ANKARA, April 15. /TASS/. Turkish Minister of Transport Adil Karaismailoglu questioned the fact that Ukraine released floating naval mines into the Black Sea. According to him, the minesweeping ships of Turkey’s Navy constantly patrol the coastal waters.

"As for the mines, both sides say different things, however, over such a short period they could not have appeared near Istanbul’s coast. It looks strange to us that the mines could have been released by Ukraine," the T-24 portal quoted him as saying on Friday.

A similar opinion was earlier expressed by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar. He didn’t rule out that the mines discovered near Turkey’s coast had been intentionally planted there to put pressure on Ankara, so it would allow NATO warships to pass through the Bosporus into the Black Sea. The top military official also stated that Ankara adheres to the Montreux Convention, which regulates maritime traffic through the Black Sea.

On March 19, the FSB’s Public Relations Center reported that the mines planted by the Ukrainian Navy at the approaches to Black Sea ports may begin drifting towards the Bosporus due to ruptured cables. At the end of March and in early April, drifting mines were spotted near the Turkish coast three times, they all were destroyed.