Swordsmyth
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said warships will be able to use a planned multibillion-dollar canal bisecting Istanbul, possibly undercutting a 20th-century agreement meant to ensure stability and security in the Black Sea region.Instead of crossing the narrow Bosporus strait, Erdogan said military ships will instead be able to use Canal Istanbul, which will similarly link the Black and Marmara seas. The project is meant to ease shipping traffic and the risk of accidents in the Bosporus, which runs through the middle of Turkey’s biggest city. It could create jobs for 10,000 people as well as a new city along its route.
Speaking in an interview with CNN-Turk television late Sunday, Erdogan didn’t elaborate on whether any limitations would be imposed on the passage of warships through Canal Istanbul.
If Turkey uses it as an alternative route to assert more autonomy, it could potentially trigger an international debate on whether such a move would violate the 1936 Montreux Convention.
The convention limits deployments in the Black Sea to 21 days for navies not belonging to Black Sea states. It also regulates the number and the maximum aggregate tonnage of all foreign naval forces that may pass the Turkish straits while barring the passage of all aircraft carriers.
Erdogan said the convention was only “binding” for the Turkish straits and the Canal Istanbul project would be “totally outside Montreux.”
Responding to a question on whether warships will continue to cross the Turkish straits under the limits set down by the treaty, he said: “We would find a solution for them.”
More at: https://news.yahoo.com/erdogan-says-warships-may-bypass-085720522.html
Speaking in an interview with CNN-Turk television late Sunday, Erdogan didn’t elaborate on whether any limitations would be imposed on the passage of warships through Canal Istanbul.
If Turkey uses it as an alternative route to assert more autonomy, it could potentially trigger an international debate on whether such a move would violate the 1936 Montreux Convention.
The convention limits deployments in the Black Sea to 21 days for navies not belonging to Black Sea states. It also regulates the number and the maximum aggregate tonnage of all foreign naval forces that may pass the Turkish straits while barring the passage of all aircraft carriers.
Erdogan said the convention was only “binding” for the Turkish straits and the Canal Istanbul project would be “totally outside Montreux.”
Responding to a question on whether warships will continue to cross the Turkish straits under the limits set down by the treaty, he said: “We would find a solution for them.”
More at: https://news.yahoo.com/erdogan-says-warships-may-bypass-085720522.html
