Turkey Detains 10 Retired Admirals who Defended Maritime Accord

The Bosphorus strait is pictured through the window of a passenger aircraft over Istanbul, Turkey April 24, 2018. Picture taken April 24, 2018. (Reuters)
The Bosphorus strait is pictured through the window of a passenger aircraft over Istanbul, Turkey April 24, 2018. Picture taken April 24, 2018. (Reuters)
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Turkey Detains 10 Retired Admirals who Defended Maritime Accord

The Bosphorus strait is pictured through the window of a passenger aircraft over Istanbul, Turkey April 24, 2018. Picture taken April 24, 2018. (Reuters)
The Bosphorus strait is pictured through the window of a passenger aircraft over Istanbul, Turkey April 24, 2018. Picture taken April 24, 2018. (Reuters)

Turkey detained 10 retired admirals for signing a statement supporting an 85-year-old maritime accord, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday the document went beyond freedom of expression and implied a coup.

The statement, signed by more than a hundred former high-ranking navy personnel, voiced concern that the Montreux Convention could be debated or abandoned after having played an important role in Turkey’s security and past neutrality.

Government officials responded by accusing them of conspiring against the constitutional order, and Erdogan said the statement was unacceptable given Turkey’s history of military coups.

“The duty of retired admirals is... not publishing statements about a political debate that includes an implication of a coup,” Erdogan told ministers and AK Party members.

The military staged three coups between 1960-1980 and, with a statement by the National Security Council, pressured the first Islamist-led government out of power in 1997. Another coup was attempted in 2016.

“In a country that has a history full of coups and statements, it is unacceptable for 104 retired admirals to attempt such an endeavor,” Erdogan said, adding Turkey remained committed to the accord but could review it in the future.

The main opposition party said the government sought to distract from more critical issues, including a shock 12% lira depreciation two weeks ago, and record daily coronavirus cases. Erdogan blamed the opposition for the statement.

Montreux, signed in 1936, gives Turkey control over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits within its borders, and during peacetime guarantees access for civilian vessels. It also limits access of naval warships and governs foreign cargo ships.

The retired admirals defended the accord as strategically important for security, given Erdogan’s authority to withdraw from such pacts. Last month, the president suddenly ditched an international accord meant to prevent violence against women.

Prosecutors accuse the admirals of conspiring against state security, news website Haberturk said. State news agency Anadolu said four other suspects were called to report to police within three days as part of the probe.

The statement came as the government moves forward with plans to construct a massive canal connecting the Black Sea north of Istanbul to the Sea of Marmara to the south, parallel to the Bosphorus.

A Turkish official has said Montreux would not cover the canal.

The secularist armed forces were once the dominant force in Turkey but Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party have eroded their influence since coming to power in 2002.



Israel Killed 30 Iranian Security Chiefs and 11 Nuclear Scientists, Israeli Official Says

A view shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a building on Monday, after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A view shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a building on Monday, after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Israel Killed 30 Iranian Security Chiefs and 11 Nuclear Scientists, Israeli Official Says

A view shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a building on Monday, after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A view shows the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a building on Monday, after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Israel killed more than 30 senior security officials and 11 senior nuclear scientists to deliver a major blow to Iran's nuclear ambitions, a senior Israeli military official said on Friday in summarizing Israel's 12-day air war with Iran.

In the United States, an independent expert said a review of commercial satellite imagery showed only a small number of the approximately 30 Iranian missiles that penetrated Israel's air defenses managed to hit any militarily significant targets.

"Iran has yet to produce missiles that demonstrate great accuracy," Decker Eveleth, an associate research analyst at the CNA Corporation specializing in satellite imagery, told Reuters.

In Israel, the senior military official said Israel's June 13 opening strike on Iran severely damaged its aerial defenses and destabilized its ability to respond in the critical early hours of the conflict.

Israel's air force struck over 900 targets and the military deeply damaged Iran's missile production during the war that ended with a US-brokered ceasefire, the official said.

"The Iranian nuclear project suffered a major blow: The regime's ability to enrich uranium to 90% was neutralized for a prolonged period. Its current ability to produce a nuclear weapon core has been neutralized," the official said.

Iran, which denies trying to build nuclear weapons, retaliated against the strikes with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites and cities. Iran said it forced the end of the war by penetrating Israeli defenses.

Iranian authorities said 627 people were killed in Iran, where the extent of the damage could not be independently confirmed because of tight restrictions on the media. Israeli authorities said 28 people were killed in Israel.

Eveleth, the independent US expert, said Iran's missile forces were not accurate enough to destroy small military targets like US-made F-35 jet fighters in their shelters.

"Because of this the only targets they can hit with regularity are large cities or industrial targets like the refinery at Haifa," he told Reuters.

Iranian missile salvos, which were limited by Israeli airstrikes in Iran, did not have the density to achieve high rates of destruction, he wrote on X.

"At the current level of performance, there is effectively nothing stopping Israel from conducting the same operation in the future with similar results," he wrote.

In a statement on Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had directed the military to draft plans to safeguard air superiority over Iran, prevent nuclear development and missile production, and address Iran's support for militant operations against Israel.

Israel's military Chief of Staff Lieutenant General, Eyal Zamir, said on Friday the outcome in Iran could help advance Israeli objectives against the Iranian-backed Palestinian Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.

Zamir told troops in Gaza an Israeli ground operation, known as "Gideon's Chariots," would in the near future achieve its goal of greater control of the Palestinian enclave and present options to Israel's government for further action.