TURKEY & RUSSIA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 October 1939, Page 5

TURKEY & RUSSIA

J CONCLUSION OF PACT ; REPORTED OBLIGATIONS TO ALLIES NOT AFFECTED. SOVIET POLICY TOWARDS GERMANY. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON. October 14. The Paris correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain says it is reliably reported that a TurkishRussian agreement has been signed protecting Russia's right to use the Dardanelles and the Black Sea in accordance with the Montreux Conven • tion. A message from Istanbul says the newspapers claim authority for stating that the Moscow negotiations resulted in an agreement harmonising with Turkey’s undertakings to Britain and France. A Bucharest ■ message states that there is reason to believe that Russia has given Turkey a guarantee that she will not supply military aid to Germany. The Montreux Convention was signed on July 20. 1936, and has a duration of 20 years. The signatories wore Great Britain, France, Turkey Soviet Russia, Bulgaria, Greece, Rumania and Yugoslavia. It limits the tonnage of both Black Sea and non-Black Sea Powers which may pass through the Straits, places certain restrictions on the manner in which fleets may pass through the Straits, and sets out various clauses under which Turkey must receive notification of certain contingencies. In time of war when Turkey is not a belligerent, warships will have complete liberty of passage and of navigation in the Straits under specified tonnage limitations, but only if they are acting under obligations devolving from the League Covenant or are assisting States which are the victims of an aggressor nation. Belligerent warships have no rights to search or capture or perform hostile acts in the Straits. If Turkey becomes a belligerent or considers herself menaced, the passage of ships through the Straits remains at her discretion.