The Brazilian frigate "Liberal" docked in the Mediterranean port city of Mersin on Nov. 7, to mark 160 years of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Brazil, the Brazilian Embassy in Ankara announced yesterday.

The frigate is the current flagship of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Maritime Task Force (MTF), positioned since 2006. It assists the Lebanese navy in monitoring its territorial waters, safeguarding the Lebanese coastline and avoiding the unauthorized entry of arms or related materials by sea into the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, Lebanon.

The "Liberal" is important in the sense that it is the first Naval Task Force ever to take part in the U.N. peacekeeping missions. A total of 15 states including Turkey have contributed to MTF.

Meanwhile, Brazil is Turkey's first strategic partner and its biggest trade partner in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. The year 2018 marks the 160th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between Turkey and Brazil. To mark the occasion, the Turkish Embassy in Brasilia and the Consulate General in Sao Paulo have organized a number of events throughout the year.