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- October 12, 202619°
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- October 12, 202619°
Fidan warns Black Sea must not become a new front in Russia-Ukraine war
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the Russia-Ukraine war is spreading to the Black Sea, with rising attacks on civilian ships also hitting Turkish-flagged, Turkish-owned and Turkish-crewed vessels, and that Ankara has warned both sides.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned that the Russia-Ukraine war is spreading to the Black Sea, speaking at a joint press conference in Ankara with Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Anita Orbán. "As regional countries and the international community, we must never allow the Black Sea to turn into a new front of conflict," he said.
Fidan said the war remains one of the main threats to regional and global stability and recalled that Türkiye has worked hard since the start of the conflict to keep it from spilling into the Black Sea, citing its strict implementation of the Montreux Convention on the straits and the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
"Turkish ships are also affected"
"Today, however, we see the war spreading to the Black Sea," Fidan said, adding that increasing attacks on civilian vessels pose a serious threat to life, property, navigation and environmental safety. The two countries’ efforts to gain military superiority over each other are seriously affecting navigation, he said: "We see that Turkish-flagged, Turkish-owned and Turkish-crewed ships in particular are also affected."
Fidan said Ankara has conveyed its assessments and warnings to both sides. The attacks harm not only ships and crews, he said, but also create food security problems because grain carried by the vessels cannot reach international markets. "We are doing everything we can to bring this to an end," he said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also stressed the importance of safe navigation in the Black Sea in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Oct. 7.
European security and the Mecca Agreement
"Europe’s security cannot be considered separately from Türkiye’s security and its capabilities," Fidan said, calling for well-grounded debate before lasting security policies are adopted, "otherwise it may be too late."
Asked about the Mecca Agreement, Fidan said: "When a country that is party to the agreement is attacked, you stand by it for its defense. This is not an attack agreement." He said Türkiye would not send troops to another country’s territory to carry out an attack and that work to submit the agreement to parliament had been completed.
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