Turkey warns countries not to pass warships through straits

Turkey has warned both Black Sea and non-Black Sea countries not to pass warships through its Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was reported as saying on Monday.

The 1936 Montreux Convention allows Turkey to limit naval transit of its straits during wartime but has a clause exempting ships returning to their registered base.

"We implemented what Montreux says, and we will do so from now on. There has been no request for passage through the straits until today," the state news agency Anadolu reported Cavusoglu as saying.

At least four Russian ships are currently waiting on Turkey's decision to cross from the Mediterranean.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists his country “won’t give up” on its relations with either Russia or Ukraine, but says it will implement an international convention that allows Turkey to shut down the straits at the entrance of the Black Sea to the warships of “belligerent countries.”

Ukraine has asked Turkey to implement the treaty and bar access to Russian warships.

Several Russian ships have already sailed through the straits to the Black Sea in the past weeks and it was not clear how much of an impact Turkey’s decision to close down the straits would have on the conflict.

The convention, also provides an exception for Black Sea vessels returning to port.

Turkey has criticised Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, but has also been trying to balance its close ties to Ukraine with its interests in not upsetting its fragile economic relationship with Russia.

(AP, Reuters)