- Title: TURKEY: ENVIRONMENTALISTS ATTEMPT TO BLOCK OIL TANKER ON THE BOSPHOROUS STRAITS.
- Date: 7th June 1998
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JUNE 7, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV/MV: ACTIVISTS GATHERING IN CENGELKOY FERRY STATION/ EMBARKING ON PROTEST BOATS (5 SHOTS) 0.26 2. GV: SMALL BOATS LOADED WITH ENVIRONMENTALISTS PROTESTING ON THE BOSPHORUS (2 SHOTS) 0.37 3. GV/MV: ACTIVISTS CHANTING SLOGANS AND HOLDING UP PLACARDS READING: "THE TURKISH STRAITS MUST BE THE PATH TO HUMANITY, FRIENDSHIP AND PEACE" AND "SAFETY FOR THE STRAITS" (5 SHOTS) 0.56 4. MV: MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR ENVIRONMENT IMREN AYKUT WAVING A FLAG READING "SECURITY FOR THE STRAITS" 1.02 5. CU: ENVIRONMENTALIST PROTESTOR NERMIN ALPMAN SAYING "UNTIL OUR SEAS ARE CLEAN, THE FISH DON'T DIE AND PEOPLE DON'T CONTRACT DISEASE, WE WILL CONTINUE TO PROTEST, WE WILL NOT GIVE UP." (TURKISH) 1.14 6. GV: UKRAINIAN OIL TANKER 1.19 7. GV/SCU: SMALL BOATS APPROACHING OIL TANKER - PROTESTORS WHISTLING AT TANKER/ GUARD LAUNCH ESCORTING TANKER (4 SHOTS) 1.42 8. GV: POLICE PATROL BOAT/ TANKER 1.52 9. GV: BOATS/ WIDE OF BOSPHORUS STRAITS (2 SHOTS) 2.03 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 22nd June 1998 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- City:
- Country: Turkey
- Reuters ID: LVA4BSL8JQVRXWU3OXMKV1N239RT
- Story Text: Environmentalists protesting at oil transfers through the Bosphorus Straits have crowded onto small boats to try and impede a tanker's progress.Activists are calling for stricter safety measures.
A guard launch and police boat intervened and secured the Russian oil tanker's journey by accompanying it through the straits.
Over 200 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) organised the protest which saw about 100 boats enter the straits demanding tighter security for the stretch of water.
Environmentalists have long been concerned about the passage of tankers through narrow straits which divide Istanbul.More than 10 million people live in the city.
The minister responsible for the environment Imren Aykut told protestors his office would do all it could to secure the safety of the straits and Istanbul locals.
The Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits are governed by the 1936 Montreux Convention guaranteeing free passage in peacetime for all vessels, carrying any cargo.
Turkey first issued a set of regulatory measures in 1994, after a tanker collision in which 28 seamen were killed and 20,000 tonnes of oil spilled.
Several countries, notably Russia, objected that the rules were an infringement of the convention.Russia relies on the straits for shipping from or to its Black Sea ports.
In 1934 about 4,500 vessels used the straits.Last year this number had grown to about 50,000 - an average passage of 18 tankers a day.
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