President of Slovakia Ivan Gasparovic, who came to Turkey upon the invitation of President Abdullah Gül, visited TÜBİTAK UZAY as part of his program. During the visit, the guest President was presented with a photograph of the town of Poltar, his birthplace, obtained from the RASAT satellite.
In Ankara, President Gasparovic first met with President Gül at the Çankaya Mansion and then met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. As part of his program in the capital, the guest President also visited the TÜBİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute (TÜBİTAK UZAY), which has carried out national satellite projects such as RASAT and GÖKTÜRK-2.
Speaking during the visit, which took place at TÜBİTAK UZAY's building in METU campus, TÜBİTAK Vice President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necati Demir expressed his pleasure to host the Slovak delegation and gave information about TÜBİTAK's activities. Stating that TÜBİTAK attaches importance to international cooperation in the field of science-technology, Demir said that the cooperation activities carried out with Slovakia are very important in this context.
Gasparovic: "We want to establish a joint research center with Turkey"
President of Slovakia Ivan Gasparovic started his speech by stating that he met with the highest level bureaucrats of Turkey and that the meetings were very positive. Stating that the relations between the two countries were also discussed at the level of private sector and R&D cooperation, President Gasparovic emphasized that both sides agreed on all the issues discussed.
Stating that they have always supported Turkey's EU membership, President Gasparovic noted that Turkey has become a stronger, more stable and modern country economically and politically. Emphasizing that he has personally experienced this development during his visits to Turkey in recent years, President Gasparovic said that cooperation between countries has become even more important in times of crisis all over the world.
Expressing his wish for Turkey and Slovakia to join forces, the Slovak President expressed his wish to establish a joint research center for cooperation especially in the field of science-technology.
RASAT surprise for the visiting President
Following the speeches, the Slovakian delegation was given a presentation on TÜBİTAK's projects and capabilities in the field of space. After examining the BALISTIKA project, an automatic bullet and shell core inspection system, the guest President visited the ground station and received information about the RASAT satellite. President Gasparovic was presented with a photograph of his birthplace, the town of Poltar, obtained from the RASAT satellite.
Gasparovic also visited TÜBİTAK UZAY's satellite production center and clean room, and was given detailed information on the engineering model of the RASAT satellite.
