Turkey To Build Their Own Submarines

Turkish submarine TCG Preveze during NATO exercise Dynamic Manta 2018. Currently Turkey's submarines are imported German designs. NATO Maritime Command

Forbes: Turkey To Go Its Own Way With Submarines

Turkey operates the second-largest submarine fleet in NATO. Currently all of them are imported designs, but that is set to change. The program to build the first indigenous submarine has been formally launched. Known as MiLDEN (Milli Denizaltı), six of the new boats should join the fleet in the 2030s.

The move comes at a time many defense deals with Turkey are under the spotlight, with the U.S. cancelling sales of F-35 fighter jets to the country and taking away its production role in the program over Turkey's decision to acquire Russian S-400 air-defense missiles. Turkey also has ambitions to be more self-sufficient in defense, building indigenous frigates and main battle tanks. It even has a railgun project.

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WNU Editor: I am surprised to learn from this article that Turkey operates the second-largest submarine fleet in NATO. Turkey's 12 current submarines are all based on the German Type-209 family

Turkey's Military To Be Completely Overhaul After Failed Coup Attempt

Reuters: Turkey's armed forces face deep overhaul in wake of coup

Turkey's top brass and political leaders were poised to launch a major overhaul of the armed forces on Thursday after a failed military coup that has shaken the nation of nearly 80 million people and alarmed its NATO allies.

Hours before the Supreme Military Council began its annual meeting in Ankara, the armed forces dishonorably discharged nearly 1,700 personnel for their alleged role in the July 15-16 putsch in which a faction of the armed forces tried to topple President Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan, who narrowly escaped capture and possible death on the night of the coup, told Reuters in an interview last week that the military, NATO'S second biggest, needed "fresh blood". The dishonorable discharges included around 40 percent of Turkey's admirals and generals.

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More News On Turkey's Military To Be Completely Overhaul

Turkish military undergoes radical shake-up in wake of failed coup -- France 24
Turkish military faces overhaul after failed coup -- AP
Turkey Looks to Rebuild Military After Purging Half its Generals -- VOA
Turkey fires 1,500 army personnel ahead of crucial military council meeting -- IBTimes
Turkey coup attempt: Supreme Military Council plans overhaul after 1,700 military personnel discharged -- The Independent
Turkey ‘fires 1,700 military officers and closes dozens of media groups’ after attempted coup -- The Independent
Turkish generals resign as government prepares to overhaul armed forces -- The Guardian/AFP
Two high-ranking generals resign in Turkey -- Al Jazeera

Turkey's New 'Aircraft Carrier' Is Being Built To Send A Message To Greece, Cyprus, And Israel

Juan Carlos I on the Ria of Ferrol. Wikipedia

Turkey’s New Carrier Alters Eastern Mediterranean Energy And Security Calculus -- Jerusalem Post

Turkey took a major step in altering the naval balance in the eastern Mediterranean by contracting the construction of a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship.

In late December 2013, Turkey took a major step in altering the naval balance in the eastern Mediterranean by contracting the construction of a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship that can function as an aircraft carrier, potentially providing Turkey an unprecedented measure of sea control in the region.

The heightened threat perception for Israel, Cyprus and Greece will impact the imminent decision regarding whether Israel will export its natural gas to a planned Cypriot LNG terminal with a European export route through Greece, or build a subsea pipeline to Turkey. Turkey’s next diplomatic moves could make the difference between a comprehensive regional agreement for a Turkish export route for eastern Mediterranean offshore energy, or a naval arms race which Turkey economically cannot win.

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My Comment: Expect Greece, Cyprus, and Israel to form some form of defensive and/or military arrangement to counter this Turkish development.

Hazing Is Rife In Turkey's Army

Ugur Kantar spent 80 days in a coma before dying from wounds inflicted by his torturers. (Photo courtesy of the author)

Turkish Troops Face Torture and Suicide in NATO's Second-Largest Army -- The Atlantic

More Turkish soldiers have perished from suicide and abuse than from combat in the last decade, but the EU aspirant has done little to stem the crisis.

ISTANBUL -- The night private Ugur Kantar died in an Ankara military hospital, his father Aydin Kantar knew all too well who his son's killers were.

He also knew that he would never see them in jail, because the men who had ordered Ugur's torture - which lasted for three days and ended with Ugur in a coma, abandoned and handcuffed to a chair in the blinding Mediterranean sun - were high ranking military officers and effectively above the law.

Two years after his son's death, Aydin says the officers suspected in the incident are still no closer to facing trial, a bitter example of the thousands of unsettled rights abuses in NATO's second-largest army.

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My Comment: Such behavior is inexcusable .... but with no leadership from Turkey's politicians and military brass .... reform is just a distant goal.