What Turkey really decided on the Bosphorus Straits

By Costas Raptis

The announcement by Turkey of the activation of Articles 19, 20 and 21 of the Montreux Treaty, which imposes restrictions on the access of warships to the Black Sea in time of war, was perceived as a move to exclude the Russian Navy from escalating its operations against Ukraine.

In fact, Turkey’s move is more complex and basically ambiguous, as is everything that Tayyip Erdogan’s country is doing to Russia and Ukraine.

The Treaty of Montreux emerged in 1936, at a time when the great powers were slipping into a new world war, as a revision of the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 on the demilitarization of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, as well as its islands. Tenedos, Lemnos and Samothrace. In an environment that was largely determined by the ambitions of fascist Italy, which was then intensively militarizing the Dodecanese, as well as the efforts of interested third parties to join Turkey, the Montreux Treaty was the golden section between Agui’s ambitions. to gain more control over the Straits, the Soviet Union to block the entry of Western fleet vessels into the Black Sea, and Britain to block the exit of Soviet vessels into the Mediterranean. It is interesting how these conflicting goals remain relevant today.

For Turkey, in particular, the confirmation of the provisions of the Montreux Treaty has been of particular importance in recent decades, as its framework established by the International Convention on the Law of the Sea is much more liberal, ensuring the passage of straits. fewer rights than those granted by the neighbor in 1936.

The central idea is that merchant ships move freely through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, unless they belong to countries at war with Turkey, and warships under 10,000 tonnes can pass peacefully under certain restrictions. , which are stronger for third countries and lighter for Black Sea coastal states. Eg coastal states must notify Turkey of their passage 8 days in advance, while third countries must notify the Black Sea 15 days in advance, with no possibility of staying in the Black Sea for more than 21 days, or of collecting vessels over 45,000 tonnes in total a single non-coastal state).

Yesterday’s announcement by Tayyip Erdo .an after a cabinet meeting is a belated implementation of a relevant appeal made by his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in a telephone conversation with the Turkish President on Saturday. According to the Turkish authorities, the activation of Montreux’s predictions is based on the opinion of Turkish experts that Russia’s “special operation” against Ukraine is a war, therefore Turkey, although a non-combatant party, has the right to block the passage of warships acting in favor of of peace.

However, as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu clarified, the crossing is not limited to warships returning to their base in the Black Sea, while so far there have been no transit requests.

In other words, the obstacles are smaller for the Russian side, which has developed much of its fleet in both the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, and larger for the countries allied with Ukraine that would like to intervene with naval forces.

All this should be seen in the light of Erdogan’s statements that his country primarily defends its national interests, without neglecting the regional balance, and yet does not intend to break with either Ukraine or Russia.