The Montreux Convention and the straits

You must have heard about the myths of Lausanne, the 1923 treaty that shaped modern Turkey. One of the more colorful myths is that there are secret clauses attached to the Treaty of Lausanne, and Turkey's representative when it was signed, ?smet Pasha, pledged to the West to get Turkish youths addicted to football in order to "distance them from spirituality," while also hiring women in public employment in order to "loosen their morals."

Another myth is that the Treaty of Lausanne is limited to 100 years and is due to expire in 2023, meaning that we should expect a lot to happen in 2023.

Other myths are built around the fact that the United States never approved the treaty.
 
These days there are also plenty of myths circulating about the Montreux Convention of 1936, which regulates international access to the Bosphorus and Dardenelles Straits. One myth is around the fact that the Montreux Convention must be reviewed every 20 years, so in 2016 there will be lots of pressure on Turkey to change the convention.

Amid current tension between Ankara and Moscow, you can see that these myths resurface according to current political conjecture and propaganda. You will also see that in 2016 there will be no crisis over annulling or amending the Montreux Convention. 

But where does this ides of a 2016 amendment come from? The Montreux Convention was signed on July 20, 1936. It completed what the Treaty of Lausanne lacked about access to the straits. 

The convention, which grants free passage to ships under certain rules, states that it is valid for 20 years. It includes a clause that two years prior to the expiry of these 20 years, an annulment can be demanded by a signatory state. When no annulment is demanded, the...