Turkey's President Recep Tayyib Erdogan announced that warships will be able to use planned canal bisecting Istanbul, Eurasia Diary reports citing Bloomberg.
Instead of crossing the narrow Bosporus strait, Erdogan said military ships will instead be able to use 45-kilometer Canal Istanbul, which will similarly link the Black and Marmara seas.
Erdogan's option can make an international debate on whether such a move would violate the 1936 Montreux Convention. Turkish President responded that the convention was only “binding” for the Turkish straits and the Canal Istanbul project would be “totally outside Montreux.”
Responding to a question on whether warships will continue to cross the Turkish straits under the limits set down by the treaty, he said: “We would find a solution for them.”