Turkey’s Ministry of Defence announced that the “Blue Homeland 2026” military exercise began on Friday, spanning the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The exercise involves 120 naval vessels, 50 aircraft and 15,000 personnel from the Naval, Land and Air Forces, as well as the Coast Guard.
According to a statement posted by the ministry on social media, the drill will run until 9 April. Its main objective is to assess the effectiveness of operational command and control within the Naval Forces and to increase the operational readiness of participating units.
The ministry added that the exercise also aims to enhance situational assessment, foresight and decision‑making capabilities among headquarters personnel and participating units in a multi‑threat environment, while testing interoperability procedures between different branches of the armed forces.