Çavuşoğlu: Provocation

Click here to read the article in Turkish / Haberin Türkçesi için buraya tıklayınız

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has called “provocation” for soldier carrying a missile on his shoulder during Russian warship, Caesar Kunikov transits Bosphorus.

Çavuşoğlu said the following in his statement:

“Be it Russian or some other nation, the procedure of ships transiting the Bosphorus is clear.

“Any sort of threat during the transition is out of question. However, we respond accordingly if we sense any threat.

“Russian soldier carrying a missile or anything similar on a Russian ship is a provocation. I hope it is an isolated incident, it is not a right approach”.

NATO ships too are in Bosporus

As a soldier was seen carrying a missile on his shoulder on a Russian warship transiting Bosporus, three NATO warships anchored at Sarayburnu in İstanbul.

Spanish “Sps Blas De Lezo”, Portugese “Dom Francisco De Almeida”, and Canadian “HMCS Winnipeg” warships reaching İstanbul by crossing the Dardanelles remain anchored at Sarayburnu port.

As soldiers keep guard on decks of the ships, police teams carry on with taking precautions.

Montreaux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits:

Desiring to regulate transit and navigation in the Straits of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora and the Bosphorus comprised under the general term "Straits" in such manner as to safeguard, within the framework of Turkish security and of the security, in the Black Sea, of the riparian States, the principle enshrined in Article 23 of the Treaty3 of Peace signed at Lausanne on the 24th July, 1923.

Article 13

The transit of vessels of war through the Straits shall be preceded by a notification given to the Turkish Government through the diplomatic channel. Ihe normal p*iod of notice shall be eight days, but it is desirable that in the case at non-Black Sea Powers this period should be increased to fifteen days.

The notification shall specify the destination, name, type and number of the vessels, as also the date of entry for the outward passage and, if necessary, for the return journey. Any change of date shall be subject to three days' notice.

Entry into the Straits for the outward passage shall take place within a period of five days form the date given in the original notification. After the expiry of this period, a new notification shall be given under the same conditions as for the original notification.

When effecting transit, the commander of the naval force shall without being under any obligation to stop, communicate to a signal station at the entrance to the Dardanelles or the Bosphorus the exact composition of the force under his orders.

(EKN/TK)