Turkey’s limitations in the Black Sea and Crimea

The title of the EurasiaNet article contained an element of black humor. It read, “As Black Sea ‘Boils,’ Turkish Navy Heads To … Africa.”

US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Truxtun sets sail in the Bosporus, on its way to the Black Sea, March 7, 2014. (photo by REUTERS)

Author Cengiz Çandar Posted March 19, 2014

Translator(s)Timur Goksel

The humor is even more apparent in the lead paragraph: “A small Turkish naval flotilla is setting out on a three-month, 28-country circumnavigation of Africa. It will be the first time in 148 years that Turkish ships have rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and an ambitious demonstration of Turkey’s rising ambitions in Africa. But the timing of the deployment is awkward, coming just as the security situation around the Black Sea is becoming more precarious.”

Not many people noticed this report. Turks are riveted by the upcoming March 30 local elections. They even refuse to show interest in events “next door.” What makes this news report ironic is not only the security aspects it highlights, but that Turkey constitutes the entire southern coast of the Black Sea. The source of the precarious security situation on the Black Sea is Crimea, which is in close proximity to Turkey, with direct and short maritime links. Turkey also has truly deep and special historic and cultural ties with Crimea.

The Tatars, a Turkic community, were former inhabitants and rulers of Crimea. Crimean Tatars are one of the diverse peoples comprising the modern nation of Turkey.

Putin’s Tools of Sabotage Beat Urgency of Ukraine Invasion

By Henry Meyer Mar 20, 2014 9:50 AM GMT+0100

Photographer: Alexei Nikolsky/AFP via Getty Images

President Vladimir Putin said, “Everything has its limits. And in the case of Ukraine,… Read More

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After annexing Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin may not need to invade the rest of Ukraine to bring it to its knees. Political and financial sabotage can work just as well.

While Putin promised that Russia isn’t about to send in troops, he has plenty of other tools to undermine the Western-backed Ukrainian government. They include fomenting insurrection by Russian-speakers, waging a cyberwar, visa restrictions and crippling Ukraine financially by ramping up natural gas prices and demanding the repayment of billions of dollars in debts.

Fast Draw – Russia vs. The West

It’s not that Putin is so strong, it’s that the world is weak. Putin’s recent actions have been nothing less than outrageous, but that’s because he can see that weakness very clearly

Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, the evidence for that weakness goes on and on. The U.S. and Europe compete to see who initiates more sterile discussions in the U.N. or other useless international organizations. Putin can see the big picture and acts on it. The atmoshpere of “Russia can do anything” peaked two days ago.

The leading anchor of Russia’s national TV station described Russia as the only country that can turn the U.S. into “radioactive ash” – a comment which led to increased tension between the two in light of recent events in the Crimean Peninsula.

“Russia is the only country in the world who can really turn the U.S. into radioactive ash,” said Dmitry Kisliyov in his weekly report on the Rossiya 1 TV channel. He argued that America and Barack Obama are afraid of Putin and Russia in light of the Ukraine sitation.

Russia Could Turn U.S. into ‘Radioactive Ashes,’ State TV Anchor Says

By Anna Dolgov Mar. 17 2014 10:41 Last edited 10:41

Rossia 1Kiselyov speaking on his news program on state television on Sunday.

An anchor on state-run television threatened that Russia could “turn the U.S. into radioactive ashes” and showed a simulation of a Russian nuclear strike during his program on the U.S. response to Russia’s interference in Ukraine.

Dmitry Kiselyov, who hosts a current affairs talk show on the Rossiya television network and heads a new Kremlin-backed news agency, accused U.S. President Barack Obama of supposedly dithering in talks with President Vladimir Putin, and suggested on his Sunday program that the U.S. leader was intimidated by his Kremlin opponent, who is “not an easy one.”

“And Russia is the only country that could really turn the U.S. into radioactive ashes,” Kiselyov said, against the backdrop of a mushroom cloud from a nuclear blast appearing on a huge screen behind him.