While the war raged between Russia and Ukraine on the Black Sea, Turkey announced that it had notified all countries not to send its warships to cross the Turkish straits between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said - in a press briefing after the government meeting on Monday - that "the Montreux Convention gives Turkey absolute power to close the straits if it is a party to the war."
"But if Turkey is not a party to the war, it has the authority not to allow the ships of the warring countries to pass through its straits," he added.
But he clarified that the agreement "does not prohibit the transit of warships returning to their bases in the Black Sea."
Cavusoglu said that his country had notified all riparian and non-riparian countries of the Black Sea not to send its warships to pass through the Turkish straits.
He stressed Turkey's continued commitment to the provisions of the Montreux Convention, adding that "the Russians were wondering whether we would implement the agreement if necessary or not. We told them that we would implement the agreement in its entirety."
Under the Montreux Treaty - concluded in 1936 - Turkey controls the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits, which connect the Mediterranean and the Black Seas.
Washington thanks Ankara
Today, Cavusoglu discussed with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken - in a phone call - the developments in the situation in Ukraine and the efforts to achieve a ceasefire.
The US State Department said that Blinken expressed his appreciation to Turkey for implementing the Montreux Convention and the statements of the Turkish Foreign Minister regarding it.
Blinken also thanked Turkey for its "strong support in the defense of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," according to a US State Department statement.
For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan affirmed that his country will continue its diplomatic initiatives to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Erdogan said - in a press conference after presiding over the government meeting - that "the Russian attack on Ukrainian lands is unacceptable, and we appreciate the struggle of the Ukrainian government and people."
He stressed that Ankara is determined to use its powers stemming from the Montreux Convention regarding the transit of ships through the straits, in a way that prevents the escalation of the crisis.
"We will not give up our national interests, taking into account regional and global balances, so we say that we will not abandon Ukraine or Russia," he said.
"No one has any doubt that we will overcome the current crisis in the northern Black Sea, as were the previous challenges," he added.