Black Sea

Turkey said on Feb. 28 it was blocking warships from the key Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits in line with a convention that gives it control over the passage of military vessels in the strategic area.

"It is not a couple of air strikes now, the situation in Ukraine is officially a war … We will implement the Montreux Convention," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday, having finally recognised Russia's military "actions" in Ukraine as a war.

A tanker ship passes through the Bosporus at Istanbul. Photo: Pixabay/Murat Soyluoglu

"We are calling for the air space, Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits to be closed. We have conveyed our demand to the Turkish side. At the same time, we want sanctions imposed on the Russian side," Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar said in Ankara.

Ukraine has demanded Turkey to close its straits for Russian vessels, Ukraine's Ambassador to Ankara Vasyl Bodnar said on Feb. 24, after Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine.

"We conveyed our official request to the Turkish side regarding the closure of the airspace, the Dardanelles [Strait] and Bosphorus [Strait] for Russian ships," he told reporters at a press conference.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has urged the Turkish government to preserve the Montreux Convention during the recent escalation between the West and Russia in Ukraine.

Drillship Fatih, owned by the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), started drilling its third exploration well in the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea region, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez said yesterday.

The Spanish frigate Blas de Lezo sails to the Black Sea from the Ferrol naval base on the Atlantic coast.

It is part of a pledge promised by Defense Minister Margarita Robles to bolster NATO forces amid tensions with Russia over the build-up of Russian troops on Ukraine's border.

An annual report released by the State Meteorological Service has showed that the volume of the precipitation across the country between Oct. 1, 2020 and Sept. 30, 2021, has been the least of the last two decades.

"The precipitation decreased by 16 percent compared to rainfalls that occurred a year ago and some 19 percent down from the average of several years," the report said.

In a surprising event, grouper, an endangered marine species rarely observed in its prime habitat areas such as the Mediterranean Sea, has been spotted off Turkey's Black Sea coast for the very first time.

Turkey continues its efforts for multilateral dialogue and cooperation in the Black Sea, Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Sept. 19.