Foreign minister: Turkiye to abide by Montreux Convention with no double standard

Turkiye finds Russian president’s call for military takeover in Ukraine strange, unacceptable, says Turkish top diplomat

Turkiye will keep implementing the Montreux Convention with no double standards, the country’s foreign minister said on Friday.

“Turkiye has always complied with the deals to which it is a party,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkish television network NTV, adding that Ankara would continue implementing the Montreux Convention with all its articles and with no double standard.

The 1936 convention gives Turkey control over its straits and authority to regulate the transit of naval warships.

On Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call for a military takeover in Ukraine, he said these remarks were strange and unacceptable.

Cavusoglu also said the evacuation process of Turkish nationals in Ukraine was underway.

Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine entered its second day on Friday, with the latest reports indicating that Russian troops were heading toward the capital Kyiv from several directions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the military intervention on Thursday, just days after recognizing two separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine.

He claimed that Moscow had no plan to occupy the neighboring country, but wanted to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to install a puppet government and said Ukrainians will defend their country against Russian aggression.