Turkey values ​​closing the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits but clarifies that it will not be able to prevent the return of Russian ships

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He stresses that the Montreux Treaty obliges Ankara to allow the passage of Russian ships back to their bases

MADRID, Feb. 25 (Royals Blue) –

The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, has indicated this Friday that the Government is weighing the possibility of closing the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but has clarified that even so the Russian warships would have right to return to their bases under the Treaty of Montreux.

“In a war in which Turkey is not a party, there are measures that can be taken against the countries that are warring parties. Turkey can stop the passage of warships through the straits. But there is also something else in the Montreux Convention If the ships of the warring parties demand the return to their bases, then passage must be allowed,” he explained in an interview with the television channel TGRT Haber.

Thus, he explained that Ukraine has “sent an official request to close the straits.” “The provisions of the Montreux Convention are very clear and precise. To this day, Turkey has been unhesitatingly abiding by the Montreux Convention. It is possible to take action towards parties to a war in which Turkey is not involved.” , has said.

According to the head of Turkish diplomacy, experts are studying the issue and in case “a wartime situation is officially declared, the process will start.” “Clearly, everything requires Turkey to describe Russia’s attack as a war,” he has qualified.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey, Vasil Bodnar, reported on Thursday that Kiev had officially requested Ankara to close the passage for Russian Navy ships in the area hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the start of a military operation on Ukrainian territory.

Bodnar then stressed that the Ukrainian authorities had officially asked the Turkish government to close its airspace and straits to Russia and denounced that it is the first time in the region that a country with nuclear weapons launches an “open attack” against another country. and “start a war”.