Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned of a “dangerous escalation” of tensions in the Black Sea following the recent Ukrainian naval drone attacks on two Russian oil tankers off Turkey’s northern coast: attacks that have been repeated in recent hours.
“Under no circumstances can we accept these attacks, which endanger the safety of navigation, the environment and human lives in our exclusive economic zone,” Erdoğan was quoted by Turkish media as saying in a televised address after attending a meeting of his cabinet in Ankara, which he chaired at the Presidential Complex and which lasted three hours and 15 minutes.
The Turkish authorities reported that the two oil tankers attacked – the Virat and the Kairos, both unladen – both registered explosions on 28 November, with no apparent casualties. Both ships were sailing under the Gambian flag and were subject to Western sanctions for carrying Russian oil, contrary to embargoes in place since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
While Erdoğan reiterated that Türkiye is ready to “make whatever contributions are necessary to end the war“, he did not hesitate to call the latest attacks a “worrying escalation“. The Turkish president warned that the “conflict between Russia and Ukraine has clearly reached a point where it threatens the safety of navigation in the Black Sea”. “We are issuing the necessary warnings to all sides in the face of these developments,” he insisted.
New Ukrainian attack on Russian oil tanker
Following the attacks on the two Russian vessels, the Turkish authorities have reported a new incident in the area in the last few hours. According to information from Turkey’s Directorate General of Maritime Affairs, the tanker MIDVOLGA-2, which was carrying sunflower oil from Russia to Georgia, “reported that it was attacked 80 nautical miles off our coast” in the early hours of the morning.
“The vessel, which has no problems among its 13 crew members, has not requested assistance,” the agency added in a statement. The ship was on its way to the Turkish port of Sinop on the central Turkey’s Black Sea coast, but the new incident marks a marked escalation of maritime attacks in the Russia-Ukraine war, so far mainly concentrated on the northern Black Sea coast.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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