ANKARA, August 13. /TASS/. Turkey will continue to observe in a fair and unbiased manner the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits, an international agreement governing the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits in Turkey, the country’s National Defense Minister Yasar Guler said in an interview to the A Haber television.

"The Black Sea has always been referred to as the Sea of Peace. We would like to remind some of our allies that a strong [military] presence in the Black Sea will not boost security, but, to the contrary, will exacerbate tensions instead. Turkey will continue applying the Montreux Convention in an unbiased, fair and composed manner," Guler said.

The minister added that his country’s "Western friends" have offered "to provide assistance should the need arise."

"We welcome this approach. But there is not need to do that at this point," he said.

The Turkish government declared on many occasions that, in line with the Montreux Convention, it has not allowed a single military ship enter the Black Sea via the Bosporus Strait. This approach allowed to prevent a major escalation in the Black Sea basin, Ankara said.

The Montreux international convention regulates the transit of Turkish Straits for warships not belonging to Black Sea states. Under the convention, military vessels of non-Black Sea countries are not allowed to remain in the sea for more than 21 days. Also, the agreement gives Turkey the authority to close the straits for foreign military vessels completely in case of a military conflict or a national security threat.