Turkish diplomatic sources stated on Tuesday that Türkiye is ready to take the lead in Black Sea maritime security with other partners as part of postwar security guarantees based on a mutually agreed peace deal following the attacks against a commercial vessel on Nov. 28.
According to the Anadolu Agency (AA), Türkiye has reiterated warnings against the expansion of the war toward its own coasts and the risk of the conflict spreading across the Black Sea.
Ankara underscores that it will not allow the security of the Black Sea to be threatened by any country, not only by the directly involved actors.
Only Russia and Ukraine have the right to make the final decisions regarding any peace agreement, and Türkiye strongly supports negotiations aimed at ending the war, the sources said.
Meanwhile, Türkiye, Romania and Bulgaria on Wednesday discussed recent drone attacks claimed by Ukraine on Russia-bound tankers in the Black Sea, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with his counterparts from Bulgaria and Romania on the sidelines of the NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels, said the ministry source.
All three countries have the Black Sea as at least part of their coastline.
During that meeting, "the importance attached to the security of the Black Sea for the three NATO member littoral states was emphasized," the foreign ministry source said.
"It was stressed that freedom of navigation and compliance with international legal rules in the Black Sea are necessary," the source added.
Since the start of the conflict in February 2022, Türkiye has played a leading role in securing consensus on key issues such as the Black Sea Grain Initiative and prisoner exchanges, prioritizing efforts toward ending the war.
As the war continues to inflict damage on both Ukraine and Russia, Türkiye remains one of the rare countries maintaining dialogue with both sides and stands ready to provide any support needed throughout the peace process.
Regarding the security guarantees to be put in place following a mutually agreed peace settlement, the sources confirm that it is, in principle, prepared to take on responsibilities and assume a leading role in the maritime domain in the Black Sea together with other partners.
Sources also noted that Türkiye plays a significant role in Europe's defense with its size, capabilities and capacity.
As NATO's second-largest army and the second-biggest contributor to alliance operations and missions, Türkiye also exports defense industry products worth more than $7 billion.
Türkiye's robust defense industry, employing around 100,000 people, enables this level of production and export capacity.
Excluding a country in such a position from European defense initiatives does not serve the interests of the EU, which is seeking to establish its own defense structure, according to the sources.
The sources underlined that NATO's open-door policy is based on Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which allows new members to join if their accession is considered to contribute to the security of existing allies.
Accordingly, if current members believe that further enlargement is not possible at a given time, this perspective should also be respected.
Türkiye has continued its support for Ukraine's territorial integrity, unity, and sovereignty since Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, the sources noted.
Türkiye’s Directorate General for Maritime Affairs announced on Tuesday that a tanker sailing from Russia to Georgia was attacked some 80 miles (128.75 kilometers) from the Turkish coast. It is the latest instance of spillover of the Russia-Ukraine conflict to the Black Sea, where Türkiye shares about a 1,700-kilometer border.
The incident is a dramatic escalation of maritime attacks in the Russia-Ukraine conflict that was largely confined to the northern coasts of the Black Sea. Prior to the attack, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday underlined the serious risk to maritime security as he commented on two other attacks.
Previously, two oil tankers were also attacked off Türkiye’s Black Sea coast. Ukraine has acknowledged that it carried out the earlier attacks, reportedly on Russian tankers, part of what is dubbed a "shadow fleet" utilized by Russia to evade Western sanctions on trade. A Ukrainian security source told Agence France-Presse (AFP) their forces had carried out the earlier attacks, with drones targeting vessels that were "covertly transporting Russian oil."
However, a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry official on Tuesday said Kyiv "has nothing to do" with a reported drone strike on a Russian tanker in the Black Sea, rejecting Moscow's accusations and questioning the logic of the vessel's alleged route. The ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said Ukraine "officially refutes any allegations of such kind made by Russian propaganda," adding that the suggested trajectory, from Russia toward Georgia across Türkiye's exclusive economic zone, "makes no sense" and may indicate Russia "staged the whole thing."
Moreover, Foreign Minister Fidan and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also discussed Black Sea safety on Wednesday during the NATO meeting in Brussels, ministry sources said.
Ankara, a NATO member that has kept good relations with both sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, has condemned attacks on vessels with links to Moscow that took place inside Türkiye's exclusive economic zone off its coast in the Black Sea.
