Turkey Says Foreign Ships Sail Through Turkish Straits Under Montreux Convention

ANKARA - Turkey said Friday that foreign ships, including U.S. ships, sailed through the Turkish straits into the Black Sea under the Montreux Convention.
Turkey governs international transit through the Turkish straits under the 1936 Montreux Convention that sets weight limits of vessels to pass through the straits.
Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that four military ships from Spanish, German, Polish and U.S. navies sailed through the straits within the framework of a NATO exercise in line with notifications made to Turkey under the Montreux Convention.
"In this context, four ships from Spain (SPS Almirante Don Juan de Borbon), Germany (FGS Luebeck), Poland (ORP General Kazimierz Pulaski) and United States (USS Taylor) that are in NATO Standing Maritime Group, will visit ports of Romania's Constanta, Bulgaria's Varna and Turkey's Istanbul in the Black Sea as part of NATO planned activities approved in October 2007," it said.
(TÇ-CE)
(DIP)