Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, “The Ukrainian ambassador to Ankara has requested that the Straits be closed to Russian warships. Is it possible according to Montreux?”
According to Fatih Çekirge of the “Hürriyet newspaper”, Çavuşoğlu said, “A Ukrainian official has been selected. The articles of Montreux Ambar are very clear” and gave the following answer:
“Ukraine has made a formal request. The provisions of the Montreux Treaty are very clear.”
“To date, Turkey has implemented the Montreux Treaty every time without hesitation. In other words, in a war in which Turkey is not a party, there are measures that can be taken regarding the countries that are parties to the war. Turkey can stop warships from crossing the Straits.
But there’s also something in the Montreux Convention. If there is a request here for the ships of the war-torn countries to return to their bases, then it must be allowed. Our experts are studying whether there’s a state of war. If we accept the state of war legally, this process will begin. Second, if we accept the state of war, we will ban the passage of warships in the context of Montreux. But even if we forbid it, the Russians have that right. When the contract was being made, Russia put in its own clauses. 19th, 20th and 21st century. The substance regulates them. In the end, he says, if the ship of the coastal country wants to pass with the request to return to its base, it is allowed.”
‘How do sanctions affect Turkey?’
Cavusoglu answered the question of whether sanctions against Russia will affect Turkey:
“When we look at the sanctions against Russia, we see that it is mostly directed at individuals. There are some economic, especially financial sanctions.
After all, how much sanctions will affect us looks at the scale and scope of the sanctions. For example, will it cover natural gas, oil? It certainly affects not only us, but Europe. It certainly affects tourism. It depends on how long the process lasts.”
