Russian Diplomat Says His Country Is Pleased With Turkey Fulfilling Its Straits Obligations

ANKARA - Russian ambassador in the Turkish capital, Ankara, said Tuesday that his country was pleased with Turkey`s fulfilling its obligations under an international convention which regulates the regime on Turkey`s two waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Aegean.
"We are pleased with the way Turkey has been fulfilling its obligations under the Montreux Convention," Vladimir Ivanovskiy told reporters after a ceremony held at the Russian Embassy to commemorate Russian peacekeepers who were killed in South Ossetia.
The convention gives Turkey full control over the Straits and guarantees the free passage of civilian vessels in peacetime.
It severely restricts the passage of non-Turkish military vessels and prohibits some types of warships, such as aircraft carriers, from passing through the Straits.
"The countries of the region should work to ease tensions. And that is what Turkey has been doing. Turkey`s initiative for a stability and cooperation platform for the Caucasus is a really a creative idea," the Russian ambassador said.
(YMB-CE)
(DIP)