Rear Admiral Ayhan Bay, Commander Combined Task Force (CCTF) 151 recently visited Djibouti with his flagship TCG Gemlik. Taking a short break from counter-piracy operations in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, TCG Gemlik came alongside in the Horn of Africa’s prominent port.
During the busy port visit to Djibouti, Rear Admiral Bay called on the Defence Minister His Excellency Hassan Darar Houffaneh; the Djibouti Armed Forces Deputy Commander Brigadier General Daher Ali Mohamed and the Coast Guard Commander Captain Wais Bogoreh.
During his visits Rear Admiral Bay thanked Djiboutian officials for assigning a National Liaison Officer to Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) Command and discussed issues related to counter-piracy.
Rear Admiral Bay also visited the Japanese Deployment Ground Force for Counter-Piracy Enforcement; the Deployment Air Force for Counter-Piracy Enforcement and the Spanish Air Force maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft detachment.
He took time to visit the United Nations World Food Program Director and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Djibouti, where he took the opportunity to talk over immigrant handling processes in case of a ‘Safety of Life at Sea’ situation.
CTF 151 is a multi-national Task Force consisting of TCG Gemlik; the Pakistan Navy Ship Aslat; the Japanese Navy Ships Akizuki and Sawagiri and the Republic of Korea Ship Chungmugong Yi Sunshin. Commanding this multinational task force since 27 August, Rear Admiral Bay said: “I am very proud of my sailors, petty officers and officers on each unit under my command, who serve with devotion and are thousands of miles away from their homes in support of maritime security and prosperity in this part of the world.”
In addition to the visits the Turkish Amphibious Team and the Firefighting Team onboard the Flagship TCG Gemlik successfully conducted training together with their counterparts from the Djiboutian Navy in order to contribute to regional capacity building.
CTF 151 staff and TCG Gemlik crew also had the opportunity to visit the Daryel Orphanage in Djibouti.
The Turkish-led CTF 151 will continue to conduct counter piracy patrols in the area of operation under command of CMF which is a multinational naval partnership of 30 nations. CMF exists to promote security, stability and prosperity across approximately 2.5 million square miles of international waters, which encompass some of the world’s most important shipping lanes.