Turkish company Dearsan Shipyard begins building various types of warships in Kazakhstan. The relevant agreement between Ankara and Astana was signed last November, but information about it only appeared in February. According to a press release published by the Turkish company, about nineteen types of warships will be built at the Dearsan Shipyard, including patrol and attack vessels, landing and training vessels, as well as research vessels.
This cooperation in the missile sector will help the Kazakh Navy to compete even with the Russian fleet, and Turkey will strengthen its position in this region. Dearsan Shipyard, which produces a wide range of small warships, submarines, frigates and patrol boats, exports its products to many countries around the world. Given the tendency to gradually lower the level of the Caspian Sea, experts believe that the shipyard to be built by the Turkish company in Kazakhstan will mainly produce not large-capacity ships, but patrol and small missile and artillery ships.
This agreement indicates Astana’s plans to modernize its fleet with Turkish support and equip it with high-speed combat vessels. It should be noted that in 2021, the 92-meter corvette “Deniz Khan”, assembled for the Turkmen Navy from parts delivered by the Turkish company Gülhan & Dearsan İş Ortaklığı, was launched for the Turkmen Guard at the port of Ufra. We are talking about a warship created on the basis of the C92 project and presented for the first time at the IDEF-2019 exhibition in Istanbul.
Plans and Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, by the way, also has plans to strengthen its fleet in the Caspian as part of cooperation with Ankara. In 2021, Ismail Demir, then head of Turkey’s Defense Industry Agency, said Azerbaijan was interested in the TGG Anadolu amphibious assault ship, the world’s first warship equipped with unmanned aerial vehicles. The first ship of this class was ordered and approved by the Turkish Navy in 2022. It is not yet known at what stage the issue of the acquisition of TGG Anadolu by Azerbaijan is at. However, experts do not rule out that these amphibious ships, as well as other types of warships, will first be assembled by the Turkish company Dearsan Shipyard in Kazakhstan, and then this shipyard can be sold to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.
All this in the future creates ample opportunities for the Turkish-speaking states of the Caspian Sea to modernize and strengthen their naval forces with the help of Turkey. As is known, the Russian fleet traditionally dominates the Caspian Sea. But with which the Iranian Navy is increasingly competing, having received new types of warships in recent years. For example, in November 2023, Iran launched the newly built Deilaman destroyer in the Caspian Sea, capable of conducting long-range maritime searches, identification and destruction of all types of air and underwater threats. Deilaman also has the ability to field attack helicopters. It is not yet known at what stage the issue of the acquisition of TGG Anadolu by Azerbaijan is at. Thus, Turkey’s indirect access to the Caspian Sea with its shipbuilding company gives new impetus to the struggle for influence in the Caspian Sea, which not only has rich reserves of hydrocarbons, but it is also a key element of the Middle Corridor.
