These Turks are going to space – Turkish Media

Turkey in Alper Gezeravcı and Tuva Cihangir Atasever were selected as the country’s first space travelers to be sent into space in the last quarter of this year. The selection took place among thousands of interested people.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced it on Saturday at the country’s most important technology event, Teknofest.

Gezeravcı is a Turkish Air Force pilot and will be sent to the International Space Station. Atasever, a systems engineer at Turkish rocket maker Roketsan in the field of space launch systems, was chosen as the reserve candidate.

Turkey founded the Turkish Space Agency in 2018 and announced the country’s space program in 2019, as well as the manned space mission.

Young people will bring Turkey to the upper class and realize the country’s dream of full independence, Erdoğan said. “We have worked hard to create an environment in our country where our young people can pursue their dreams without fear. We have built the infrastructure of a great and powerful Turkey,” he noted.

Furthermore, the Turkish President said that Turkey has become the hope of all oppressed peoples. “We have shown that it is not the destiny of our nation to depend on others.”

Technofest

The five-day Teknofest, this year in Istanbul, is the largest aerospace festival in the world. The number of participants has increased every year since 2018.

While the first edition of the event received 4,233 participant registrations in its first year, that number reached 333 teams and one million people this year, Erdoğan said.

Referring to the country’s recent defense products such as Kızılelma unmanned combat aircraft, TF-X fifth generation combat aircraft, IMECE satellite, light warplanes and Hürjet jet trainer and the he ATAK-2 multirole heavy combat helicopter, the Turkish leader underlined that Teknofest is the symbol of all these developments.

©Turkishmedia.nl – All rights reserved | AA | Published: 2023-04-29