Amid war danger in Black Sea, Turkey threatens Montreux Convention
As NATO escalates threats against Russia and China, a bitter conflict has erupted in the Turkish state machine over the Montreux Convention, an international treaty signed in 1936 governing passage between the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Sections of the navy are objecting to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s talk of using plans for an Istanbul Canal to scrap the Convention, which limits warship deployments to the Black Sea. This could allow NATO to deploy warships from the Mediterranean, at will, to threaten Russia’s coast.
Turkish authorities on Monday, April 5, 2021, detained 10 former admirals after a group of more than 100 retired top navy officers issued a statement that government officials tied to Turkey's history of military coups. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)