ANKARA, March 11. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated his readiness to engage powers bestowed upon Ankara by the Montreux Convention regarding the status of Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits in order to preserve peace in the Region.
"We will engage all our resources; we will do everything we can in order to preserve peace and calm in our region. Among other things, we will use the powers provided by the Montreux Convention," he said at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum opening ceremony Friday.
"We exert serious efforts for weapons to become silent and for peace to begin immediately. Since the very beginning of this crisis, I held talks with 25-30 leaders and I continue this dialogue. The Foreign Ministry is doing the same thing," Erdogan said.
He noted that, in his opinion, "the international system established after World War II, when the five permanent members of the UN Security Council have an advantage, can no longer meet modern security challenges."
On March 2, Ankara officially informed Russia and Ukraine that it will engage Article 19 of the Montreux Convention regarding the passage of military ships through Bosporus and Dardanelles. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned all coastal and other states that it will not allow military ships to pass through the straits.
Turkey is entitled to shut down the straits for military ships, should Ankara consider it crucial for its own protection or establishment of security in the region. However, even in this case, Russia can use the straits to return its military ships to their bases.