Esra Karataş AlpayAs the Turkish Navy’s elite warships sailed through the Istanbul Strait last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the country’s naval might and laid out the roadmap for the future with the Blue Homeland doctrine at the centre of marine defence.
The naval parade was part of the three-day Teknofest, Türkiye’s flagship aerospace and technology festival, which has been typically associated with civilian and military innovation and drone showcases.
But this time, the festival took on a different character.
Its inclusion of a full-scale naval parade tied the event directly to Mavi Vatan, or the Blue Homeland doctrine — Ankara’s maritime strategy that emphasises sovereignty over its own surrounding seas, particularly the Aegean, Black Sea, and Eastern Mediterranean.
The fleet included some of Türkiye’s most advanced naval platforms: the TCG Anadolu, Türkiye’s flagship amphibious assault ship; the historic TCG Savarona, originally bought by the Turkish government and gifted to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and restored in recent years to serve as a symbol of national heritage; the TCG Orucreis, TCG Istanbul, TCG Heybeliada, TCG Kalkan, TCG Alanya, TCG Sancaktar, and the TCG Hizirreis submarine.
Crowds lined both shores of the Istanbul Strait, waving Turkish flags as the fleet passed from the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge toward Dolmabahce, where President Erdogan and First Lady Emine Erdogan observed the ceremony from the Dolmabahce Presidential Office.
The ships rendered a 21-gun salute and a traditional naval greeting as they passed, marking one of the most significant maritime ceremonies in recent Turkish history.
Tens of thousands gathered along the waterfront, underscoring the event’s blend of popular spectacle and state messaging.
President Erdogan underscored this symbolism with a pointed remark delivered at the ceremony: “If the sword is unsheathed, there will be no room for words.”
Observers interpreted this as directed both at domestic audiences, rallying national pride, and at regional rivals, signalling Türkiye’s readiness to defend its maritime rights.
Strategic message behind the parade
Beyond the flags and salutes, the parade’s staging was no mere spectacle. By anchoring Teknofest to the Blue Homeland doctrine, Ankara placed maritime sovereignty at the centre of its national narrative. The doctrine asserts Türkiye’s rights across the Aegean, Black Sea, and Eastern Mediterranean. Its purpose is as much deterrence and legal positioning as it is a statement of ambition.
Professor Mesut Hakki Casin, an expert in international law and security, describes the ceremony as nothing less than “a declaration of intent.”
Casin underscores that the timing of the demonstration was no coincidence.
August 26 marks both the Battle of Malazgirt in 1071 and the Great Victory of 1922. Linking past triumphs to present strategy, Erdogan himself, speaking in Malazgirt earlier that week, declared: “If the sword is unsheathed, there will be no room for words.”
“Holding this operation on August 26 was deeply symbolic,” Casin tells TRT World. “Ataturk’s historic order ‘Armies, your first target is the Mediterranean!’ resonates here. The Blue Homeland Doctrine is the centennial continuation of that vision.”
For the architects of the doctrine, symbolism is only one layer. At its core, Mavi Vatan is about capability. The commissioning of TCG Anadolu, Türkiye’s first amphibious assault ship and its largest-ever naval platform, is central to that message.
Retired Rear Admiral Cihat Yayci, the chief architect of the Mavi Vatan doctrine, rejected efforts to downplay the ship’s role.
“TCG Anadolu is not simply a landing ship, as some suggest,” he tells TRT World. “It is a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship — effectively a floating base. It carries land forces, tanks, marine infantry, UAVs, UCAVs, helicopters, and, when acquired, vertical take-off jets. It integrates land, air, and sea power into a single platform.”
That capacity, Yayci argues, pushes Türkiye into an elite category within NATO. “Out of 32 NATO members, only six nations possess true power-projection capability,” he says. “With TCG Anadolu, Türkiye joins this exclusive group.”
Absolute sovereignty
The parade also carried a legal message. By routing the fleet through the Bosphorus, Ankara reinforced its sovereignty over the Turkish Straits — a control enshrined in the 1936 Montreux Convention.
Casin emphasises this was no empty gesture: “It reaffirmed Türkiye’s absolute sovereignty over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles under the 1936 Montreux Convention. In the context of the Russia–Ukraine conflict, it highlights Türkiye’s role as a stabilising power while preventing wider NATO-Russia escalation.”
Yayci places equal emphasis on the defence industry that made such a show of strength possible.
Just a decade ago, the Navy depended on foreign suppliers for warships, maintenance, and weapons. Today, through the indigenous MİLGEM shipbuilding project, Türkiye is producing corvettes, frigates, and even advanced radar, sonar, and missile systems domestically.
“The Turkish Naval Forces, with decades of accumulated expertise, have reached this highly significant position today thanks to our national and indigenous defence industry strategy,” he says.
The presence of Ataturk’s restored yacht, the Savarona, sailing alongside cutting-edge vessels like Anadolu and Istanbul, symbolically bridged Türkiye’s founding moment with its contemporary ambitions.
As professor Casin concludes, the parade was “not just a parade but a declaration that Türkiye will safeguard its rights and interests in the Mediterranean, Aegean, and Black Sea.” Yayci echoes him in broader terms: “From past to future, Türkiye is building a Navy of hope, one that protects, deters, and inspires.”
