ISTANBUL, December 16. /TASS/. Attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea create security risks to navigation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
"The attacks on merchant and civilian ships we have seen in recent days constitute a serious threat to navigation safety in the Black Sea. This isn’t good for anyone. We issue a clear warning to both sides concerning this matter," the TRT Haber television channel quoted him as saying at a meeting with Turkish ambassadors to foreign countries.
The Turkish leader recalled that his country had provided a venue for three rounds of direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul. "This year, he organized three meetings in Istanbul between delegations of the two countries we maintain special relations with. As a result of Turkish diplomacy, the Istanbul process saw major achievements in the humanitarian sphere," Erdogan stressed, citing the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and exchanges of POWs as such achievements.
He once again reiterated Turkey’s commitment to the Montreux Convention that regulates navigation via the straits. "We are preventing the war from spreading to the Black Sea by strictly abiding by the Montreux Convention," Erdogan emphasized.
Turkey has repeatedly stated its commitment to the Montreux Convention that was signed in 1936. Under its Article 19, following the beginning of Russia’s special military operation, it closed the straits (Bosporus and Dardanelles) for the passage of warships of the conflicting parties and non-littoral countries to prevent further tensions in the Black Sea.