Milliyet: NATO escorting grain ships in the Black Sea threatens Turkey with risky situation
Escorting ships of NATO member countries with grain in the Black Sea by ships of NATO member countries will be a violation of the Montreux Convention, Turkey will find itself in a “risky situation,” Milliyet newspaper writes.
“The implementation of such a move would mean a violation of the Montreux Convention and Turkey could find itself in a “risky situation” if NATO ships pass through the Turkish straits and enter the Black Sea,” the publication says.
The former commander of NATO forces in Europe, retired US Navy Admiral James Stavridis, said earlier that the US and alliance countries could escort cargo ships and open fire on Russian navy ships if threatened. At the same time, former Turkish ambassador to Russia and former NATO deputy secretary-general Huseyin Diriez believes that this idea is unlikely to be implemented.
“Because US President Joe Biden recently said that he does not want to accept a country in conflict with Russia into the alliance and turn the situation into a NATO-Russia conflict. So I don’t think that this idea will have many supporters,” the newspaper quoted the diplomat as saying.
He added that “in addition to NATO membership, Turkey, as a country implementing the regime of access to the Black Sea through the Montreux Convention, should continue to act cautiously in this regard.”
“Montreux should be strictly implemented. The grain deal was UN-led and the UN should continue to be at the centre of such de-escalation steps. NATO’s mandate is to safeguard and protect the countries of the alliance. I don’t think there is a situation that fits within that framework,” he added.
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