Kocasinan Mayor Ahmet Çolakbayrakdar, who was the live broadcast guest of the program prepared by the 'Bir Düşünürün Feneri' (BDF) page and hosted by Şeyda Çakır from the BDF team, hosted 'Hıdırellez', Sky Observation, which received the achievement, application and project award from the Historical Cities Association (TKB). He gave detailed information about his Evi project. Turkish Space Agency (TUA) Board Member and former TAI Space Systems Deputy General Manager Prof. Dr. In the program attended by Lokman Kuzu and Astronomer Tamer Akın, President Çolakbayrakdar, who pointed out that our ancestors played a major role in the turning points in the world science history, witnessed Turkey's first space travel adventure on live broadcast. President Çolakbayrakdar, who said to Turkey's first Astronaut Alper Gezeravcı, 'Go away safely, come back safely', emphasized that they are preparing children and young people for the Turkey of the future with the investments made and the events organized.
Stating that they contribute to the training of future engineers and pilots with the Celestial Observatory, Mayor Çolakbayrakdar said, “We are making intense efforts to restore and acquire historical and cultural structures. At this point, we restored the historical place known as Hızır İlyas Mansion, which was built in 1241-1242, and put it into service as a Sky Observatory. The historical building was restored as the work of our ancestors. If you add functions to these structures while bringing them to the future, they can be provided as a legacy to future generations. Otherwise, it remains a dysfunctional structure. As the Celestial Observatory, we strived to add a structure to our cultural treasure, but so that the adults, young people and children who come here can learn detailed information about space and gain a different perspective. We are working hard to turn it into an astronomy museum, not just a sky observation museum. We want to explain this to the generations after us, especially about what Muslim scientists did and brought to light in this regard, and how they played a major role in the turning points in the world science history. Because today, it is perceived as if this science was produced by the West and they own its history, and it is imposed in this way. But when we look at it, there is seriously civilization in the east. These scientists in the East have come to this day by adding something to the scientific studies they produced in the past. We wanted this to be won, too. At this point, it is the first time a Turk goes to space. This is very important and valuable. Our people do things that will make a name for themselves and go down in world history. It is necessary to create the infrastructure and give opportunities to young people and children. As a municipality, we are trying to provide an opportunity. We can arouse curiosity in the horizons of primary, secondary, high school and university-aged young people in terms of discovering space, astronomy, the sky or the secrets deep within the universe. At this point, we support young people who will work. We provide training and technical infrastructure to young people who will develop unmanned aerial vehicles, rockets and software at this point. Although it has not been a year yet, we are organizing events at the Sky Observatory. I am sure that this place will be very popular from now on, both for education and events. We will implement projects especially for those who take astronomy photographs and those who are curious. We will make it a place where our young people will enjoy coming. Our goal is to build an Astronomy Village here. When children come here, it will be a place where they will gain a different perspective while learning. "Our work on the Astronomy Village Project continues rapidly," he said.
On behalf of A Thinker's Lighthouse, Şeyda Çakır, Turkish Space Agency (TUA) Board Member and former TAI Space Systems Deputy General Manager Prof. Dr. Lokman Kuzu and Astronomer Tamer Akın praised the training provided by Kocasinan Municipality in the field of science and technology and the technical infrastructure it provided, and thanked Mayor Çolakbayrakdar for providing such opportunities.
