Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Vessel Traffic Services System established in the Gazimağusa district of the TRNC as part of the Eastern Mediterranean Vessel Traffic Services Project, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said they were proud to jointly commission a critical step towards defending the 'Blue Homeland' and consolidating dominance at sea.
Uraloğlu stated that with the projects and efforts implemented by the Ministry, they have moved Turkey to the forefront of the international maritime arena, saying, 'Today, Turkey is one of the world's leading maritime nations with 218 port facilities, 65 marinas, 85 active shipyards, 400 fishing shelters, 181 boat manufacturing and berthing areas, 23 ship recycling facilities, 144,000 seafarers, and over 1 million amateur sailors. Five of our ports—Ambarlı, Kocaeli, Tekirdağ, Mersin, and Aliağa—are among the world's top 100 busiest ports,' he said.
Pointing out that Turkey holds a strong global position in the shipbuilding industry, Uraloğlu noted that with 85 active shipyards, Turkey ranks 7th in the world in ship orders and 10th in tonnage, and continued: 'We are second in the world in mega yacht manufacturing, third in ship recycling globally, and the leader in Europe.
Alongside all these achievements, as the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, we also attach great importance to the safety of navigation, life, property, and the environment in our seas,' he said. Minister Uraloğlu emphasized that for them, the seas are the 'Blue Homeland,' adding, 'Our ancestors built a world empire that dominated the seas. With the same awareness, under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we are protecting the 'Blue Homeland'.'
Explaining that the Vessel Traffic Services System built in the Gazimağusa district of the TRNC under the Eastern Mediterranean Vessel Traffic Services Project was established to ensure security in the maritime borders of Turkey and the TRNC, Uraloğlu said: 'With the (Eastern Mediterranean Vessel Traffic Services) Project, we will protect our interests in our 'Blue Homeland' and will be able to continuously monitor vessel traffic in the maritime area between the surroundings of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and our country.
We will be able to continuously monitor vessel traffic. Within the project, we established the Vessel Traffic Services Center in Gazimağusa. We completed the unmanned traffic monitoring stations in Dipkarpaz, Sadrazamköy, and Çayırova. We integrated the 'Automatic Identification System' data from Selvitepe with the AIS and radar data from Kantara.
Uraloğlu said that within the system, they also carried out remote backup and console installations at the Mersin Vessel Traffic Services Center, and that thanks to the AIS systems and other sensors, they will conduct 24/7 uninterrupted monitoring in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Minister Uraloğlu stated that thanks to the project and the system put into service, any vessel within the scope of vessel traffic services will be instantly detected and the data will be transmitted to the centers in both the TRNC and Mersin, emphasizing that this will enable effective monitoring of vessel traffic in the Eastern Mediterranean and the TRNC, with potential risks identified in advance and communicated to vessels.
In his speech, Uraloğlu also highlighted the national technology used in establishing the system, saying, 'I would also like to proudly state that we developed all the critical hardware and software in our system entirely with domestic and national resources. Thanks to the critical hardware and software we developed entirely nationally, we have also nationalized our maritime navigation safety infrastructure, strengthening our technological independence in this field,' he said.
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Uraloğlu added that the radars providing traffic surveillance at sea are the Serdar 7M radars produced by ASELSAN with domestic and national resources, and that they are proud to have completed the Vessel Traffic Services System works initiated by HAVELSAN in 2024 in the city of Gazimağusa, TRNC, under the Eastern Mediterranean Vessel Traffic Services Project.
