Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits

Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits
Signed20 July 1936 (1936-07-20)
LocationMontreux, Switzerland
Effective9 November 1936 (1936-11-09)
Original
signatories
LanguageFrench
Full text
Montreux Convention at Wikisource

The (Montreux) Convention regarding the Regime of the Straits,[1][2] often known simply as the Montreux Convention,[3] is an international agreement governing the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits in Turkey. Signed on 20 July 1936 at the Montreux Palace in Switzerland,[4] it went into effect on 9 November 1936, addressing the long running Straits Question over who should control the strategically vital link between the Black and Mediterranean seas.[5]

The Montreux Convention regulates maritime traffic through the Turkish Straits. It guarantees "complete freedom" of passage for all civilian vessels in times of peace. In peacetime, military vessels are limited in number, tonnage and weaponry, with specific provisions governing their mode of entry and duration of stay. If they want to pass through the Strait, warships must provide advance notification to the Turkish authorities, which, in turn, must inform the parties to the convention.[6][7][note 1] In wartime, if Turkey is not involved in the conflict, warships of the nations at war may not pass through the Straits, except when returning to their base.[8] When Turkey is at war, or feels threatened by a war, it may take any decision about the passage of warships as it sees fit. The United States is not a signatory to the Convention.[9]

While it was designed for a particular geopolitical context, and remains unchanged since its adoption, the Montreux Convention has endured as a "solid example of a rules-based international order", since most of its terms are still followed.[10]

  1. ^ "Convention regarding the Regime of the Straits" (PDF). United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-04-22. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
  2. ^ "Convention regarding the Regime of the Straits" (PDF). United Nations, League of Nations Treaty Series. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-03-23. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
  3. ^ "Montreux Convention | European history". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  4. ^ "Le Montreux Palace over the years". Fairmont.com. Archived from the original on 2019-04-28. Retrieved 2014-09-15.
  5. ^ "Straits Question | European history". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  6. ^ "Montreux Convention 1936". www.globalsecurity.org. Archived from the original on 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  7. ^ "Implementation of the Montreux Convention". Republic of Türkiye - Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
  8. ^ "Turkey, overseeing passage to Black Sea, calls Russian invasion 'war'". MSN News. Archived from the original on 2022-02-27.
  9. ^ Brooks, RADM Thomas A. (March 2022). "Turkey, the Montreux Convention, and Russian Navy Transits of the Turkish Straits". 148/3. US Naval Institute Proceedings: 1,429. Archived from the original on 2023-04-02. Retrieved 2023-04-05. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ^ Kirişci, Kemal; Güvenç, Serhat (2021-07-20). "Montreux Convention, at 85, Needs Tending for US-NATO-Russia Security and Stability". Just Security. Archived from the original on 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-02-27.


Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).


© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search