posted 01-03-2011 08:22 AM               

In addition to FAA assistance, Yildirim hinted obliquely that Turkey's desire to send an astronaut into space -- expressed in a letter from President Gul to President Obama -- is also tied into its consideration of commercial deals, and that NASA assistance to help stand up Turkey's nascent space program would be viewed positively. Ambassador Jeffrey noted that scheduling a Turkish astronaut on an upcoming mission would be extremely difficult, but that other technical assistance from NASA in establishing Turkey's space program might be a possibility.

While there should not be a link between this deal and FAA/NASA assistance in developing Turkey's aviation and aerospace agencies, such assistance in and of itself could be mutually beneficial and merits further study. We probably cannot put a Turkish astronaut in orbit, but there are programs we could undertake to strengthen Turkey's capacity in this area that would meet our own goals for improved aviation safety in the region.