Turkiye says NATO stepped up pressure on shipping in Black Sea straits

The North Atlantic Alliance has stepped up pressure on Turkiye to revise its position on compliance with the Montreux Convention, which regulates navigation in the Bosporus and Dardanelles, said Ahmet Berat Conkar, deputy chairman of the Turkish group in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, MP from the ruling Justice and Development Party, Report informs citing TASS.

“NATO has recently built up pressure on Turkiye to increase its presence in the Black Sea. The alliance is dissatisfied with Turkiye’s strict compliance with the provisions of the Montreux Convention,” the Aydinlik newspaper quoted the politician as saying.

According to him, the Turkish parliamentary delegation encountered another attempt to put pressure on Ankara during a recent trip to the US. “American generals and diplomats placed special emphasis on the Black Sea. This was presented under the pretext of turning the Black Sea into a Russian lake, the growth of Russia’s dominance [in the Black Sea basin],” Conkar said.

The Turkish authorities have repeatedly stated that since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, not a single warship has been allowed into the Black Sea, referring to the right granted to it under the Montreux Convention. Thus, it was possible to prevent the growth of tension in the Black Sea basin.