Türkiye will continue strengthening its maritime security and technological capabilities as geopolitical competition intensifies and instability grows worldwide, senior officials said Sunday at the closing ceremony of Teknofest Blue Homeland.
Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said protecting Türkiye’s maritime interests, known as the “Blue Homeland,” has become increasingly strategic as critical technologies, energy resources and trade routes emerge as central elements of global competition.
“At a time when global balances are rapidly changing, and instability is increasing, the security of our Blue Homeland has become more strategic than ever,” Yılmaz said at the event held at the Gölcük Naval Shipyard Command in northwestern Türkiye.
He underlined that Türkiye will protect its sovereignty and its rights in the Blue Homeland without hesitation and without compromise.
The maritime-focused edition of Türkiye’s flagship technology and aerospace festival brought together domestically developed naval platforms, defense technologies and competitions aimed at encouraging young people to pursue maritime and underwater technologies.
Yılmaz noted 37 vessels and four aircraft were showcased during the event, demonstrating Türkiye’s expanding capabilities in naval technology.
He highlighted platforms including the TCG Anadolu amphibious assault ship, TCG Istanbul frigate, TCG Derya replenishment ship and Murat Reis submarine, as well as unmanned surface vessels such as Marlin, Sancar, Ulaq and Salvo.
“The main achievement here is the progress we have made in terms of platform diversity, technological depth, localization and joint operational capability,” Yılmaz said.
He said Türkiye was increasingly developing an integrated architecture in which manned and unmanned systems could operate securely on the same network, pointing to the ability of TCG Anadolu to operate with the domestically developed Bayraktar TB3 unmanned combat aerial vehicle.
The vice president also remarked that Türkiye plans to further develop such capabilities through artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, advanced sensors and secure communications.
Yılmaz linked Türkiye’s advances in defense technology to a long-term strategy pursued under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, saying the country’s defense industry localization rate had climbed from around 20% to more than 80%.
He underlined Türkiye had become the world’s 11th-largest defense exporter and was aiming to enter the top 10.
“Every step we take in the defense industry contributes to our national security while also providing significant strength and support to our independent foreign policy and economic and social welfare,” he said.
Yılmaz also highlighted a remote robotic surgery demonstration aboard TCG Anadolu as an example of civilian applications emerging from Türkiye’s technological development.
During the procedure, a surgical team aboard the vessel received real-time assistance from a specialist on land through a 5G connection, which Yılmaz described as the first operation of its kind performed aboard a ship.
He stressed that maintaining Türkiye’s technological transformation would ultimately depend on its human capital, particularly young engineers, entrepreneurs and researchers.
“A trained, well-equipped, innovative, entrepreneurial and self-confident workforce is the foundation of all success,” he said, adding that Türkiye’s long-term development goals would be built on a generation equipped with those qualities.
The festival included six competitions, including contests focusing on unmanned underwater systems, unmanned maritime vehicles and underwater rockets.
Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran said separately that Teknofest Blue Homeland, attended by hundreds of thousands of people, demonstrated the progress of Türkiye’s defense industry and its drive for greater technological independence.
“Our Blue Homeland is our pride, and the Teknofest youth are our future,” Duran said in a social media post.
He described young people who “dream, research, develop and produce” as the strongest guarantee of Türkiye’s goal of becoming a fully independent and powerful country.
“Under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with the energy of our youth and the unwavering will of our nation, we will continue building the Century of Türkiye,” Duran noted. “Türkiye’s rise in the skies, on land and in the Blue Homeland will continue with determination.”
Duran also thanked the Defense Ministry, the Turkish Technology Team Foundation (T3 Foundation), Teknofest Chair Selçuk Bayraktar and other institutions involved in organizing the event.
Moreover, speaking at Sunday's closing ceremony, Selçuk Bayraktar said Türkiye’s presence in the Blue Homeland represented more than technological progress, describing it as a commitment to defending the country’s rights and interests.
“A single drop of water in the Blue Homeland is as sacred a trust as an inch of our land,” Bayraktar stressed.
He said the world was passing through a period in which international law was increasingly disregarded, and institutions established to safeguard peace and justice were losing effectiveness.
“Our presence in the Blue Homeland is more than a technological achievement; it is a moral stance that refuses to bow to injustice and imposition,” he noted.
Bayraktar praised young participants in Teknofest, saying they had demonstrated through their work that they were not only the protectors of Türkiye’s maritime future but also its architects.
He further said the festival aimed to cultivate a generation willing to assume responsibility for Türkiye’s technological independence and future development.
“Today we are setting sail from Gölcük Shipyard, but the wind of full independence filling our sails in the Blue Homeland will never die down,” he said. “On the contrary, it will continue to grow wave by wave.”
Bayraktar also invited the public to attend the next Teknofest event, scheduled to take place in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4.
