ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday unveiled an ambitious 10-year space program for his country that includes lunar missions, Turkish astronauts in space and internationally viable satellite systems.
Erdogan announced the program, seen as part of his vision to place Turkey in an expanded regional and world role, during a live television event with special effects.
He said Turkey intends to establish a first contact with the moon in 2023, when the country marks the centenary of the founding of the Turkish Republic. The first phase of the mission would be ‘through international cooperation’, while the second phase would use Turkish rockets, Erdogan said.
“Our primary and most important goal for our national space program is the contact of the Republic in the 100th year with the moon,” the Turkish leader said. “If God wills, we will go to the moon.”
Erdogan also stated Turkey’s goal of sending Turkish citizens into space with international cooperation, to work with other countries to build a spaceport and to create a ‘global brand’ in satellite technology.
“I hope this road map, which will lead Turkey to the best league in the global space race, will come to life successfully,” he said.
Turkey established the Turkish Space Agency, or TUA, in 2018 with the aim of joining the handful of other countries with space programs.
Critics question the government’s decision to spend large sums of money on the target at a time when the country’s economy is suffering. Supporters say, however, that a space program will provide researchers with jobs and likely reduce the brain drain of emigrant scientists.
Erdogan did not provide details on how Turkey intends to achieve its goals. Last month, he and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk spoke by telephone and discussed the collaboration on space technologies with Turkish companies.
Meanwhile, a metal monolith that mysteriously appeared and disappeared on a field in southeastern Turkey has become a gimmick for advertising before the event.
The 3-meter (about 10 feet high) metal plate with the inscription “Look at the sky, you will see the moon” written in an ancient Turkish script was found by a farmer in the province of Sanliurfa on Friday. The monolith was near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Gobekli Tepe, home to megalithic structures dating from the 10th century BC, thousands of years before Stonehenge.
The structure allegedly disappeared on Tuesday morning, further enlarging the mystery.
An image of the monolith was later projected onto the screen when Erdogan said, ‘I’m now presenting you the 10-year vision, strategy, and goals, and I say,’ Look at the sky, you’ll see the moon . ‘
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Robert Badendieck contributed from Istanbul