By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk
Türkiye has opened an integrated vessel traffic monitoring system linking a new control centre in Gazimağusa with three coastal surveillance stations and existing radar and Automatic Identification System feeds.
The Eastern Mediterranean Vessel Traffic Services system was formally inaugurated on July 20, completing a project launched in 2024 by Türkiye's Directorate General of Maritime Affairs and built by Turkish defence electronics company HAVELSAN.
The network includes unmanned surveillance stations at Dipkarpaz, Sadrazamköy and Çayırova. Data from the existing Automatic Identification System station at Selvitepe and radar and AIS infrastructure at Kantara have also been integrated into the Gazimağusa control centre.
Data collected by the network will also be transmitted to the Vessel Traffic Services centre in Mersin, allowing the coverage area to be monitored from both Türkiye and northern Cyprus.
The opening follows the completion of the project's three coastal surveillance stations earlier in 2026, when Ankara said the system would enter service during the second half of the year.
The network combines radar, cameras, communications equipment, meteorological sensors and vessel identification feeds to support continuous monitoring. Its stated functions include traffic management, navigational warnings, vessel identification and faster coordination during accidents, fires and other maritime emergencies.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu linked the project to Türkiye's Blue Homeland maritime policy and said it would strengthen the protection of the country's interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The system remains formally structured as civilian maritime traffic and safety infrastructure. The Mersin link gives Türkiye a permanent nationally controlled picture of vessel movements across the sea corridor between the Turkish mainland and Cyprus.
Sources: Türkiye's Transport and Infrastructure Ministry, HAVELSAN, Bosphorus News review and reporting.