President Erdoğan: The Ufuk Corvette will be able to immediately spot threats against our national security
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at a ceremony held at Tuzla Shipyard for the launch of the test and training ship Ufuk A-591.
“Capable of cruising for 45 days at a time under harsh weather and maritime conditions, including in international waters, the Ufuk Corvette will be able to immediately spot threats against our national security,” stated President Erdoğan, adding: “I believe that the Ufuk Corvette will fill a big hole in today’s world where preventive intelligence, signal intelligence in particular, has gained vital importance. The Ufuk Corvette will be Turkey’s eyes and ears in the seas.”
“THE DIFFICULT REGION OUR COUNTRY IS LOCATED IN RENDERS IT IMPERATIVE FOR US TO BE STRONG IN INTELLIGENCE”
“The difficult region our country is located in renders it imperative for us to be strong not only in economy, trade and industry but also intelligence ─ and all the more so given the threats originating from Syria as well as the latest developments in the East Mediterranean, the Aegean and the Black Sea,” President Erdoğan said, adding: “As I always say; those without a presence on the ground cannot have a seat at the table. This fact has repeatedly shown itself in both the anti-terror fight and the elimination of the threats to our country from Syria.” Stressing that Turkey got disappointed whenever it relied on others concerning issues related to its national security, President Erdoğan noted: “Turkey has achieved success whenever it has taken steps in line with its goals, needs, priorities and interests. The reason why the PKK is today suffering the biggest defeat of its history is because we are combatting terror through our own means.”
“WE WORK TO DEVELOP AND STRENGTHEN OUR DEFENSE INDUSTRY BY TAKING LESSONS FROM OUR HISTORY”
Criticizing the arming of terrorist organizations, President Erdoğan continued as follows: “Those who supply arms support to the most bloodthirsty terrorists of the world raise unimaginable obstacles when the issue is Turkey. Terrorist organizations such as DAESH, PKK, Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabaab, which all spill Muslims’ blood, have western-origin weapons in their hands. The PYD/YPG murderers conducting ethnic cleansing in northern Syria have in their hands our allies’ rockets, bombs and ammunition. It is impossible for Turkey to stand idly and leave its national security to other countries in the face of such a scene. History repeats itself for those who fail to take lessons from it. And we, as the state, work to develop and strengthen our defense industry by taking lessons from this scene and the incidents taking place in our region as well as from our history.”
