Turkey urges respect for Black Sea straits pact after closing access

Turkey is calling on all sides in the Ukraine crisis to respect an international pact on passage through the Turkish straits to the Black Sea, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was cited as saying on Tuesday after Ankara closed access to the waterway.

Turkey borders Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has good ties with both. Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Ankara has the right to limit transit through its straits during wartime.

This allows it to curb Russian warships going to the Black Sea. The pact grants exemption to ships returning to their home bases. 

"Eroding Montreux or disrupting the status quo in any way is to nobody's benefit. We see a benefit in preserving Montreux. We tell all sides that it would be beneficial to abide by Montreux," Akar told reporters after Monday's cabinet meeting, his ministry said.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday that Turkey had demanded all Black Sea and non-Black Sea states to halt passage through its straits. 

Late on Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko about ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine on Belarus' border, his office said.

"We are determined to use the powers the Montreux Convention grants our country to ease the crisis," Erdogan said after the cabinet meeting. "We will surely not compromise on our national interests, but we will also not disregard regional and global balances. This is why we cannot abandon ties with Russia or Ukraine."