Turkish authorities have disabled a mine in the Black Sea, the defense ministry said on Wednesday, in the fourth such incident since the start of the Ukraine war.
“A mine was detected off Kiyikoy … and has been secured and neutralised,” the ministry tweeted.
Kiyikoy is located less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Bosphorus.
Three mines were discovered in the spring near the Turkish coast in the Black Sea, including one off Igneada, a village located 30 kilometers (17 miles) west of Kiyikoy, and one near the mouth of the Bosphorus.
There was speculation that the mines could have become unmoored from Ukrainian waters during storms, but Ankara never confirmed their origin, and none had been found since.
Underwater mines must be equipped with systems that make them harmless if unmoored, according to the Hague Convention of 1907.
But older mines may lack such systems and present a hazard.
