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NATO stepped up pressure on Turkey over navigation in Black Sea straits — lawmaker

According to Ahmet Berat Conkar, a Turkish parliamentary delegation faced increased pressure during a recent visit to the United States

ANKARA, December 23. /TASS/. NATO has stepped up its pressure on Turkey in a bid to make Ankara reconsider its steadfast compliance with the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits, a Turkish lawmaker said on Thursday.

"Lately, NATO stepped up its pressure on Turkey over the alliance's presence in the Black Sea. The alliance is discontented by Turkey’s strict compliance with the Montreux Convention provisions," the Aydinlik newspaper quoted Ahmet Berat Conkar, a lawmaker for the ruling Justice and Development Party and a deputy chair of Turkey’s delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

According to Conkar, a Turkish parliamentary delegation faced increased pressure during a recent visit to the United States.

"US generals and diplomats placed a special emphasis on the Black Sea. It was guised as concerns over Russia’s growing dominance [in the Black Sea basin], over Black Sea being turned into a ‘Russian lake,’ the Turkish lawmaker said.

Various Turkish government officials stressed on numerous occasions that the country had been barring all warships from accessing the Black Sea via the Bosporus and the Dardanelles since the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, citing the Montreux Convention. By doing so, Turkey has managed to prevent military escalation in the Black Sea basin, Ankara said.

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