Turkiye determined to abide by Montreux Convention, says parliament speaker

By Emin Avundukluoglu

TEKIRDAG, Turkiye (AA) – Turkiye is determined to transparently follow the Montreux Convention, the speaker of the Turkish parliament said on Friday.

“Turkiye is transparently following all clauses of the Montreux treaty with determination. This has been the case until today and Turkiye will continue to strictly abide by the clauses of this treaty,” Mustafa Sentop told reporters in the northwestern Tekirdag province.

His comments came amid requests by Ukraine for Turkiye to close the Canakkale (Dardanelles) and Istanbul (Bosphorus) Straits to Russian ships, following Moscow’s decision to start a military operation in Ukraine.

Signed in 1936, the Montreux Convention gave Turkiye control over its straits and the authority to regulate the transit of naval warships.

Sentop urged Russia and Ukraine to find a diplomatic solution to their issues.

“We call on the authorities of Russia and Ukraine to establish grounds for dialogue and negotiations to resolve their problems through peaceful means,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of Moscow’s long-feared military intervention in Ukraine early Thursday, saying the operation aims to protect people “subjected to genocide” by Kyiv and to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine. He also called on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms.

The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin has considered Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s proposal for negotiations and is ready to send a delegation to Minsk for talks with Ukrainian officials.​​​​​​​