ISTANBUL, July 10. /TASS/. Turkey will not allow turning the Black Sea area into a battlefield, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said.

"To date, Turkiye has been the only country that has been able to bring both sides of the war together in high-level talks," he said in an interview with Politico. "We will not allow the Black Sea to turn into a strategic battlefield," Guler added.

Turkey has repeatedly stated that it adheres to the Montreux Convention, which was signed in 1936. After the launch of the special military operation, on the basis of Article 19 of the convention, Turkey started blocking the warships of the participants of the conflict and non-riparian states from entering the straits (Bosporus and Dardanelles) to prevent further escalation and rising tensions in the Black Sea. Ankara also stresses that they pursue their efforts of adhering to the "regional responsibility" principle in the Black Sea to avoid bringing disturbances to the balance that has formed there.

The Montreux Convention was signed on July 20, 1936 and entered into force on November 9 of the same year. It asserted Turkey’s sovereignty over the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, transferring to it the functions of monitoring and controlling the passage of ships. At the same time, the convention regulates the passage of warships, while civilian ships of all countries retain their right to freely pass through the straits both in peacetime and wartime.