Türkiye Says Black Sea Changes Carry Wider Security Impact
By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk
Türkiye's Deputy Foreign Minister Mehmet Kemal Bozay said developments in the Black Sea carry wider consequences for security, environment and economy, placing the region at the center of Europe's defence debate before upcoming NATO meetings.
Bozay spoke in Bucharest at the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum, where the official programme listed him as a speaker on the panel "The War in Ukraine and the impact on the Europe and Black Sea Security." The forum was held on May 12–13 under Romania's regional security agenda.
Anadolu Agency quoted Bozay as calling the forum a "timely event" and saying that every change in the Black Sea has an "enormous" impact on security, the environment and the economy. His remarks framed the Black Sea as a wider European file rather than a security question limited to the war in Ukraine.
Bozay's comments follow a broader Turkish debate over the growing security burden in the Black Sea, where Bosphorus News examined Türkiye's role between maritime security, NATO pressure and regional stability.
The Bucharest setting also carried a defence industry dimension. The Black Sea Defense, Aerospace and Security International Exhibition opened in the Romanian capital on May 13 at ROMAERO S.A., with the official event page listing the exhibition for May 13–15 under the defence, aerospace and security banner.
The forum and the exhibition put diplomacy, military planning and defence industry in the same week in Bucharest. That pairing reflects how the Black Sea file has expanded from naval risk and Ukrainian battlefield developments into NATO posture, maritime surveillance, drone defence, procurement and industrial capacity.
The Bucharest forum also comes as NATO air and naval activity around the Black Sea has been expanding, a pattern Bosphorus News detailed in its coverage of the alliance's eastern flank posture.
Turkish defence industry was also present in the exhibition space. Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi announced that it was taking part in BSDA 2026 in Bucharest, listing its stand at Hall C, Booth 242, during the May 13–15 event.
Bozay's message fits the moment in Bucharest. The Black Sea is being discussed through war, energy, environment, NATO planning and defence production at once. Türkiye's position sits across those files, with Montreux, maritime security, alliance coordination and regional economic stability all tied to the same basin.
***Sources: Remarks by Deputy Foreign Minister Mehmet Kemal Bozay at the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum, May 12, 2026. Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum, official programme, May 12, 2026. Black Sea Defense, Aerospace and Security International Exhibition, official event page, May 13–15, 2026. Makine ve Kimya Endüstrisi, BSDA 2026 announcement, May 2026.