Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that attacks on commercial ships in the Black Sea were unacceptable, issuing a warning to "all related sides" after an unmanned vessel reportedly struck a tanker off Turkey's northern coast.
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan, Reuters/Sodiq Adelakun
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that attacks on commercial ships in the Black Sea were unacceptable, issuing a warning to "all related sides" after an unmanned vessel reportedly struck a tanker off Turkey's northern coast.
“The war between Russia and Ukraine has clearly begun to threaten navigational safety in the Black Sea. The targeting of vessels in our Exclusive Economic Zone on Friday signals a worrying escalation," Erdogan told reporters.
"We cannot justify these attacks in any way. We are conveying the necessary warnings to all relevant sides regarding such incidents.”
Turkey said on Saturday that the Virat, a tanker that forms part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, was hit late on Friday by an unmanned vessel some 35 miles off Turkey’s Black Sea coast.
A Ukrainian official said on Saturday that Ukrainian naval drones hit two sanctioned tankers in the Black Sea as they headed to a Russian port to load up with oil destined for foreign markets, as Kyiv tries to pile pressure on Russia's vast oil industry.
Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever
Turkey said on Saturday that an unmanned vessel reportedly attacked a tanker in Russia's shadow fleet off Turkey's Black Sea coast, after the ship was initially struck late on Friday.
Pope Leo visited Istanbul's famed Blue Mosque on Saturday, removing his shoes in a sign of respect but not appearing to pray in his first visit as leader of the Catholic Church to a Muslim place of worship during his four-day visit to Turkey.
Blasts rocked two tankers from Russia's shadow fleet in the Black Sea near Turkey's Bosphorus strait on Friday, causing fires on the vessels, and rescue operations were launched for those on board, Turkish authorities and sources said.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.