The strategic importance of the Black Sea

"The battle of Sinop, 1853": Russian navy destroying Ottoman ships on the Black sea. Imperial Russian navy destroyed Ottoman eleven Frigates and Corvettes anchored in the harbor. It was the start of the Crimean war. (Painting by Armenian seascape painter Hovannes Ayvazovski) The Black sea has always been less ''sexy'' than its bigger and more important neighbour, the Mediterranean: Less prominent, more marginal and less understood, especially in the West. The strategic importance of the Black sea is easily underestimated despite its huge importance . The very heterogeneous countries that occupy the shores of the Black sea are a sure indication of its importance. Since pre-historical times this sea has played a pivotal role in the European as well as Asian history. Endless cultures and civilisations have thrived, ruled, colonised and disappeared from its shores. Hittites, Scythians, Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Genoese, Venetians, Tatars, and various Slavic and Turkic tribes can all trace all or part of their history. This vast region has seen a constant movement of tribes, armies, protected trade routes and political powerhouses. And that is not changed a bit today.

Satellite image of the Black sea and the larger Mediterranean. The sea of Marmara links the two through the Bosporus and Dardanelles (Canakkale) staits.

The Russian Empire has always aspired and fought hard for a secure and easy access to the ‘’warm’’ waters, that is the Mediterranean. The North Sea and the Baltic are too disconnected from the Mediterranean world and the Suez canal. Therefore the Black Sea was the natural body of water that could provide them such important access and influence. The various conflicts and wars between the Russians and the Ottomans are a sure testimony of that strategy.

In recent history, the fault lines of the Persian, Ottoman and Russian Empires were vaguely along or near the shores of the Black Sea. During the cold war, the East and the West were also locking horns over these bodies of water. The Mediterranean being firmly in the N.A.T.O. fold, while the Black sea was a bastion for the Soviets and allied navies. The passage of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles as well as the Black sea itself have been the theater for infamously fierce and absurdly tragic wars between various powers near and far. In antiquity, the most famous battle surely is the Trojan wars. Troy is located just at the mouth of the Canakkale (Dardanelles) strait leading to the Marmara and eventually the Black sea. The Crimean War (1853-186) as well as well as the Russian-Turkish war that followed (1877-78) were directly for the control of the Black sea and the competing influence of these nations over the area. At that time even the western powers of Great Britain and France were directly part of the conflict, initially to curb the Russian appetites vis-a- vis a crumbling Ottoman Empire.

The Black Sea as seen from the at the edge of the Bosporus (Anadolu Kavagi village) These above mentioned wars were very bloody, but probably the single bloodiest and most famous of these apocalyptic wars was Galipoli /Dardanelles straits campaign during the WWI (1915-16). It was fought between The German/Turkish alliance and the mostly British -Australian-New Zealand forces, again for the control of these strategic routes and access to the Black sea. This war resulted in up to 500,000 killed and wounded. The Turks did not surrender and that bloody campaign made Mustapha Kemal (later Ataturk) a rising hero. Some would argue that the Black sea is rather large internal lake connected to the Mediterranean through the sea of Bosporus, the sea of Marmara and the Dardanelles. It is a much less salty sea than the Mediterranean and the oceans. Its rather fresh water surface and the ore salty bottom rarely mix resulting in particularly peculiar see plankton of dark colour making the water look dark or 'Black': hence the name. The area of the Black sea is of over 435.000 km2, which is about 14 times the Republic of Armenia or 40 times Lebanon. This huge body of water is of course shared by many countries: Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria. Moreover, the ‘’autonomous’’ breakaway regions of Georgia, Adjaria and Abkhazia are also located there.

It is very interesting to note that none of these countries have their Capital city or a really major other city on the shores of the Black sea. The major cities or state capitals such as Kiev, Sofia, Bucharest etc are inland, far from the shores. Was this caused historically by security issues to avoid attacks and vulnerability? (Istanbul's northern suburbs on the Bosporus barely touch the Black Sea).

In any case, the strategic importance of the Black sea is here to stay. Landlocked countries like Moldova and Armenia depend on it even with no direct access. It is estimated that 80% of Armenia's maritime trade passes through the port city of Poti on the Georgian shores. Russia and Ukraine have been squabbling over sovereignty of chunks of the seashore, as the bulk of the ex Soviet navy is stationed there, including areas claimed by Ukraine as her own.

Russian and Ukraine Commanders aboard Russian navy ships during celebration of 225th anniversary of Black Sea fleet on May 11, 2008 in Sevastopol. Russia's Black Sea Fleet is present in Sevastopol under a lease that expires in 2017. The "arrangement" is a frequent source of tension between Russia and Ukraine. Turkey holds the most important strategic access key and is heavily reliant on the trade. Immense prosperity is generated by the traffic flowing between the Mediterranean and the Black sea. Turkey does have the strategic upper hand, but it can not ignore international treaties. The most important of these is the Montreux Convention Regarding (signed 1936) the Regime of the Turkish Straits. Montreux gives Ankara relative control over the Bosporus and the Dardanelles Straits, both of which fall totally within Turkey. Military activity and movements in the whole region are closely monitored which of course includes the only access to the Black Sea. Turkey has military control over the Straits but also has to abide by and enforce the restrictions and regulation on the passage of warships belonging to all other nations. Montreux Convention guarantees the free passage of civilian vessels in peacetime but severely restricts the passage of non-Turkish military vessels and prohibits some types of warships including aircraft carriers from passing through the Straits. The terms of the convention have always been contested by some nations, most notably the ex Soviet Union (and now Russia). Russia needs easy passage to the Mediterranean sea and beyond for its Black sea based merchant and military fleet. The various restrictions imposed by the Montreux Convention are somehow seen as restrictive by Moscow. But these same restrictions also help control any western military presence in the Black sea, Russia's backyard. The Icon and the Bikinis: Over-enthusiastic Russian women greeting the returning Russian warships after their victory over Georgia (Sevastopol navy base, Ukraine) ! After all, the Black Sea remains a mostly ''Russian'' influence zone, while the Mediterranean is the ''West''. The traditional zones of influences remain little changed, even if the Cold War is supposedly over. A good illustration of this division of zones happened in 2008 during the Georgia-Russia armed conflict over South Ossetia. Georgia got crushed by the Russian army after being given false hopes and assurances by the West. After that military debacle and as a token of "solidarity'' to the beaten Georgian government, the Bush administration sent a sole American warship to the destroyed Georgian port of Poti. Washington could hardly afford to do much more to help Tbilisi than timidly send a "hospital" battleship to distribute some goods and candies. So much for direct American influence in the Black sea. But the same can be said for the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean.



Family Picture: The heads of states and representatives of the Black Sea Economic Council (BSEC) countries and observers. (2007 conference, Çiragan palace, Istanbul).

On 25 June 1992,the Heads of State and Government of eleven countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine signed in Istanbul the Summit Declaration and the Bosporus Statement giving birth to the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). Serbia also joined in 2004 while Cyprus and Montenegro were vetoed out!

The BSEC came into existence as a ''unique and promising model of multilateral political and economic initiative aimed at fostering interaction and harmony among the Member States, as well as to ensure peace, stability and prosperity encouraging friendly and good-neighbourly relations in the Black Sea region". Very noble and idealistic!

If the past is any indication, the Black Sea region badly needs all the help it can get to preserve some kind of long lasting peace among its bickering and infighting member states...

© Krikor Tersakian, Montreal, Canada