Montreux Convention

  • The Turkish Ministry of National Defence recently announced that it will impose
    restrictions on the passage of warships belonging to countries not bordering the Black
    Sea within the framework of the Montreux Convention.
  • Montreux Convention is an agreement concerning the Dardanelles Strait and the
    Bosporus Strait, also known as the Turkish straits or the Black Sea straits.
  • The Turkish straits are the only maritime passage between the Black Sea and the
    Mediterranean Sea.
  • According to the 1936 Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits, often
    referred to simply as the Montreux Convention, Turkey has control over the Turkish
    Straits.
  • In the event of a war, the pact gives Turkey the right to regulate the transit of naval
    warships and to block the straits for warships belonging to the countries involved in the
    conflict.
  • Merchant vessels enjoy freedom of passage through the Turkish Straits, while passages
    of vessels of war are subject to some restrictions that vary depending on whether these
    vessels belong to the Black Sea littoral States or not.
  • Besides some general restrictions applicable to all, vessels of war belonging to nonlittoral States are subject to specific restrictions, such as those regarding maximum
    aggregate tonnage and duration of stay in the Black Sea.