Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated yesterday that Russian armed forces launched a missile strike on Ukraine's Odesa region, resulting in damage to a civilian vessel in the port of Chornomorsk.
According to photos and videos circulated regarding the incident, the vessel hit by the strike is reported to belong to the Turkish company "Cenk RoRo".
According to information disseminated by Ukrainian media, the "Cenk RoRo" vessel, sailing under the Panama flag, was traveling from Turkey's Karasu port towards Romania. The owner of the vessel is the Turkish company "Cenk Shipping RoRo", which specializes in the transportation of trucks and trailers. Photos circulated on social media also show trucks on board the vessel at the moment of the strike. According to preliminary information, the attack was carried out with two “Iskander-M” missiles. "Reuters" also notes that the vessel's owner is a Turkish citizen.
It should be noted that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday, during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Turkmenistan, proposed that Russia and Ukraine declare a moratorium on strikes against ports and energy infrastructure. This incident in the port of Chornomorsk was recorded shortly after that proposal.
Speaking to Modern.az, Yıldırım Tuğrul, a deputy from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), stated that the incident needs to be investigated:
“Only a short time has passed since the incident occurred. This event that occurred yesterday must be thoroughly investigated, and appropriate statements should be made. When two sides are fighting, attention must be paid to the specificity and protection of third parties. A very short time before this, two vessels near the coast in the Black Sea were hit by a drone attack. At that time, it was also reported that Ukraine carried out the attack. Therefore, one should not react immediately to these incidents. It is necessary to understand what happened. For example, journalists are also killed in Israel. This is also a mistake. International agreements exist. All countries must abide by these agreements. The priority, as Mr. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, is that third parties should never be harmed”.
Y. Tuğrul commented on the issue of compensation for the hit vessel as follows:
“The issue is not compensation. It must be understood why and how this incident occurred. Compensation is related to the vessel that was hit. From the perspective of international law, Turkey is an important country in the region and a guarantor of peace in many matters. If Turkish vessels are deliberately attacked, it needs to be evaluated separately”.
