Azernews.Az

By News Centre

The Ministry of National Defense (MSB) held its weekly press briefing on the activities of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) aboard the TCG Anadolu ship due to the live-fire phase of the Blue Homeland-2026 Exercise.

According to information from ministry sources, the Blue Homeland-2026 Exercise, conducted simultaneously in the Black Sea, Aegean, and Eastern Mediterranean, continues successfully. For the first time, a total of 120 ships, 50 aircraft, and 15,000 personnel from the Naval Forces, as well as the Land, Air, and Coast Guard Commands, participated in the exercise. The domestically produced “AKYA Heavy-Class Combat Torpedo” was fired for the first time from the Sakarya submarine and successfully hit its target.

Within the scope of the TSK’s strategy to neutralize terrorism at its source, 10 PKK militants surrendered over the past week during ongoing operations. Meticulous efforts in the Syrian operational areas have resulted in the destruction of new tunnels in the Manbij region, bringing the total length of neutralized tunnels to 768 kilometers to date.

As part of continuous border security operations, 127 individuals attempting to cross the border illegally were apprehended in the past week, two of whom were identified as members of terrorist organizations. Meanwhile, 1,095 individuals were prevented from crossing the border. Since the beginning of the year, the total number apprehended has reached 1,822, and those prevented from crossing number 19,992.

The ministry also announced that domestically produced defense industry products continue to enter the TSK inventory. In this context, the TB-3 UAV and electronic-circuit IED detection systems have been added to the Land Forces Command inventory for the first time. Acceptance activities for the Aksungur and Akıncı UAVs and the CATS Electro-Optical systems have been completed under the Air Forces Command. While the second ship under the “New Type Landing Ship Project” has been commissioned, the third ship has entered the testing phase.

Regarding foreign relations and international missions, it was announced that the Somali Naval Task Group (TCG Gaziantep, TCG Bayraktar, TCG Bartın, and TCG Lieutenant Commander Güngör Durmuş) is planned to reach Mogadishu on April 10 together with the Çağrı Bey drilling vessel.

The ministry’s statement also addressed Israel’s attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, emphasizing that a temporary ceasefire must evolve into lasting peace, while condemning raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Regarding the National Defense University (MSÜ) application process, it was reported that during the first two weeks of the candidate preference period, which began on March 25, 70,000 candidates completed their applications. In addition, it was reminded that applications for the recruitment of disabled workers and those in the status of veterans of the fight against terrorism through İŞKUR will end tomorrow (April 10).

At the end of the briefing, the 181st anniversary of the Turkish Police Organization was celebrated, and all law enforcement personnel serving for public order and security were thanked.

The MSB also provided the latest information regarding the downed C-130 aircraft:

“When the flight data recorder (FDR) records were examined, it was observed that until the moment of the accident, all digital data, crew communications, and aircraft systems continued normally, with no malfunctions detected. The incident occurred suddenly, and due to the separation of the tail cone from the fuselage, the power and data cables of the FDR were severed, ending the recording. Therefore, no additional data relevant to clarifying the accident were available in the recorder.

Detailed examinations of the aircraft engines and propellers revealed that they were functioning normally until the moment of the accident. No evidence was found indicating that the aircraft fuselage was damaged due to propeller separation.

Examinations of samples taken from the wreckage by the Gendarmerie Criminal Department found no traces of explosives inside or outside the aircraft.

The analysis reports of the broken and cut materials are pending. At this stage, it has been determined that the fractures did not begin due to fatigue; however, the materials exhibited brittle fatigue behavior during tensile tests.”