Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned on Thursday, October 8, that the Russian-Ukrainian war must not turn the Black Sea into a new front, citing the growing number of attacks on civilian vessels and risks to shipping and food security. UNN reports this with reference to Türkiye Today.
Details
"We must never allow the Black Sea to turn into a new front in the conflict," Fidan said at a joint press conference in Ankara with Hungary's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Orbán.
Fidan said that Europe's security cannot be considered separately from Turkey's security, capabilities and potential.
"Before permanent approaches to security policy are adopted, qualified discussions must be held. Otherwise, it may be too late," he said.
He said that the Russian-Ukrainian war remains one of the main threats to regional and global stability, the publication writes.
"Since the beginning of the war, we have worked persistently to prevent it from spreading to the Black Sea," Fidan said, citing Turkey's "meticulous" implementation of the Montreux Convention regarding the regime of the straits and the Black Sea Grain Initiative as examples of this approach.
Fidan said that the war is now spreading to the Black Sea, where attacks on civilian vessels have become more frequent, posing a serious threat to life, property, shipping and environmental security.
"As countries of the region and the international community, we must never allow the Black Sea to turn into a new front in the conflict," Fidan said.
He said that Ankara is conveying its assessments and warnings on this issue to both sides.
"The efforts of the two countries to gain a military advantage over each other have a serious impact on the safety of shipping in the Black Sea," Fidan said.
He added that Turkish-flagged vessels, vessels owned by Turkey and vessels with Turkish crews had also been affected.
"We are doing everything possible to put an end to this situation," he said.
Fidan said that the attacks not only harm personnel and vessels, but also create risks to food security, especially when grain shipments fail to reach international markets.
"We need to prevent this situation," he said.
Mecca Pact
Fidan also said that Turkey had completed preparations to submit the Mecca Defense Agreement for approval by the country's parliament, emphasizing that the pact is defensive in nature.
"The work required to submit the agreement to parliament has been completed," he said.
Fidan said that the agreement provides for mutual defense if one of its signatories is attacked.
"As soon as a country that is a party to the agreement is attacked, you support its defense. This is not an offensive agreement," he said.
He also clarified that the pact does not allow Turkey to deploy troops to another country's territory to carry out an attack.
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