In the midst of the war in Ukraine, the application of the Montreux Convention by Turkey to prevent the access of warships to the Black Sea has highlighted the importance of this maritime treaty that regulates navigation through the Dardanelles Strait and the Bosphorus, the waterway that connects the Mediterranean with the Black Sea.
On March 1, Turkey reported that it had rejected several Russian requests in recent days to transfer military ships from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea amid the invasion of Ukraine.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu confirmed that Russia wanted to pass four ships through the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits to access the Black Sea.
According to the Montreux Convention, signed in 1936, Turkey must prevent the transfer of ships to the Black Sea in times of war, unless they are ships that are registered in a port in that sea.
“We do not allow four Russian ships to pass through the Bosporus. We told the Russians politely. Russia, nor should anyone feel offended,” the Turkish minister said.
Three of the four ships requested by Russia were not based in the Black Sea, the minister said.
According to Çavusoglu, the Russians requested the transfer of their ships for February 27 and 28, that is, in the middle of the invasion.
The key aspects of the Convention are explained below.
What is the Montreux Convention?
Signed in Switzerland in 1936 by Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the document guarantees free passage to all merchant ships at all times, while giving Turkey the role control the passage of military ships.
In addition, the various rules that it establishes vary if there is peace or war, and in this second situation, it depends on Ankara’s position in the conflict.
In times of peace…
Warships must notify 15 days in advance of their passage.
Only those with less than 15,000 tons can cross, which excludes aircraft carriers (the Spanish aircraft carrier Juan Carlos I, a model of reduced dimensions, displaces 26,000 tons).
No military ship of a country that is not bordering the Black Sea should remain more than 21 days in this sea.
Furthermore, the combined volume of all non-riparian country warships must never exceed 45,000 tons.
…and in times of war
It all depends on whether Turkey is neutral or party to the conflict.
You can make the decisions you deem appropriate if you are involved (article 20) or feel threatened without being an active part (article 21). These are two articles that have never been invoked to date.
If Turkey is neutral, it must prevent the passage of military ships of the powers involved, but clear that of the countries that are not part of the conflict, according to article 19, applied for the first and last time until now in the Second World War.
How does Turkey assess the current situation?
Since last Sunday, as announced by the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, Ankara considers that the Russian invasion of Ukraine “is a full-fledged war.”
Consequently, it has decided to apply the Montreux Convention accordingly, that is, both against Russia and Ukraine.
“Article 19 is very clear,” stressed the head of Turkish diplomacy, implying that Turkey remains neutral, a position confirmed the next day by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who reiterated that Turkey cannot break relations with Moscow. nor with Kiev.
Çavusoglu specified that Ankara has warned “both the Black Sea riparian and non-riparian countries that warships cannot pass” through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles.
The return clause
Çavusoglu has clarified that ships that want to return to their port of registration are excluded from the closure, as provided for in article 19, which would allow Russia to bring more warships from the Mediterranean, provided that they are registered in a port of the Sea Black.
It would also allow the return home of Spanish ships currently deployed in the Black Sea but, according to Defense sources, the ships sent to the region last January have not entered this sea due to the violent situation, but instead sail in the Mediterranean, where they are expected to remain until the end of March.
Why is the Bosporus closed to all warships?
This is what has not been made clear. If Turkey is neutral and applies article 19, it must allow the passage of military vessels from countries not involved.
With the war in Ukraine breaking out as a conflict between Russia and NATO, it is doubtful whether the members of the Atlantic Alliance are “neutral” (although Turkey, a member of the Alliance, is), but Ankara’s announcement published in the press Turkish law (an official document has not been released) does not support the Convention.
More confusion is added by the statement by the Turkish Defense Minister, Hulusi Akar, who said himself: “As we have done so far, we will continue to apply articles 19, 20 and 21 of the Montreux Convention.”
In reality, the last two have never been applied and, furthermore, they cannot be invoked at the same time as 19, because that would mean that Turkey abandons its neutral position, something that seems ruled out for the moment.
Source: Gestion
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