Turkish corvette completes months-long Far East mission

ANKARA

The Turkish corvette TCG Kınalıada is set to return home on Aug. 21, concluding a four-and-a-half-month expedition across numerous ports in 19 countries throughout the Far East.

The mission, organized by the Turkish Naval Forces Command, was undertaken to commemorate the centenary of diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Japan, as well as the 134th anniversary of the voyage of the ill-fated Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul, which sank en route from Japan in 1890.

The Kınalıada Corvette commenced its meticulously planned mission on April 8, departing from the Foça Naval Base in the country’s west. Initially slated to return on Aug. 19, the timeline was extended to Aug. 21 to accommodate an additional port visit in Alexandria, Egypt.

Following the route of the Ertuğrul Frigate, the Kınalıada Corvette embarked on an extensive tour, making port calls from Saudi Arabia to Indonesia, and from South Korea to Sri Lanka.

Throughout the voyage, diplomatic courtesies were extended at the highest levels in all visited nations, with the corvette's crew paying formal visits to 41 dignitaries, including ministers, chiefs of general staff, force commanders, governors and unit commanders.

Moreover, the vessel hosted numerous high-ranking guests. The corvette's final port of call before returning to Foça was Alexandria, Egypt — a visit added to the itinerary at a later stage.

Turkish Rear Admiral Dr. Refik Levent Tezcan, the deputy director general of defense security at the Defense Ministry, traveled to Alexandria in conjunction with the ship's visit.

During this stop, Tezcan, alongside Türkiye’s Ambassador to Cairo Salih Mutlu and the ship’s captain, Commander Serkan Doğan, paid a courtesy visit to Alexandria’s Governor Admiral Ahmed Khalid and Navy Commander Admiral Ashraf Ibrahim Attoa.

The ambassador also hosted a reception aboard the TCG Kınalıada. Notably, the planned visit to Mumbai, India, was conspicuously canceled from the itinerary.

The TCG Kınalıada, a warship measuring approximately 100 meters in length, 14.4 meters in width and weighing 2,465 tons, was named after an island located in Marmara Sea.

The vessel was constructed at the Istanbul Shipyard in 2016 and was commissioned into service in 2019. It is capable of missions ranging from surface warfare to reconnaissance and surveillance.

The TCG Kınalıada is the latest addition to Türkiye's naval arsenal under the national warship initiative, the MİLGEM project, boasting features including the domestically developed Atmaca missile system by Roketsan.