Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the Turkish helicopter carrier TCG Anadolu the “Guardian of the Blue Homeland” since his campaign speech in northwestern Turkey’s Sangario Province, announcing its arrival in the Aegean Sea and, more specifically, in Izmir.

“We sent the guards of the Blue Motherland, the Anadolu ship, to the Black Sea. We will send it to Izmir. He will go to Smyrna. You understand what that means, so I won’t go into details. I hope that from there we will send different, appropriate messages with the Anadolu ship,” the Turkish leader said.