The naval chiefs of Türkiye and Russia signed an agreement in Moscow on Tuesday bringing Russia into Operation Black Sea Harmony. Turkish Naval Forces Commander Admiral Yener Karahanoglu and Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Vladimir Masorin held a joint press conference following the signing. A technical meeting scheduled for 29-30 November will work out the operational details.
Admiral Karahanoglu noted that Türkiye had extended invitations to all Black Sea coastal nations, with Ukraine, Russia, and Romania having accepted. He said the operation, active since 1 March 2004, had logged nearly 96,000 vessel contacts, identifying 93 percent of them, and had questioned some 60,000 commercial ships. More than 300 vessels transit the sea daily.
On the question of U.S. naval activity in the Black Sea, Karahanoglu pointed to the Montreux Convention as the governing framework for all nations, including the United States.
Admiral Masorin stressed that Russia prefers Black Sea security to remain the exclusive responsibility of littoral states. He said Russia opposes the entry of non-regional vessels, particularly NATO warships, and believes counterterrorism operations in the sea should involve only coastal nations.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.