NTV: Ankara Prosecutor's Office Prepares an indictment in the case of retired admirals , who supported the Montreux Convention on the Status of the Bosporus and Dardanelles. The Turkish TV channel NTV reports this.
According to it, the accused face up to 12 years in prison, the case has been sent to court. According to the indictment, the admirals entered into a criminal conspiracy against the constitutional order.
In early April, 104 retired admirals published a letter in which they called the Montreux convention a diplomatic victory for Turkey, which restored its sovereign rights to the Bosphorus and Dardanelles. They also considered unacceptable the disputes over the revision of the agreement in connection with the project of the Istanbul canal, which will bypass the Bosphorus and connect the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea. Later, ten admirals who signed the letter were detained.
The Istanbul Canal suggests the possibility of 85 thousand ships passing from the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea annually. The construction of the facility is scheduled for completion in 2023. The cost of the related work is estimated at $ 10 billion. Istanbul will not be subject to the Montreux Convention.
The Montreux Convention provides for restrictions on the tonnage of warships passing through the straits in peacetime, which non-Black Sea countries must comply with.