TURKEY AND PAKISTAN PARTICIPATE IN NATO NAVAL EXERCISE
By John C. K. Daly
Friday, March 14, 2008
While the spotlight has recently focused on Turkey’s army and air force as a result of their recent operations against militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, the Turkish navy has been quietly conducting exercises with allies from distant corners of the globe.
Beginning on March 7 and lasting for nine days, the NATO “Mavi Balina–2008” (“Blue Whale”) 2008 naval exercise involves naval units from Pakistan and Standing NATO Response Force (NRF) Maritime Group 2 (SNMG) member Turkey, which contributed TCG Salihreis along with vessels from Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece, Germany, and the United States (Geo TV, March 11).
The participants visited Turkey’s Aksaz Aegean port March 7-9, where they began coordinated anti-submarine-warfare maneuvers (Ihlas Haber Ajansi, March 7).
The exercise is scheduled to conclude at Turkey’s southern Mediterranean Antalya port on March 17 (Haber, March 5).
The exercise marks the first time that Pakistani warships have participated in a NATO operation. Islamabad has sent the destroyer PNS Tariq and combat support ship PNS Moawin and two helicopters, under command of Pakistan Naval Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Noman Bashir (Associated Press of Pakistan, March 12).
While the presence of a Pakistani naval contingent is a first for NATO, Turkish-Pakistani naval ties stretch back nearly a decade. In March 1999 a Turkish warship, TNS Orcureis, visited the Arabian Sea to participate in joint naval exercises with the Pakistani Navy. The TNS Orcureis remained in Pakistan's waters March 21-27 for joint exercises with three Pakistani warships.