Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in March 2022 until today, Turkey has detected a total of 275 suspicious objects in the waters of the Black Sea, including sea mines, unmanned aerial vehicles and sea drones, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced, quoted by the Anadolu Agency, BTA reported.
In a written statement on the subject, the Ministry indicated that since 2022, the Turkish Navy has been continuously conducting reconnaissance, observation and patrol missions in order to neutralize and eliminate suspicious objects and in fulfillment of its obligations to the Black Sea Mine Countermeasures Naval Group “MCM BLACK SEA“, in which the country participates together with Bulgaria and Romania.
“Within the framework of "In the efforts to protect the areas under our maritime jurisdiction in the Black Sea, two frigates, one submarine, one patrol ship, one maritime patrol aircraft, one helicopter and one unmanned aerial vehicle are deployed. For mine surveillance activities, two minesweepers, one fast attack craft, three helicopters and one unmanned aerial vehicle are available," the statement said.
The Turkish Defense Ministry stated that during the operations and surveillance activities carried out so far, the Turkish Navy has registered a total of 28,150 hours at sea, while maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles have carried out 1,554 flights with a total of 7,711 flight hours.