bases, and this must be allowed,” said Cavusoglu, as quoted by TGRT Haber.

The Montreux Convention was adopted in 1936. It preserves the freedom of passage for commercial ships through the straits in both peacetime and wartime, but the regimes are different for everyone. At the same time, the document restricts the presence of non-Black Sea states' military ships in the Black Sea to three weeks. In emergencies, Turkey has the right to prohibit military passage through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits.