T�rkiye: Black Sea Maritime Security Experts Speak in Istanbul.

Istanbul, Türkiye - October 16, 2026 Turkish maritime security experts speak in Istanbul about escalating attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea, October 16, 2026. A series of drone and missile strikes on civilian shipping over the past week, including the sinking of one vessel off Bulgaria and an attack on the Malta-flagged Chelsea 3, prompted calls for a new regional maritime security framework, as data from the Turkish Shipowners' Association showed 82 commercial vessels struck in the Black Sea in 2026 alone. Retired ambassador Murat Ersavci, director of the International Studies Center at the Economic Policy Research Foundation of T�rkiye, described the Black Sea as an increasingly multilayered security environment amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. (Video by Wu Yao, Sefer Recepli/Xinhua/Sipa USA) *** World Rights Except China *** CHINA OUT ***