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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned that escalating attacks linked to the Russia-Ukraine war are endangering navigational safety in the Black Sea, saying Ankara is conveying its concerns to all sides.
“The mutual attacks carried out in recent days seriously threaten navigational safety in the Black Sea.
Targeting civilian vessels benefits no one. We are conveying our warnings to the parties,” Erdogan said while speaking at the 16th Ambassadors Conference at the Bestepe Nations Convention and Exhibition Hall.
Fighting between Russia and Ukraine has increasingly spilled into the Black Sea, with both sides targeting vessels. Ukraine said Saturday that Russia struck a Turkish ship transporting sunflower oil in the Black Sea, a day after a Russian attack caused a fire on a Turkish-owned vessel at a Ukrainian port.
The ship was operating in Ukraine’s exclusive economic zone and using a grain corridor along Ukraine’s coastline that is intended to ensure safe passage for key agricultural shipments.
The incident marked the second strike on a Turkish vessel in two days and came shortly after Erdogan called for a halt to attacks on ports and energy facilities during face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
“Russia delivered a targeted strike using a drone against the Turkish vessel ‘VIVA,’ which was en route to Egypt carrying sunflower oil,” Ukraine’s navy said on social media.
Emphasizing that attacks on commercial and civilian vessels serve no purpose, Erdogan said, “We are clearly conveying our warnings to both sides.”
Ukraine said Monday that its underwater drones had, for the first time in the war, successfully struck a Russian submarine docked at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.
Kyiv has stepped up naval attacks in recent weeks on what it says are Russia-linked vessels in the Black Sea, while Russian forces continue to strike the Ukrainian port of Odesa.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian ships in the Black Sea using drones and missiles.
Separately, Türkiye’s Defense Ministry said Monday that Turkish forces shot down a drone that had “lost control” and approached Turkish airspace from the Black Sea.
The unmanned aerial vehicle was detected and tracked under routine procedures and downed by F-16 fighter jets in a safe area away from populated zones “to prevent any adverse consequences,” the ministry said.
According to CNN Turk Ankara Representative Dicle Canova, the drone flew over the Black Sea along the Kastamonu route and was shot down between Cankiri and Elmadag. She said the drone was difficult to detect on radar because of its small size and initially appeared to be a meteorological aircraft before continuing toward Turkish airspace.
Once the drone entered Turkish airspace, F-16s were placed on alert and waited for it to reach a suitable location before shooting it down with a missile outside a populated area, CNN Turk reported.
The wreckage has not yet been fully recovered and will be examined by the Air Force once collected.
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Meanwhile, Erdogan warned over the weekend against the Black Sea becoming an “area of confrontation” between Russia and Ukraine, following a series of recent strikes on vessels in the region.
A Turkish ship was damaged Friday in a Russian air strike near the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, hours after Erdogan spoke with Putin.
The Turkish leader has repeatedly voiced concern over rising risks to maritime security, including attacks claimed by Ukraine on tankers linked to Russia off the Turkish coast.
Türkiye, which borders the Black Sea and faces both Ukraine and Russia’s annexed Crimea, has maintained close ties with Kyiv and Moscow since the start of the war in February 2022, positioning itself as a mediator while urging restraint to prevent further escalation.
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