Russia has right to pass straits even if Turkey closes them under Montreux: Turkish FM

The Montreux Convention gives Turkey the right to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to warships during wartime, but Russia can still pass through the straits to return its fleet to its bases, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said.

Recalling Ukraine's official request from Turkey to close the straits to Russian warships, the minister recalled that Ankara had implemented the provisions of the Montreux Convention without hesitation in every case.

Speaking to daily Hürriyet, the minister said Turkey, not being belligerent, can take "some measures regarding the countries that are parties to the war."

"Turkey can stop the passage of warships through the straits. However, there is something special in the Montreux Convention. If there is a request for the ships of the warring countries to return to their bases, then they must be allowed," the daily quoted the minister as saying on Feb. 25.

The minister emphasized that the relevant provisions of the convention will be applicable if the current case between Russia and Ukraine is declared as "war" by Turkey.

"If we accept the state of war legally, this process will start. Secondly, if we accept the state of war, we will prohibit the passage of warships [through straits] in the context of Montreux. But even if we bar them, the Russians have such a right," Çavuşoğlu stated.

Ukraine conveyed an official request to Turkey to close the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits to Russian warships, its ambassador to Ankara, Vasyl Bodnar, told reporters on Feb. 24.

According to the 1936-dated Montreux Convention, merchant vessels enjoy the freedom of passage through the Turkish straits, the Dardanelles and Bosphorus, while the passages of war vessels are subject to some...