Commodore (OF-6) Efstathios (Stathis) KYRIAKIDIS Hellenic Navy, NMIOTC Commandant.
Commodore Stathis Kyriakidis H.N. was born in Serres, Greece in 1967 and he is a 1990 graduate of the Hellenic Naval Academy.
He served on board surface units of the Hellenic Fleet, and participated in the Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield in the Gulf (1990-91). Commodore Kyriakidis was member of the commissioning crew of HS KIMON (ex USS SEMMES) and he commanded the gunboat HS KRATEOS (as her first Commanding Officer), and the frigate HS ELLI.
He graduated, with distinction, from both the Hellenic Joint Supreme War College and the Hellenic Defence College. Among other Staff assignments, he has served as Advisor to the Chief of Hellenic National Defence, as Head of the Plans and Policy Directorate at the Hellenic Navy and as the POLAD to the Chief of the Hellenic Navy.
His assignments abroad include a tour to NATO SHAPE, as Action Officer responsible for NATO Major Joint exercises (J7) and as Subject Matter Expert for the NATO Response Force (NRF). He was member of the SHAPE team established to confront the Russian annexation of Crimea. Moreover, he served in the European Union Military Staff (EUMS), as the Head of Division Operations Coordination and the Dep Director of the EU Maritime Area of Interest Coordination Cell (MAICC).
He holds a M.Sc. in Applied Physics from Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA USA (1996-1998), specialized in wireless networks (dual degree with the Dept of Computer Science) and a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in European Security, from the University of Geneva (2008). He has published several studies and articles in Greek Defence related press. He speaks fluently English and French and – at a lower level – Spanish.
Commodore Stathis Kyriakidis is married to Vicky Deligianni and they have twins, Loukia and Dimitrios.
Captain (OF-5) Adem YAYLA TUR (N) DCOM of NMIOTC
Captain Adem YAYLA, TUR (N) was born in İstanbul, Türkiye in 1977, joined Naval High School in 1991 and graduated from Turkish Naval Academy in 1999.
His seagoing career has been spent in Yavuz/Barbaros class frigates and Kılıç class fast attack craft, serving as a weapon electronic officer, anti-air warfare officer, gunnery officer, principal warfare officer and then executive officer. He commanded the fast attack craft TCG MIZRAK.
During assignments ashore, he worked at the Turkish Fleet Headquarters. He served as instructor in Karamürselbey Naval Training Center and Turkish Naval Academy.
He served as naval plan officer at The Qatari-Turkish Combined Joint Task Force Command in Qatar.
He holds a M.Sc. in Electronics and Communication (electromagnetic wave propagation) from Kocaeli University, Türkiye (2014-2016). He is a Ph.D. student at the same university.
