moon
Satire for Sanity
Turkey suspects conspiracy behind Black Sea mines
The defense chief reportedly suggested explosives may have been deployed intentionally to justify sending in NATO minesweepers
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has reportedly raised the possibility that mines discovered off his country’s coast were purposely deployed in the Black Sea as a pretext for sending NATO minesweepers to the region amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“We have doubts as to whether the mines were left intentionally,” the defense minister told members of Turkey’s Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK) in a meeting last week, the Hurriyet Daily News reported on Sunday. “Maybe these mines were left within a plan for NATO minesweepers to enter the Black Sea.”
The aim of this type of scheme might be to pressure Ankara into allowing NATO warships to enter the Black Sea through the Turkish Straits, Akar said. He insisted that Ankara will abide by the Montreux Convention, which allows Turkey to regulate maritime traffic through the straits during times of war.
https://www.rt.com/news/553636-turkey-bars-nato-warships-from-black-sea/
That seems like a reasonable assumption, considering the character of the suspects.