Erdoğan says Turkey committed to Montreux agreement

The Montreux Convention provided Turkey with important advantages when it was signed almost a century ago and the country will abide by its conditions, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters on Monday.

“We will continue to commit to this convention until we find the opportunity for a better one,” state-run Anadolu agency cited Erdoğan as saying.

Montreux, governing shipping in the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, was “an important gain under the conditions of its time” even though it restricted Turkey’s control of the waterways, the president said. The straits link the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean.

Montreux, which provides free passage to civilian ships during peace time and restricts the passage of naval ships not belonging to Black Sea states, was signed in 1936.

According to Erdoğan, congestion in the Bosporus, which passes through Istanbul, a city of about 16 million people, has reached levels that threaten safety and cause costly delays.

Public discussion of the Montreux accord began last month after Turkey withdrew from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention aimed at preventing violence against women.

On March 25, responding to a reporter’s question on whether Turkey could withdraw from other international conventions such as Montreux, Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Şentop said Erdoğan technically had the authority, but “there is a difference between possible and probable”.

Şentop’s comments spurred on talk of a withdrawal, prompting 103 retired admirals from the Turkish navy to issue a declaration on Saturday night strongly opposing such a move.

“Our parliamentary speaker explained the matter, and clearly stated that there was no withdrawal,” Erdoğan said.

Kanal Istanbul, a planned manmade waterway through Istanbul to circumvent the Bosporus, will create “an alternative outside of the restrictions in the Montreux, completely under Turkey’s own sovereignty”, he said. “This is us striving for sovereignty. Are we sovereign in the Bosporus now?”

The president criticised the admirals’ declaration, calling it “a midnight action that definitely had ulterior motives, per its tone, method, and the discussions it would clearly lead to”.