The war in Ukraine has resulted in Russian and Ukrainian naval forces creating extensive sea minefields in the Black Sea, with the result that many of them are being released voluntarily or involuntarily, threatening the navigation of merchant ships.
This has created the need for countries bordering the Black Sea to clear it of mines within their maritime borders.
To this end, the defence ministers of Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria held talks at NATO in Brussels in October in November 2023 as they worked to finalise the "Trilateral Initiative".
Turkey-Bulgaria-Romania Black Sea Demining Memorandum signed by Turkey-Bulgaria-Romania
Finally, according to Turkish media, the Memorandum of the Black Sea Mine Countermeasures Working Group (MCM Black Sea) will be signed in Istanbul tomorrow.
The ceremony will take place at 11:00 at the Kalender Pavilion in Sarıyer.
In this context, Romanian Defence Minister Angel Tilvar and Bulgarian Deputy Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov are expected to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with the Minister of National Defence Yaşar Güler.
After the war started in Ukraine in February 2022, the Black Sea littoral countries started to be affected by this war.
Mine surveillance activities have continued uninterrupted by the Turkish Naval Forces Command since 26 March 2022, with maritime patrol aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, Tuzla-class patrol boats, minehunting ships , rapid response vessels and coastal surveillance radars.
In addition to the measures taken by the Naval Forces, with the work launched under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an agreement was reached with Romania and Bulgaria to establish a "Mine Countermeasures Task Force" against the threat of mines drifting in the Black Sea and negotiations started last September at the level of technical delegations.
Its contribution to the safety of navigation
It is noted that the group, which aims to contribute to the security of navigation in the Black Sea, was not formed against or as an alternative to any country or structure, but was created for defensive purposes only.
It is reported that agreement was reached to establish an Operations Plan on an annual basis, including such matters as exercises, training and port visits.
It is stressed that the three coastal NATO allies will continue their efforts to make the Black Sea a safe zone again, operationally operational, with the "MCM Black Sea" initiative.
Meetings twice (2) a year and every 6 months change of command
The Memorandum of Understanding of the Black Sea Mine Action Task Force provides for the establishment of a committee as the executive body of the initiative with the participation of the Naval Commanders of the Parties and for meetings to be held at least twice a year.
In addition, it is envisaged that the command of the initiative will be rotated every six months and the unit and fleet commanders who will carry out the work will be appointed by the country taking over the command.
The initiative is expected to consist of one mine warfare ship and one command and control ship from each country and operations will be conducted at least twice every six months in fifteen-day periods.
Following the signed memorandum, the working group is intended to be activated after going through the domestic legal procedures of all three countries.
The Russian-Turkish Black Sea control plan
Russia and Turkey have been drawing up a plan under which they want to turn the Black Sea into their lake, with the Turkish Naval Chief of Staff recently stating that "We don't want America and NATO in the Black Sea".
Erdogan looks forward to sharing the Black Sea with his friend Putin after the end of the war in Ukraine, by satelliteing Romania-Bulgaria-Ukraine, which have negligible navies compared to those of Russia and Turkey.
A stepping stone for this is the "Trilateral Initiative" that includes only Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria, to disarm the Black Sea under Erdogan's "tutelage".
The Turkish President wants the Black Sea to become the Turkish "mare nostrum", using it as a lever to pressure the US-NATO to serve its own purposes, excluding them from any activity in it.
Indicative of how Turkey sees its position in NATO vis-à-vis Russia is the arrangement of the Turkish navy and its many bases in the Aegean-NE Mediterranean compared to almost none in the Black Sea.
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