Technological Developments in Turkey Regarding Maritime Security

Maritime security is considerably important for Turkey, as Turkey has a long coastline. For maritime management in Turkey, there are several government agencies having responsibilities; these responsibilities of the government agencies are divided into four main classifications as: 1. Maritime natural resource management, 2. Maritime merchandise trade management, 3. Maritime navigation safety management and 4. Maritime security management. The Turkish government has been investing large amounts of money in order to reach the latest technologies for maritime regulations. In this context, each government agency has its own system for performing their responsibilities. To achieve a high level of maritime security, possessing high technology sensors or platforms is not enough, as interoperability of the systems is also very important. Achieving interoperability between the systems, any country can reach a high level of awareness in maritime security, which could be thought as the highest technological development of a country in maritime security. In Turkey, Maritime Situational Awareness work is in progress and the future planning is made to improve the maritime situational awareness by additional platforms, sensors and systems. With the collaboration of the systems, cost-effectiveness and situational awareness shall be reached.