By Ali Murat Alhas
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey is committed to staying in the 1936 Montreux treaty governing passages in the Bosporus Strait, said the nation's president on Monday.
"We currently have neither any efforts nor intention to leave the Montreux Convention," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters after a meeting of top ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party leaders, adding that his administration would not hesitate in the future to review any agreements to help improve Turkey.
The meeting was called to discuss a controversial statement by retired Turkish admirals who called on the government not to open the Montreux Convention up to debate, a statement that led many to accuse the ex-officers of plotting a coup against the government.
On Sunday the ex-admirals posted a statement online urging the avoidance of any rhetoric or action that could make the convention the subject of debate. Prosecutors in the capital Ankara subsequently started an investigation into the men behind the statement.
The controversial statement also denounced alleged "efforts” to show the Turkish Armed Forces and the Naval Forces as departing from the path laid down by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.
It also warned that Turkey could face “dangerous … events, risks, and threats to its survival, something which we know from our history."