
When Turkey's first astronaut blasts off for the International Space Station (ISS) this week, he will embody his country's pride and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's grand geopolitical ambitions.
Alper Gezeravci, a 43-year-old fighter pilot and colonel in Turkey's air force, was due to take off Wednesday from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for a two-week mission.