The Pasha Liman Base, or Pashaliman Base, is an Albanian Navy base south of

Vlorë Vlorë ( ; ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, third most populous city of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surr ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

History

Cold War history

Pashaliman was the only Soviet base in the Mediterranean in the 1950s. It was the hot spot of conflict between the Soviets and the Albanians in 1961 when Albania pulled out of the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

and the dispute of the four Whiskey-class submarine ownership which Albania had seized. Following the collapse of the Communist regime, the base was rebuilt by

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and under a bilateral agreement the

Turkish Navy The Turkish Naval Forces (), or Turkish Navy (), is the naval warfare service branch of the TAF. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was established as the ''Directorate o ...

has the right to use it.

Modern history

The Albanian-Turkish military cooperation agreement was signed in 1992 and encompassed rebuilding Albania's Pasha Liman Base by

alongside granted access for Turkish use. Three of the Albanian Navy's four Damen Stan patrol vessels were built at Pashaliman, the most recent completed in 2014. Currently, four retired Whiskey-class submarines previously owned by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

are still located on the facility alongside Albania's active-duty naval vessels. They can be seen via satellite images of the base. The Naval Force often operates naval exercises in the Bay of Vlorë, out of Pashaliman. This includes exercises with other nations, such as the United Kingdom. The most recent exercise, Sarex '16, took place in April 2016.

Civilian facilities

A civilian naval engineering firm and

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

also operate out of the military facility, providing a wide range of services.

References

{{Reflist Albanian Navy bases Installations of the Soviet Navy Albania–Soviet Union relations Warsaw Pact Submarine bases Turkish Navy bases Buildings and structures in Vlorë Military installations of the Soviet Union in other countries Albania–Turkey relations Military installations of Albania

History

Cold War history

Modern history

Civilian facilities

See also

References