Turkey Concludes Twin Naval Exercises

Turkey has hailed the success of two recent naval exercises conducted by its forces in the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean.

The large-scale Mavi Vatan 2025 Exercise was held in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea and Mediterranean between January 7-16 and involved more than 70 surface ships, as well as submarines, fighter jets and helicopters, uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) and uncrewed surface vessels (UAVs).

Visiting on the VIP visitors day of Mavi Vatan 2025, Minister of National Defence Yaşar Güler said: “We were very proud to witness the high harmony and performance between our forces and the superior training level of our distinguished personnel during the exercise.”

He said the exercise served to train personnel in the most appropriate way for combat, gave them the opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge in the field, to practice and improve their skills with their weapon systems, and to enhance their ability to act in close coordination and harmony with their peers.

During this period Turkish naval forces also took part in the Turgutreis-11 Exercise, which was conducted alongside Pakistani naval forces in the eastern Mediterranean on January 11.

According to press spokesman Rear Admiral Zeki Aktürk, Turkish naval forces will also be participating in NATO’s Dynamic Mirage 2025 Naval Training Simulation Exercise being in Germany, which was due to start yesterday (Monday) and runs until the end of the month.

Last year’s Dynamic Mirage was held at the German Navy Support Command in Wilhelmshaven; it was led by Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), the central command of all NATO maritime forces. NATO’s first maritime distributed synthetic exercise, it connected ships and aircraft teams in Canada, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the U.K. to conduct warfare training together.

• You can read more details about Turkey’s naval exercises on the Turkish Ministry of National Defence website