TURKISH NAVY'S TCG KINALIADA BEGINS THREE-DAY PORT VISIT TO MALAYSIA

PORT KLANG, May 13 (Bernama) -- A Turkish Navy corvette, TCG Kinaliada is making a three-day port visit to Malaysia, beginning today while en route to Japan in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of Turkish-Japanese diplomatic relations.

Turkish Embassy to Malaysia, Emir Salim Yuksel said the port visit also is part of Turkiye-Malaysia's 60th diplomatic relations anniversary celebration.

He said the port visit also stands as evidence of Turkiye and Malaysia’s readiness to enhance cooperation in various fields such as education and defence, as well as in science and technology.

“It is also an effort to strengthen bilateral relations between Malaysia and Turkiye,” he told a press conference at Port Klang Cruise Terminal, here today.

Meanwhile, Emir Salim said, the main purpose of TCG Kinaliada’s visit to Japan is to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Turkish-Japanese diplomatic relations as well as to commemorate the 134th anniversary of the sinking of the Ottoman’s Ertugrul Frigate due to a storm when the ship was en route to Japan more than a 100 years ago.

In the incident, 587 sailors died in the deep sea of Japanese waters while 69 sailors who survived the storm were transported to İstanbul by Japanese military vessels named Hiei and Kongo.

“Within the scope of the 100th anniversary ( of Turkish-Japanese diplomatic relations), TCG Kinaliada is conducting port visits to increase the visibility of the Turkish Naval Forces, introduce our national platforms and improve bilateral relations with the countries visited,” he said.

Emir Salim said TCG Kinaliada with its 110 crew, will visit a total of 24 ports in 20 countries during its 134-day planned journey.

The construction of TCG Kinaliada, the fourth ship produced under the Turkish national corvette project (MİLGEM), was completed on Sept 29, 2019, and for the port visit mission to Japan, the ship had started sailing from Izmit on April 9.

-- BERNAMA