Thursday, October 9, 2025
Nordic Monitor
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
    • Give us a tip!
  • About Us
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
    • Give us a tip!
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
Nordic Monitor
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
  • About Us

Erdogan announces agreement with Spain on aircraft carrier construction

November 17, 2023
A A
Turkey’s largest warship has become Erdogan’s propaganda tool in the election campaign
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Levent Kenez/Stockholm

During a gathering of his ruling party’s lawmakers on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the commencement of preparations for the construction of a new generation aircraft carrier for Turkey. Erdogan had mentioned an agreement with Spain for new flagship construction during the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Turkish Republic on October 29. 

Emphasizing that the new vessel, developed in collaboration with Spain, would surpass Turkey’s largest naval ship, the TCG Anadolu, Erdogan claimed that a robust military is essential for Turkey to survive in the region. Erdogan has alternately referred to TCG Anadolu as both an aircraft carrier and the first ship in the world from which unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) take off and land. However, despite Erdogan’s assertions, military experts point out that the ship is neither the world’s first on which drones are deployed nor a conventional aircraft carrier. Despite the misinformation, Erdogan continues to repeat it in his speeches.

Leaders of the parties that support Erdogan attended the handing over of the Anadolu to the Turkish Navy on April 10, 2023. Among them was Zekeriya Yapıcıoğlu (1st left), chairman of HÜDA-PAR, Turkish Hizbullah’s political arm.

Highlighting the significance of a naval parade featuring 100 ships in the Bosporus on October 29, Erdogan said the event conveyed important messages and symbols. “Through that ceremony, which instilled confidence in our friends and fear in our adversaries, we had the opportunity to witness the capabilities of our navy. In particular we saw how the world’s first UAV ship, TCG Anadolu, added strength to our navy. Of course, we are not satisfied with just that. We have rolled up our sleeves to build a new generation aircraft carrier, the big brother of TCG Anadolu.”

However, in an interview with a Turkish TV station on May 18, İsmail Demir, the former head of the Presidency of the Defense Industry (Savunma Sanayii Baskanligi, SSB), Turkey’s defense procurement agency, said some modifications must be made to TCG Anadolu to accommodate both manned and unmanned aircraft as well as aircraft in the military’s inventory so that they can take off from and land on the ship, confirming accusations that the government had commissioned the ship early in order to promote it in the May 14 elections.

On November 4, in a speech to businesspeople, Selçuk Bayraktar, Erdogan’s son-in-law and the owner of Baykar Makina, the manufacturer of Bayraktar military drones, revealed that flight tests for the newly developed TB3 drones had been conducted. He stated that once deployed on the TCG Anadolu, these drones would become a significant force multiplier, essentially admitting that military drones are not currently capable of taking off and landing on the ship.

TCG Anadolu is the largest ship in the Turkish Navy, with a length of 231 meters, a width of 32 meters and a displacement of 27,436 tons. The ship has a top speed of 20.5 knots and a range of 9,000 nautical miles when fully loaded. The construction of the vessel began in April 2016, and the keel was laid in February 2018. The ship carries out tasks such as military combat and humanitarian relief operations. Furthermore, it acts as a command center and the navy’s new flagship. TCG Anadolu was designed by Spain’s Navantia and built at the Sedef Shipyard in Turkey. Sea acceptance tests started in June 2022.

Anadolu, actually a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship, became the latest showcase product in Erdogan’s election propaganda in May. One of Erdogan’s election strategies was to show voters that Turkey was becoming stronger by promoting domestically produced defense industry products.

Erdogan announced on April 23 that the UK and Spain were cooperating in the construction of a more advanced version of the Turkish Navy’s flagship. He also claimed the British sought to benefit from Turkey’s experience in the construction of an unmanned submarine. Speaking to the London-based Middle East Eye, which is close to the Turkish government, a Turkish source said the UK is interested in the joint production of unmanned submarines with Turkey. 

However, a spokesperson for the Royal Navy told Breaking Defense in a statement that “no one knows anything of these [Turkish] discussions,” including teams from the UK’s Submarine Delivery Agency, Defence Nuclear Organisation and shipbuilder BAE Systems.

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Turkey continues to pursue a revolving door policy for release of ISIS suspects

Next Post

Israel to be listed as top security threat in Turkey’s secret Red Book

Levent Kenez

Levent Kenez

[email protected]

Next Post
Israel to be listed as top security threat in Turkey’s secret Red Book

Israel to be listed as top security threat in Turkey’s secret Red Book

Germany struggles with the prosecution of never-ending Turkish espionage cases

Germany struggles with the prosecution of never-ending Turkish espionage cases

October 9, 2025
Turkey shifts to US partnership for second nuclear plant once promised to Russia

Turkey shifts to US partnership for second nuclear plant once promised to Russia

October 8, 2025
Murder raises new questions about Turkey’s fight against ISIS

Murder raises new questions about Turkey’s fight against ISIS

October 7, 2025
Turkey’s release of ISIS detainees fuels European terrorism threat, Dutch court case shows

Turkey’s release of ISIS detainees fuels European terrorism threat, Dutch court case shows

October 6, 2025
Erdogan pushes for northern Cyprus election win amid allegations of interference and mafia links

Erdogan pushes for northern Cyprus election win amid allegations of interference and mafia links

October 3, 2025
Erdoğan government believed Muslim Brotherhood would make a huge comeback in Egypt in few years

Turkey’s top court quashes terrorism conviction of 2 Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members

October 2, 2025
Turkey emerges as key haven for Iranian who launched $88M Bittrex crypto case

Turkey emerges as key haven for Iranian who launched $88M Bittrex crypto case

October 1, 2025
Turkish military journal claims NATO is using Ankara without giving it a voice

Turkish military journal claims NATO is using Ankara without giving it a voice

September 30, 2025
$100 billion OmegaPro scandal highlights Turkey’s role as a haven for global fraudsters

$100 billion OmegaPro scandal highlights Turkey’s role as a haven for global fraudsters

September 29, 2025
Turkey shifts away from Russia with new gas deals, hoping to win Trump’s favor

Turkey shifts away from Russia with new gas deals, hoping to win Trump’s favor

September 26, 2025

Nordic Monitor

Nordic Monitor is a news web site and tracking site that is run by the Stockholm-based Nordic Research and Monitoring Network. It covers religious, ideological and ethnic extremist movements and radical groups, with a special focus on Turkey.

Tags

al-Qaeda Andrei Karlov Cyprus Diyanet Egypt Erdogan espionage Germany Greece Gülen Movement Hakan Fidan Hamas Hulusi Akar Ibrahim Kalın IHH Iran IRGC Quds Force ISIL ISIS Isis al-qaida Israel Libya Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı MIT Muslim Brotherhood NATO President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Profiling Qatar Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Russia SADAT spying Spying Activities Suleyman Soylu Sweden Syria Torture Turkey Turkish Intelligence Turkish Intelligence Agency Turkish intelligence agency MIT Ukraine United States

Recent News

Germany struggles with the prosecution of never-ending Turkish espionage cases

Germany struggles with the prosecution of never-ending Turkish espionage cases

October 9, 2025
Turkey shifts to US partnership for second nuclear plant once promised to Russia

Turkey shifts to US partnership for second nuclear plant once promised to Russia

October 8, 2025
Murder raises new questions about Turkey’s fight against ISIS

Murder raises new questions about Turkey’s fight against ISIS

October 7, 2025

Copyright © Nordic Research and Monitoring Network All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
    • Give us a tip!
  • About Us

Copyright © Nordic Research and Monitoring Network All rights reserved.