Turkey urges to refrain from provocations in Black Sea

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has expressed concerns about the escalation of tension in the Black Sea, warning that the parties should refrain from the provocations amid continued quarrel between Ukraine and Russia over the Donbas crisis.

"The rising tension in the region worries us all; provocations should be avoided. We must work hard to ensure that diplomacy and dialogue prevail," Çavuşoğlu told in a video message he conveyed to a seminar about the trilateral cooperation between Turkey, Romania and Poland on April 21.

Çavuşoğlu's message came as Ukraine and Russia are accusing each other of escalating tension in the region as the prominent Western powers, including the United States, have expressed their political support to the former. The United Kingdom is expected to dispatch a military vessel to the Black Sea in May in obvious support to Ukraine. Meanwhile Russian navy has intensified its mobility in the Black Sea through drills while deploying more than 100,000 troops along the Ukrainian border.

Recalling that the Black Sea has not witnessed a military confrontation even during the Second World War, Çavuşoğlu underlined that the primary reason for this was the sensitive balance created thanks to the 1936 Montreux Convention.

"We will for sure continue to implement the convention in an impartial and transparent way as we have been doing since 1936, but the convention alone is not sufficient to provide stability," the minister said, warning that the provocative acts should be avoided.

He added that Turkey, Romania and Poland, all three NATO members, have remained committed to peace in the region and beyond.

The Montreux Convention limits the duration of the stay by 21 days and the tonnage of the military...