Turkish warships parade in Bosphorus to mark key victory

ISTANBUL

DHA Photo

A 15-ship naval parade was held in Istanbul’s Bosphorus on Sept. 27 to mark the 488th anniversary of the Ottoman victory at the Battle of Preveza, also hailed as Turkish Naval Forces Day.

The procession featured 13 Turkish Navy vessels and two submarines. The TCG Istanbul, Türkiye’s first domestically designed and built frigate, also took part in the parade organized by the Defense Ministry.

The vessels passed off Barbaros Monument in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district and rendered a ceremonial salute.

Personnel aboard the ships also saluted the tomb of Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, the Ottoman admiral who commanded the fleet to victory at Preveza in 1538.

Large crowds gathered along the waterfront to watch the event and take photographs.

The Battle of Preveza, fought on Sept. 27, 1538, is regarded as a landmark naval victory for the Ottoman fleet under the command of Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha and as a decisive moment in establishing Ottoman naval supremacy in the Mediterranean.

The anniversary of the victory is commemorated annually as Turkish Naval Forces Day.

Speaking at a reception for Naval Forces Commander Adm. Ercüment Tatlıoğlu and accompanying personnel on the occasion of the 488th anniversary of the victory and Naval Forces Day, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler said the Turkish Navy’s current capabilities reflected not only a powerful fleet but also the country’s national determination, engineering expertise and years of sacrifice.

Güler said Türkiye developed domestically designed and produced warships, submarines, frigates, unmanned naval vessels and advanced technological systems with the capabilities provided by the country’s defense industry, further strengthening the Navy’s operational capacity.

The Turkish Navy wraps up a large-scale military exercise on Sept. 25 involving 100 naval vessels, 50 aircraft and 14,000 personnel across the Black Sea, Aegean and eastern Mediterranean.

The exercise, dubbed “Denizkurdu-I” (Sea Wolf-I), involved frigates, corvettes, fast attack craft and other naval assets. Units conducted operational readiness training and live-fire exercises across a maritime area stretching from the Black Sea through the Marmara and Aegean seas to the eastern Mediterranean.