According to the data of the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs, there are 66 ports, large and small, operated by the public and private sectors on the Mediterranean, Aegean, Marmara, and Black Sea coasts in Turkey. According to the news of the world, last year, a total of 526 million 306 thousand 784 tons of cargo capacity (handling) was realized in Turkish ports in domestic and foreign trade, most of which were foreign-flagged ships. Management Consultant Fırat Yemeniciler, who has been a senior manager in port management for many years, said that in recent years, Turkey has begun to have a say in port management in Europe. Indicating that Turkey ranks third in Europe after the Netherlands and Spain, Yemeniciler said: “Turkey has passed England and Italy, which have a say in cargo handling in Europe. Turkey now has enough port infrastructure. Looking at the last 20 years, although there has been a slight growth in ports in Europe, there has been an increase of 7-8 percent in Turkey. The handling capacity has increased 2-2.5 times. The transportation of Iraqi and Azerbaijani oil from Turkish ports with transit cargo and transit containers was also effective in this.”
Yemeniciler stated that Kocaeli, Aliağa, İskenderun, and Botaş ports are among the 13 ports with the highest cargo handling in Europe, according to the 2021 evaluations, 4 out of 13 ports with the highest cargo handling, and continued as follows: “Despite all the adversities experienced in 2021, Turkish ports were among the 13 largest ports in Europe, Kocaeli port 6th, Aliağa 8th, İskenderun 11th, and Botaş port 13th. Having double-digit growth last year, Iskenderun Port increased by 41 percent in the first two months of 2022. Aliağa port, on the other hand, draws attention in terms of load capacity. Although Botaş port decreased by 5.4 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year, it reached a load capacity of 63 million 215 thousand tons. Kocaeli port, on the other hand, increased by 6.3 percent to 81 million 335 thousand tons, while Aliağa port grew by 7.2 percent to 73 million 890 thousand tons.”
“We can rise to the 2nd rank”
Expressing that Turkish ports have a very important place on the world scale, Yemeniciler stated that Turkish ports are the 3rd largest country in Europe. Emphasized that while France and Germany lagged in this ranking, over the years, Turkey surpassed Italy and England and placed in the 3rd place, Fırat Yemeniciler said: “As a country, I believe that in 2023, we will surpass Spain and rank 2nd after the Netherlands. Starting from 2010, according to tonnage developments, Turkey’s annual average combined growth (yearly growth rate consecutively) was 3.8 percent, while Spain grew by 2.1 percent and England shrank by 1.2 percent. While Turkish ports grew by 51 percent between 2010 and 2021, the growth in ports of other countries was only half, or even a third or even a fifth of us, while England shrank by 13 percent.”
