Turkey detects "mine-like object" off Istanbul coast

Turkey's Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that a "mine-like object" was detected in the waters of Bosphorus Strait, which connects the Black Sea with the Marmara Sea.

Underwater defense teams were soon sent to secure and deactivate the object after it was spotted by a civilian merchant ship, the ministry said in a tweet.

The object was found at the northern entrance of the Bosphorus Strait, off the coast of Sariyer district in northern Istanbul, according to the Milliyet daily, a Turkish newspaper published in Istanbul.

The object was like a ball with horn-like protrusions, the newspaper quoted a statement of the Directorate General of Coastal Safety as saying.

Turkish authorities have warned vessels to stay away from the area.

Turkey said on Wednesday that necessary measures were taken against allegedly drifting mines in the Black Sea after they broke off from anchor cables near Ukrainian ports.

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said relevant authorities have been conducting monitoring operations to detect if the mines were drifting toward Turkey's coasts and straits.