TRT World - World in Focus: Turkey, Russia and Montreux

Love thy neighbour?
It was not the first time a Russian jet had violated Turkish borders while dropping bombs on Syria. But this time, the jet ignored Turkey’s warnings. Turkish forces then shot it down and it crashed in Syria, near Turkey’s border. Russia had its own take on what had happened. And it did not match the Turkish version. Turkey found itself in the middle of a diplomatic crisis with instant repercussions. Moscow told Russian holidaymakers to stay away from Turkey, put mutual projects with Ankara on hold and imposed restrictions on Turkish food imports. Russian president Vladimir Putin promised it wouldn’t end there.

Strait play
The events took another turn on December 4, when Russian warship Tsezar Kunikov was photographed passing through the Bosphorus Strait. This would not have been anything out of the ordinary... Except a soldier was on deck, brandishing a man-portable air-defense system, also known as MANPADS, on his shoulder. The incident brought the Montreux Convention of 1936 to the forefront of Turkey’s agenda. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called it “provocative” and “harassing” but said the case was different to Russia’s violation of Turkish airspace near the Syrian border. He said he hoped it would be a one-off incident.

According to ‘conventional’ wisdom
Meanwhile, local media started questioning whether Turkey should close the Bosphorus off to Russian ships. It based its argument on the Montreux Convention, which gives Turkey control of both the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles. Article 20 is clear enough. It says that Turkey may close off the two straits, if it’s at war.

But right now, Turkey is neither at war, nor does it want to be.
Former head of the international treaty directorate at the Russian Defense Ministry Yevgeny Buzhinsky offered a similar interpretation of the Article. While both Turkey and Russia are acting with caution to prevent tensions from escalating into war, Article 21 is not so clear. It suggests Turkey may also close off the straits if it faces an “imminent threat of war”. But whether there currently is such a threat, is open to debate.

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