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Turkish Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ercument Tatlioglu said Türkiye's geostrategic position, surrounded by sea on three sides, requires the country to maintain a very powerful navy. He made these remarks at the closing ceremony of Teknofest Blue Homeland held in Istanbul.
"Türkiye's geostrategic position, surrounded by seas on three sides, dictates that we must have a very powerful Naval Force. And we are indeed a very powerful navy," Tatlioglu stated.
Speaking at the ceremony held at the Golcuk Shipyard Command, Tatlioglu recalled that Turks are a seafaring nation who founded their navy in Anatolia in 1081. He also noted that Turks were already present on the Caspian Sea before arriving in Anatolia.
"This year we are celebrating the 945th anniversary of our Naval Forces, founded in 1081 in Cesme, Izmir. We are also celebrating, with great happiness and pride, the 100th anniversary of our Golcuk Shipyard," he said.
Tatlioglu said Türkiye is producing domestically built frigates, landing ships and corvettes.
"We are currently building our national aircraft carrier, our national air defense destroyer TCG Kocatepe, and our national submarine. We are in very good shape when it comes to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). We fly our TB3 fixed-wing unmanned aircraft from our TCG Anadolu, which you see in the harbor. We also have our vertical takeoff aircraft, Kalkan, which we can operate from all our ships," Tatlioglu said.
Tatlioglu said Türkiye is also well-positioned in unmanned surface and underwater vehicles, which he said are being used effectively.
"In addition to building national platforms, we have produced our guided missile Atmaca, our national torpedo Akya, our national air defense missile Hisar-Deniz, and our national mine Malaman. We use all our platforms and weapons very effectively," he said.
He thanked President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his continued support to the Naval Forces, Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz for attending the event, and Selcuk Bayraktar for organizing Teknofest Blue Homeland.
"Whoever dominates the seas dominates the world," Tatlioglu noted.
Teknofest Blue Homeland, held Aug. 20–23 at the Golcuk Shipyard Command, drew 343,000 visitors over four days, according to event organizers.
T3 Foundation Board of Trustees Chairman and Teknofest Executive Board Chairman Selcuk Bayraktar said in a social media post that the event suited Golcuk well.
"Blue Homeland suited Golcuk very well! Over four days, we welcomed 343,000 visitors to Teknofest Blue Homeland. I thank everyone whose heart beats with love for the homeland. Our path is clear, our bow is set, our horizon is Kizilelma," Bayraktar wrote.
Bayraktar said the momentum from the event would carry over to Teknofest Southeast, set for Sept. 30–Oct. 4 in Sanliurfa.
The event showcased a wide range of Turkish Naval Forces platforms, unmanned systems, aircraft, and air defense and missile systems, and featured technology competitions including the Unmanned Underwater Systems Competition, the Unmanned Naval Vehicle Competition and the Underwater Rocket Competition.
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