The Turkish navy recently increased its patrols in the Mediterranean, against the backdrop of rising tension with Israel. In an email interview, Bill Park, a senior lecturer in the department of defense studies at King's College London, discussed the Turkish navy. WPR: What is the current state of the Turkish navy? Bill Park: The manpower strength of the Turkish navy stands at around 55,000, about half of whom are conscripts. At root it is configured as a coastal defense navy, and as such possesses 14 submarines and numerous fast-attack vessels, mine-warfare craft and coastal-patrol vessels. It also has in excess of 20 frigates. Given Turkey's concerns regarding Cyprus and its differences with neighboring Greece in the Aegean, the Turkish navy also boasts more than 40 amphibious craft and a well-trained force of around 3,000 marines. It also has a formidable naval helicopter force configured for anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare as well as search and rescue operations, and a maritime surveillance capability.
Keep reading for free!
Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:
Or, Subscribe now to get full access.
Already a subscriber? Log in here .
What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:
A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:
- Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
- Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
- Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
- The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
- The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
- Completely ad-free reading.
And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.