Aksaz Naval Base
Encyclopedia
Aksaz Naval Base is a base of the Turkish Navy
on the south-east coast of the Aegean Sea
in Marmaris
, Muğla
. In addition to the military buildings, the base houses apartment-like barracks
and social facilities stretched over 8000 acres (32.4 km²) of land. Six helicopters are also stationed at Aksaz.
and Aegean Sea
, extensive planning was started in the late 1960s for the search of the location of a naval base. The selected area was Karaağaç Bay at Aksaz, 13 km (8.1 mi) east of Marmaris in Muğla Province. The place was mentioned by Piri Reis
in Ottoman
historical documents as the most appropriate natural harbor capable of hosting a large naval fleet.
Construction of the naval base started in 1983. With the completion of the infrastructure in 1992, units and vessels of the navy started to move in. The base reached its final stage in 2000. Naval Base Aksaz is today a modern facility, preferred for logistic support also by foreign navies.
Turkish Navy
The Turkish Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.- Ottoman fleet after Mudros :Following the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, on November 3, 1918, the fleet commander of the Ottoman Navy, Liva Amiral Arif Pasha, ordered all flags to be...
on the south-east coast of the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
in Marmaris
Marmaris
Marmaris is a port city and a tourist resort on the Mediterranean coast, located in southwest Turkey, in Muğla Province.Marmaris' main source of income is tourism. Little is left of the sleepy fishing village that Marmaris was just a few decades ago after a construction boom in the 1980s...
, Muğla
Mugla Province
Muğla Province is a province of Turkey, at the country's south-western corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its seat is Muğla, about inland, while some of Turkey's largest holiday resorts, such as Bodrum, Ölüdeniz, Marmaris and Fethiye, are on the coast in Muğla....
. In addition to the military buildings, the base houses apartment-like barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
and social facilities stretched over 8000 acres (32.4 km²) of land. Six helicopters are also stationed at Aksaz.
History
To meet the requirements of the Turkish Navy's power presence in the MediterraneanMediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
and Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
, extensive planning was started in the late 1960s for the search of the location of a naval base. The selected area was Karaağaç Bay at Aksaz, 13 km (8.1 mi) east of Marmaris in Muğla Province. The place was mentioned by Piri Reis
Piri Reis
Piri Reis was an Turkish Ottoman admiral, geographer and cartographer born between 1465 and 1470 and died in 1554 or 1555....
in Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
historical documents as the most appropriate natural harbor capable of hosting a large naval fleet.
Construction of the naval base started in 1983. With the completion of the infrastructure in 1992, units and vessels of the navy started to move in. The base reached its final stage in 2000. Naval Base Aksaz is today a modern facility, preferred for logistic support also by foreign navies.
Operations
At the Aksaz Naval Base, the Southern Sea Area Command of the Turkish Navy maintains special units as:- Su Altı SavunmaSu Alti SavunmaSu Altı Savunma is one of two special operations units of the Turkish Navy ....
(SAS) (Underwater Defense) - Su Altı Taaruz (SAT) (Underwater Attack)