NEW YORK (ANA-MPA/G. Garantzioti) –
At the Security Council meeting on maritime security hosted by Bahrain, Greece responded to a statement by Türkiye’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ahmet Yıldız, who spoke about the “Turkish Straits”.
Yıldız said that Türkiye is making every effort to ensure the safe and free passage of ships through these maritime routes.
The Turkish diplomat added that the regime governing passage through the Turkish Straits is regulated by the Montreux Convention, which has established a political and military balance in the Black Sea between coastal and non-coastal states since 1936.
Greece’s Deputy Permanent Representative Ioannis Stamatekos stated that “the 1936 Montreux Convention is the only international legal instrument regulating navigation in the Dardanelles Strait, the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus and guarantees freedom of navigation in these waters.”
Stamatekos continued, stating that “therefore, respect for the terminology of the 1936 Montreux Convention aims to preserve and reaffirm this freedom enshrined therein.”
He added: “The use of the term ‘Turkish Straits’ is inconsistent with the 1936 Montreux Convention regarding the status of the straits. The terminology according to the Montreux Convention is ‘the Straits’, specifically the Straits of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus”.
