Search Vessels on Duty After Sea Mine Neutralised in Bosphorus, Turkish Minister Says

ANKARA (Sputnik) - There is no emergency situation in the Black Sea despite two naval mines being spotted the day before, as mine-search vessels continue to be on duty, Turkish Minister of National Defence Hulusi Akar said on Sunday.

On Saturday, the Turkish newspaper Star reported that fishermen had seen a mine-like object in the area of the Sariyer-Turkeli anchorage at the entrance to the Bosphorus Strait.

The Turkish Ministry of National Defence said it had taken all necessary measures to neutralise the mine-like object and shortly thereafter ship traffic was restored. However, a few hours later, a second mine-like object was found in the waters of the Bosphorus.

"There is no emergency in the Black Sea. Our mine-search vessels are on duty", Akar told reporters.

Last week, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said that the Ukrainian military had installed about 420 mines at the entrance to the ports of Odessa, Ochakov, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhnoe since the beginning of the Russian military operation in the country. The FSB did not exclude the possibility of mines drifting to the Bosphorus and further into the Mediterranean Basin.

According to the newspaper Hurriyet, the Turkish Navy has since urged ships to track drifting mines following the FSB statement. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that the Defence Ministry was taking all the necessary measures in connection with the information about drifting mines in the Black Sea.

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