By Janet Ekstract
İSTANBUL- On Friday, Turkish President Erdogan launched the third National Ship marine platform known as MILGEM – a Turkish warship program that develops multipurpose corvettes and frigates that can be used in a wide variety of missions including surveillance and reconnaissance. The third Ada-class corvette manufactured in Türkiye for Pakistan’s navy was unveiled. The ceremony which was held at the Istanbul Shipyard saw both Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif inaugurate the third of four MILGEM corvette ships that is part of a national warship project whose goal is to create more technologically advanced warships.
At the ceremony, Erdoğan’s comments were directed toward the issue of terrorism and praise for his country’s efforts in combating terrorism in Türkiye and abroad. As Erdogan said: “No one can teach lessons to Turkiye, who is the only NATO ally that fought Daesh hand-to-hand and was victorious.” The Turkish president added that his country will always hold all terrorists “accountable for every drop of blood they shed.” Erdogan specifically referred to the cross-border and anti-terror operations his country is carrying out in Northern Iraq and Syria, bordering Turkiye. He added that Pakistan has always been a country that Turkish people have much respect for and that the maritime projects are some of the most significant areas of bilateral cooperation between the two nations in the defense industry.
