Turkish Coast Guard

Turkish Coast Guard Türk Sahil Güvenliği
Seal of the Turkish Coast Guard (Turkish Armed Forces portal)
Active	1982 – present (33–34) years[1]
Country	Turkey
Type	Coast guard
Role	Law enforcement, coastal patrol, marine border protection, marine search and rescue.
Size	5,324 employees[2] 14 helicopters 3 airplanes
Part of	Ministry of the Interior (in peacetime) Turkish Armed Forces (in wartime)
Headquarters	Ankara
Website	sgk.tsk.tr/
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief	President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Minister of the Interior	Minister Efkan Ala
Chief of the General Staff	General Hulusi Akar
Commandant	Rear Admiral Hakan Üstem
Insignia
Flag

The Turkish Coast Guard (Turkish: Türk Sahil Güvenliği) is the coast guard service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. During peacetime, the Turkish Coast Guard is under the command of the Ministry of the Interior. However, during emergency and wartime it falls under the command of the Turkish Armed Forces.

The Turkish Coast Guard is organized into four area commands: the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea.

Organization

Affiliated with the Guarding Administration (Ottoman Turkish: Muhafaza Memurluğu), the Coast Guard is responsible for controlling the maritime jurisdiction areas and coasts of Turkiye and fighting all kind of illegal action in the responsibility area. Turkish Coast Guard is also the main Search and Rescue Coordination Authority in Turkish SAR Zone.

Strength

With a personnel strength of about 5,500, the coast guard is responsible for maintaining the security of the coast and territorial waters. The Coast guard is also responsible of search and rescue (SAR) operations, and for protecting the marine environment

Mission

Coast Guard Command is a security service, established on 9 July 1982 by Act.2692, with the purpose of performing missions such as; providing the security of Turkish coasts, territorial waters and inland waters such as the Marmara Sea, Istanbul and Çanakkale Straits, ports and harbors and exercising such rights and powers where Turkey exercises sovereign rights under the rules of both national and international laws at sea areas which fall outside the scope of the general responsibility of the Turkish Naval Forces and to prevent and pursue all kinds of smuggling activities carried out by way of sea. The missions, Coast Guard Command was charged with by Act. 2692 are:

• To protect and provide the security of our coasts and territorial waters,
• To provide the safety of life and property at sea.
• To take necessary measures for untethered mines, explosives and suspicious material identified in the sea and on the coast and report them to the authorities concerned.
• To observe and inspect the operating conditions of the aids-to-navigation and report the deficiencies observed to the authorities concerned,
• To disarm the refugees entering into our territorial waters and deliver them to the authorities concerned.
• To prevent all kinds of smuggling carried out by way of sea.
• To prevent the actions of the vessels and sea craft in violation of the laws on radio hygiene, passport, anchoring, mooring, fishing, diving and hoisting the flag.
• To inspect the fishing of aquatic products,
• To conduct inspections in order to prevent the marine pollution.
• To prevent the smuggling on antiquities by conducting inspections on diving activities.
• To perform search and rescue missions within the search and rescue area of Turkey, in conformity with the International Search and Rescue Convention and National Search and Rescue Regulations.
• To inspect the yacht tourism,
• To participate in the operations conducted for the security of homeland under the command of the Naval Forces, when so ordered.

Equipment

Patrol boat of the Turkish Coast Guard.

Surface patrols are carried out by 52 patrol vessels and smaller craft. The most effective of these are 14 search-and-rescue vessels (220 tons) of Turkish design. Smaller 150 ton and 70 ton patrol boats of German design were nearing obsolescence in the mid 1990s. An ambitious construction plan foresaw a major strengthening of the service with eight new vessels of 350 - 400 tons and 48 ships of 180 - 300 tons.

Turkish Coast Guard
Boats[4]
4	Search and Rescue Ship (1700 Ton)
14	80 Class CG Boats (195 Ton)
14	Turkish Type CG Boats (180 Ton)
4	SAR 35 CLASS (210 Ton)
10	SAR 33 CLASS (180 Ton)
13	KAAN 33 CLASS (113 Ton)
9	KAAN 29 CLASS (97 Ton)
1	KAAN 20 CLASS (30 Ton) (17 more in construction )
18	KAAN 15 CLASS (21 Ton)
8	KW 15 CLASS (70 Ton)
12	CG Picket Boats (29 Ton)
n/a	CG Control Boats (Rubber Inflatable Boats)
n/a	KEGAK (Coastal Safety and Salvage) Teams (Rubber Inflatable Boats)
n/a	SAGET (Coast Guard and Safety) Teams (Rubber Inflatable Boats)
Aircraft[5]
3	CASA CN-235
Helicopter[6]
13	Agusta-Bell AB-412

Insignia

NATO code	OF-10	OF-9	OF-8	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1		OF(D)	Student Officer
Turkey (Edit)													No Insignia
	Büyükamiral	Oramiral	Koramiral	Tümamiral	Tuğamiral	Albay	Yarbay	Binbaşı	Yüzbaşı	Üsteğmen	Teğmen	Asteğmen	Bahriyeli

NATO Code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4		OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Turkey (Edit)																																	No Insignia
	Astsubay Kıdemli Başçavuş						Astsubay Başçavuş		Astsubay Kıdemli Üstçavuş	Astsubay Üstçavuş	Astsubay Kıdemli Çavuş			Astsubay Çavuş			Uzman Çavuş						Çavuş		Uzman Onbaşı		Onbaşı						Er

• OF-3 and OF-2 translate to "Head of 1000" and "Head of 100" respectively, while OR-2 translates as "Head of 10".

References and notes

1. "History of Turkish Coast Guard Command". Turkish Coast Guard Command. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
2. "TSK Mevcut Personel Sayısını Açıkladı" [TSK Accounces It's Active Personnel Numbers] (in Turkish). Aktifhaber. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
3. "Türk Silahlı Kuvvetlerinin Barışı Destekleme Harekâtlarına Katkıları". tsk.tr. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
4. "Dost Class". Turkishnavy.net. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
5. "CASA CN-235-100M MPA". Turkishnavy.net. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
6. "AB-412 EP". Turkishnavy.net. Retrieved 26 July 2016.

External links

• (English) Official Turkish Coast Guard Website
• Official Turkish Coast Guard Website