MOSCOW - The activities of ships of the Turkish Navy in the Black Sea indicated that the country's marines were unlikely to have something to do with the recent coup attempt, a source familiar with the situation told Interfax-AVN on July 19.
“At least, the coup attempt has never disrupted the plans of the Turkish Navy to take part in two largest naval exercises in the Black Sea region,” the news agency’s interlocutor said when commenting on reports published in a number of media and later refuted by Ankara alleging that four to fourteen Turkish Navy ships under the control of President Tayyip Erdogan’s opponents were spotted in the Black Sea.
“Currently, up to 20 warships and support vessels of the Turkish Navy are actually in the Black Sea. Up to ten ships participated in the Breeze-2016 international exercise that was completed on July 17 nearby the shores of Romania and Bulgaria. Several other ships participated in the Sea Breeze-2016 joint exercise of Ukrainian Navy and NATO that started the day before,” the news agency’s interlocutor said. “Perhaps that is where this figure reported by media came from,” the source suggested.
At the same time, the U.S. guided-missile destroyer ‘Ross’ “that is due to take part in the Sea Breeze-2016 exercise is not rushing into the Black Sea yet”, the source said. “However, the marine part of this exercise has not started yet,” the source said.
It was reported earlier that the Russian reconnaissance ship ‘Liman’ from the Black Sea Fleet observed the marine part of the Breeze-2016 exercise.
