Turkey unveils domestically produced warships

The Turkish Navy on Tuesday unveiled its first domestically produced warships in the country's largest city Istanbul. The TCG Heybeliada and TCK Buyukada corvettes joined Turkish navy service at Istanbul's Pendik docks in the presence of Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other high-ranking officials from the armed forces. These are the first ships produced in the country after Turkey' s national ship program initiated in 2004 in order to reduce dependence on foreign manufacturers. The unveiling of the ships comes at a time of increased tensions in the eastern Mediterranean over hydrocarbon resources.