Turkish tankers that burned down near the Kerch Strait could have been carrying gas to opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
This version is put forward by the liberal Novaya Gazeta, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Experts interviewed by Novaya doubt that Russian gas was intended for the Assad regime.” For such supplies, Russia does not need intermediaries. But the participation of Turkish citizens in the operation suggests that the gas could have been intended for Assad’s opponents. In any case, the experience of cooperation of Turkish businessmen with the commercial divisions of the banned terrorist organization ISIS was gained during the illegal trade in Syrian oil, in 2012-2015, when most of the country was controlled by Islamist militants,” the publication says.
The chief editor of the Maritime Bulletin, Mikhail Voitenko, agreed in a commentary to Moskovsky Komsomolets that one of the burnt tankers was supposed to be heading to Syria: “I believe that the Maestro was transporting cargo directly to Syria, and the Kandy was reloading the cargo at anchor parking lot The tankers operated in the “gray zone” with illegal schemes for transporting and transshipping liquefied gas. The cause of the emergency was the low qualifications of the crew. Not a single experienced seafarer would work on such a ship - this poses very big reputational risks.”