ANKARA, April 27. /TASS/. Turkey deployed special radars near the Bosporus Strait entrance to detect naval mines, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Wednesday.
"We are watching Bosporus closely. In order to avoid surprises near the entrance and exit, we took additional measures, we’ve deployed radars. As of now, we can easily state that there are no problems with navigation in Bosporus," the Defense Minister said after the consultations on provision of military aid to Kiev that took place in Germany.
According to Akar, there are various estimations regarding the number of mines in the Black Sea. However, he added, this issue must be addressed with caution.
"As of today, three mines were eliminated. Our minesweepers, helicopters, patrol planes and special operations forces are on increased alert," the Minister said.
Previously, Akar speculated that the mines that were discovered near Turkish coast were deployed intentionally to pressure Ankara to allow NATO military ships’ passage through Bosporus into the Black Sea.
On March 19, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that the naval mines, deployed by the Ukrainian Navy in the Black Sea can drift towards Bosporus after their tethers broke. In late March and early April, Turkey detected drifting mines three times; all of them were eliminated.