Ukraine asked Turkey to activate a 90-year-old pact, which can be used to prevent Russian warships from entering the Black Sea, on Monday. Credit: Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, via Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 4.0Turkey barred warships from passing through key straits in a bid to de-escalate the Russia-Ukraine crisis on Monday.
The move came after Ukraine asked Turkey to activate a 90-year-old international pact that can be used to prevent Russian warships from entering the Black Sea through the Mediterranean.
Russia launched an incursion on Ukraine’s southern coast, via the Black Sea, as part of its invasion of Ukraine, but Turkey’s move also covers the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits which also connect the Aegean and Marmara.
Turkey aims to de-escalate Russia-Ukraine crisis using Montreux Convention
Turkey’s Monday announcement declared that it was activating the Montreux Convention, warning both the Black Sea and non-Black Sea countries not to ply their warships through the Turkish waterways.
Under a 1936 pact, Turkey has the right to bar warships from using the Bosporus and Dardanelles during wartime.
The Bosphorus (red), the Dardanelles (yellow), and the Sea of Marmara in between, are known collectively as the Turkish Straits. Turkey has closed both, under the Montreux Convention, to try and de-escalate the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Credit: Thomas Steiner, via Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 2.5