NATO and Russia are in a direct frontal conflict, with the incident in the Black Sea being only one episode of an undeclared war between the two sides, while there are fears that yesterday's incident with the drone will bring about changes in this region, and possibly involvement and of other countries on patrols near the Russian air border.
Turkish columnist Mehmet Ali Güller revealed the US plans for the Black Sea. In a column in a Turkish media outlet, he said Washington was trying to turn the Black Sea into a "NATO lake."
“What is the US strategy? The United States is trying to turn the Black Sea into a "NATO lake". They are trying to overturn the balance and harmony that Turkey sought in the Black Sea throughout the Cold War," it says.
These statements were prompted by the crash of the US MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the Black Sea the previous day, which again caused tension in the region. The US accuses Russia of aggression and Russia accuses the US of spying on its borders.
In addition, distrust rose after the statements of the Coordinator of Strategic Communications of the National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby, as he emphasized how important it is to "maintain the status quo in the Black Sea: "We will continue to fly and operate in international airspace over international waters. The Black Sea does not belong to any nation. We will continue to do what we must to ensure our national security interests in this part of the world,” he said.
Turkey Reveals US Black Sea Plans
The "director of strategic communication" of the White House carefully chose his words according to the US strategy: The Black Sea does not belong to any nation, it is their right to be active in the international arena!
These very statements of his made the Turks go on the "attack" and ask: So what is the US strategy? "The US is trying to use the new situation that arose with the dissolution of the USSR as a way to make the Black Sea a NATO 'lake'. It is trying to disrupt the balance and harmony that Turkey sought in the Black Sea during the Cold War," they emphasize in a strong tone.
They suspect, although they are almost certain, that the US is trying to make the Black Sea a NATO "lake" by adding Bulgaria and Romania on top of Turkey's NATO membership, making Ukraine and Georgia partners in the Alliance, making 5 of the 6 Black Sea countries that are NATO allies.
Thus, it is trying to create a strategic superiority over Russia by entering the Black Sea, which is the only sea it cannot enter freely, and use it in the global power struggle by holding a very important area of Eurasia.
The US barrier
So what is stopping the US from freely entering the Black Sea? The Montreux Convention.
The 1936 convention prevents the United States from being in the Black Sea indefinitely, with a limit on the number of ships and tonnage carried by the landlocked countries on the Black Sea.
It is a strong signal to the Turks that the US, sometimes openly defending the Montreux update, and sometimes saying "the Black Sea does not belong to anyone, it is an international sea", as in this case, is trying to remove the Montreux barrier .
The Black Sea is a semi-enclosed sea and the most important international document affecting the legal status of the Black Sea is the Montreux Convention of 1936. The Convention sets out separate rights and obligations for Turkey, the states bordering the Black Sea and other states that they use the narrows.
Therefore, the current Montreux-based Black Sea regime impedes free and unrestricted US activities.
Turkish strategy "next to" the Black Sea
Ankara sees Washington's objective in the Black Sea at odds with its own approach in general. Despite managers like Erdogan occasionally calling NATO directly into the Black Sea, Turkey has maintained "balance and harmony" with Russia in the Black Sea since 1936.
They keep emphasizing that the doctrine and words that best summarize the Turkish state's strategy in the Black Sea were made in 2008 by the Head of the Turkish Navy, Ilker Başbuğ, who stated the following: "The Black Sea is an issue that belongs to the countries which have shores on the Black Sea".
In a recent Pentapostagma article we predicted that, British and German together with American forces are patrolling the Baltic Sea, and soon the same will happen in the Black Sea, possibly from the countries of the Balkan alliance (Greece-Turkey who knows), for to secure the area.
This way, little by little, all EU countries will be involved in the war in Ukraine in an indirect way.
