Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has praised a renaissance in the country's shipping industry.
Speaking at the launch of a new government training ship, Ufuk, in Tuzla on Saturday, he said: "The Turkish shipping industry has blown the cobwebs away and blossomed again over the last 16 years," according to the Anadolu Agency.
"In today’s world, where preventative intelligence, especially signals intelligence, has gained vital importance, I believe the corvette Ufuk will fill a large gap.” Erdogan said.
He added that Turkey is one of the leading countries in the Mediterranean in both building and maintaining ships.
“Along with its own needs, Turkey also builds ship for many developed countries in the world such as Norway, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Italy,” he said.
He added that around 2,000 vessels were repaired and renovated at Tuzla shipyards.
