Turkey proposes to expand Black Sea task force, Russia positive

As the conflict between Georgia and Russia draws attention to the Black Sea region, Turkey aims at expanding the content of the Blackseafor, a multinational naval on-call peace task force, to prevent similar attacks, the Turkish Daily News (TDN) reported on Friday.

Turkey has proposed new security measures for Black sea coastal countries, an issue which came to the forefront of the world's agenda with the recent Russia-Georgia war.

Turkey's proposal could call for the inclusion of air and land forces to the Blackseafor that is only composed of naval forces, the report said.

"We are considering expanding the content of the mandate of Blackseafor," General Ilker Basbug, the Chief of the General Staff, told journalists during a meeting with representatives of the print media this week.

"Our primary view with regard to the Black Sea is that the region's security should be provided by the littoral countries. If it changes, there will surely be a mess," Basbug was quoted by the TDN.

"We could broaden the scope of the Blackseafor. Russia and Ukraine responded positively," he added.

The Black Sea Naval Co-Operation Task Group (Blackseafor) a multinational naval call-on peace task force, was established in 2001 through the initiative of Turkey to enhance peace and stability in the Black Sea region.

Along with Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria are the participants in the task force.