ISTANBUL - Three ships bound to NATO Standing Naval Force Mediterranean (STANAVFORMED) anchored on Istanbul Strait on Thursday.
STANAVFORMED Commander Hans-Jochen Witthauer told a press conference that the ships came to Istanbul for a week and said that they were in Istanbul to show Turkish people that NATO naval force was beside them in fight against terrorism.
Witthauer emphasized that STANAVFORMED undertook an important role in countering international terrorism which had gained importance especially after the September 11th terrorist attacks.
International terrorist organizations could stage terrorist actions more easily in the seas, Witthauer stated.
Witthauer said that eight ships under STANAVFORMED Command tried to take under control terrorism in seas.
The Command followed about 1,700 ships and searched 42 ships last year, Witthauer pointed out.
Witthauer said that drug trafficking, which was among important sources of income of international terrorism, was prevented in those operations.
Lieutenant Colonel Jan-Mike Dittrich, the commander of the FGS Bayern ship, said that besides FGS Bayern, HS Salamis of Greek Naval Forces and SPS Baleares of Spanish Naval Forces were visiting Istanbul.
Dittrich noted that STANAVFORMED, which was formed by one ship each from the United States, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Germany, Britain, Italy and the Netherlands, was one of the four naval forces of NATO.
The Command performed several exercises, staged operations and visited ports in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas, Dittrich stated.
Dittrich said that the Command joined operations like intervention in Kosovo crisis and Adriatic embargo and contributed to recent fight against international terrorism.
STANAVFORMED was preventing international terrorism acts in seas and taking them under control, Dittrich emphasized.
Dittrich added that STANAVFORMED also joined search and rescue operations in case of natural disasters and similar incidents and provided logistic support.
(BRC-AÖ) 12.02.2004