TCG Heybeliada Starts Her Mediterranean Tour

The Commander of Turkish Naval Forces Admiral Murat Bilgel meets with his Egyptian counterpart. Photo: Turkish General Consulate in Alexandria

The Turkish Navy announced on 10 June 2013, that the Ada class corvette F-511 TCG Heybeliada will be visiting several North African countries and Albania form 10 June to 12 July 2013.

This Mediterranean tour is important for three reasons:

• First it will be the first cruise of TCG Heybeliada for such a duration. It will bring valuable lessons about operating this class, as a single unit for extended periods away from the organic support of Turkish Navy.
• This tour is a very good way of increasing the soft power of Turkey in the region by using a Turkish designed and built warship. It is a text book example of power projection by naval forces in peace time operations.
• I am sure that this voyage is also a part of the efforts to market the Ada class corvettes to foreign navies.

The visit of TCG Heybeliada to Egypt was highlighted by the visit of Admiral Murat Bilgel, the Commander of Turkish Naval Forces.

The Facebook page of the Turkish General Consulate in Alexandria has wonderful photos from the visit of Admiral Bilgel and this nice video of  TCG Heybeliada arriving in Alexandria.