Civilian Vessel Passage in the Turkish Straits: The First Comprehensive Regulation (1994)

The desire to control the passage regime of the Turkish Straits caused several wars throughout history. For 86 years, beginning with the 20th century, the Montreux Convention (1936) has regulated the long-term transit regime of the Straits. After the Montreux Convention, vessel-building technology p...

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Main Author: İsmail Köse
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava 2023-11-01
Series:Codrul Cosminului
Subjects:
Online Access:https://codrulcosminului.usv.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Article.5.Vol_.29-2.pdf
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author İsmail Köse
author_facet İsmail Köse
author_sort İsmail Köse
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description The desire to control the passage regime of the Turkish Straits caused several wars throughout history. For 86 years, beginning with the 20th century, the Montreux Convention (1936) has regulated the long-term transit regime of the Straits. After the Montreux Convention, vessel-building technology progressed at such a rate that several provisions were created to adapt to the newly established Cold War (CW) conditions. Nevertheless, almost all those arrangements were aimed at regulating the passage of naval vessels, and no comprehensive regulation addressing civilian vessels was made until the 1990s. A comprehensive regulation was prepared and issued at the beginning of January 1994 to fill that gap, in compliance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982. The new Regulation imposed several new rules and brought restrictions contrary to the freedom of passage guaranteed by international conventions and even by the Montreux Convention. The Russian Federation (RF), as a littoral country, was the first to express strong opposition to the new Regulation, and other countries soon followed. Despite criticism and reasonable concerns, the Regulation came into force six months after its publication, at the beginning of July 1994. However, persistent complaints forced Turkey and the RF to reach an agreement, and four years later, the first Regulation on the Turkish Straits was replaced by a new one. This study examines the rules implemented by the first comprehensive regulation of the Straits in 1994, the protests, objections, and amendments consistent with the provisions of UNCLOS.
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spelling doaj.art-25dc013f316141af92ff809dd939942c2023-11-26T20:05:38ZengStefan cel Mare University of SuceavaCodrul Cosminului1224-032X2067-58602023-11-0129232935010.4316/CC.2023.02.05Civilian Vessel Passage in the Turkish Straits: The First Comprehensive Regulation (1994)İsmail Köse0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8489-5088Karadeniz Technical University of Trabzon (Turkey)The desire to control the passage regime of the Turkish Straits caused several wars throughout history. For 86 years, beginning with the 20th century, the Montreux Convention (1936) has regulated the long-term transit regime of the Straits. After the Montreux Convention, vessel-building technology progressed at such a rate that several provisions were created to adapt to the newly established Cold War (CW) conditions. Nevertheless, almost all those arrangements were aimed at regulating the passage of naval vessels, and no comprehensive regulation addressing civilian vessels was made until the 1990s. A comprehensive regulation was prepared and issued at the beginning of January 1994 to fill that gap, in compliance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982. The new Regulation imposed several new rules and brought restrictions contrary to the freedom of passage guaranteed by international conventions and even by the Montreux Convention. The Russian Federation (RF), as a littoral country, was the first to express strong opposition to the new Regulation, and other countries soon followed. Despite criticism and reasonable concerns, the Regulation came into force six months after its publication, at the beginning of July 1994. However, persistent complaints forced Turkey and the RF to reach an agreement, and four years later, the first Regulation on the Turkish Straits was replaced by a new one. This study examines the rules implemented by the first comprehensive regulation of the Straits in 1994, the protests, objections, and amendments consistent with the provisions of UNCLOS.https://codrulcosminului.usv.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Article.5.Vol_.29-2.pdfturkish straitsfreedom of passageregulationmontreuxcontrariety
spellingShingle İsmail Köse
Civilian Vessel Passage in the Turkish Straits: The First Comprehensive Regulation (1994)
Codrul Cosminului
turkish straits
freedom of passage
regulation
montreux
contrariety
title Civilian Vessel Passage in the Turkish Straits: The First Comprehensive Regulation (1994)
title_full Civilian Vessel Passage in the Turkish Straits: The First Comprehensive Regulation (1994)
title_fullStr Civilian Vessel Passage in the Turkish Straits: The First Comprehensive Regulation (1994)
title_full_unstemmed Civilian Vessel Passage in the Turkish Straits: The First Comprehensive Regulation (1994)
title_short Civilian Vessel Passage in the Turkish Straits: The First Comprehensive Regulation (1994)
title_sort civilian vessel passage in the turkish straits the first comprehensive regulation 1994
topic turkish straits
freedom of passage
regulation
montreux
contrariety
url https://codrulcosminului.usv.ro/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Article.5.Vol_.29-2.pdf
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