The long-awaited exit of the mini-aircraft carrier Anadolu in the Aegean has arrived according to an announcement by the Turkish Ministry of Defense.
"TCG ANADOLU, which opened to the public in Istanbul in Sarayburnu and was visited by more than 140 thousand citizens, completed its program in Istanbul. Rendezvous in Izmir on May 3..." says the relevant post on the Turkish Ministry of Defense's social media.
Up until the moment when these lines were written, the flagship of the Turkish fleet had not left the Dardanelles Straits.
This move, according to analysts who spoke to Pentapostagma, has multiple objectives on the part of Erdogan.
First of all, the fact of sending the ship to Smyrna has to do with an attempt by the Turkish president to damage the prestige of Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the "nest" of the Kemalists, which is none other than the city on the coast of the Aegean.The second goal is obvious and is the demonstration of power towards Greece with the passage of the Anadolu in the Aegean and its arrival in the once flourishing Greek city, called by many in other times distant and "Gyaur Izmir", that is, the Smyrna of the unbelievers.
In any case, Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to boost his neo-Ottoman narrative, since this particular ship, having been built against the background of the revisionist doctrine of the Blue Sea, is a first-class opportunity for the Turkish president to demonstrate the achievements of the Turkish war industry during the of his administration.
It is no coincidence that Erdogan recently stated: "The Anadolu ship has 1300 personnel. And with 1300 people, it will open to the blue seas in the Mediterranean and show the power of the Turk. But this is not enough. I have talks with the Spaniards, you know we built this ship together with the Spaniards. I am also talking to the English to build twice as many ships. That is, we will enlarge our aircraft carrier more as we need to increase our power in the seas. With God's help the descendants of Barbarossa will show that they are worthy successors of Barbarossa".
It is very possible that since these days it will sail towards Izmir and the Turkish mini-aircraft carrier Anadolu that we will also see the reappearance of Turkish fighters or other air assets in the Aegean, which will bring them after a long time close to Greek fighters that will be exercising in the context of the "Iniochos" exercise.
