There is
a bit of news regarding fleet movements in the Black Sea.
A non-combatant US ship steamed through the Turkish Straits yesterday, heading toward the Black Sea, only hours after one of two US Navy ships that last month transited the Turkish Straits to carry humanitarian aid to Georgia sailed back through the straits toward the Mediterranean late on Monday.
The article goes on to detail the movements.
US Embassy Press Attaché Kathryn Schalow told Today's Zaman yesterday that the USS Mount Whitney "should pass through the straits soon," without specifying an exact date for passage of the ship. Schalow also confirmed yesterday earlier wire reports that a US naval vessel passed through the Turkish Straits to reach the Black Sea.
"The ship's name is the USNS Pathfinder, and it is a non-combatant ship used for oceanographic surveys. It is in the Black Sea upon a request from the Department of Underwater Heritage of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine for a joint demonstration of this ship's survey capability," Schalow said.
If it wasn't for Georgia, nobody in the world would care (including us), but the article gives a good sense of the intense political focus the naval activity has within the politics of Turkey.
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