Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said there are suspicions that the floating mines may have been deliberately dropped as part of a plan to allow NATO destroyers to enter the Black Sea, Hurriyet reported.
“We have suspicions that the mines were not planted intentionally. Perhaps these mines were set up as part of a plan to allow NATO miners to enter the Black Sea,” Akar said in a statement to the Central Executive Board this week. Justice and Development Party, in which he presented information on the defense industry and developments in connection with the war in Ukraine.
The minister said a possible plan may be aimed at putting pressure on Turkey, but stressed that Ankara is determined to abide by the rules of the Montreux Convention. “We will not launch warships into the Black Sea. We will not allow the Black Sea to be involved in the war,” Akar said.
“We do not know who left these mines in the Black Sea. They are Russian-made, but the question of which country left them is being investigated. There are reports that there are about 400 mines. We held talks with authorities in Bulgaria and Romania. “They are also monitoring,” Akar said.
He also pointed out that normally these mines are locked when they are detached from the rope, but the mines destroyed by Turkish teams have shown that there is no such system. “So could they have been left so deliberately? We are investigating,” Akar said.
Since the end of March, Turkish underwater security teams have cleared three floating mines.
Turkey’s defense ministry said this week that Turkey’s navy has stepped up preventive efforts to detect and clear potential floating mines in the Black Sea in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Tags:
–
