Alper Gezeravcı held a phone call with President Erdoğan

Turkey's first astronaut, Alper Gezeravcı, and the 3 astronauts accompanying him had landed on Earth in the Dragon capsule they were traveling in. After landing in the ocean off the coast of the US state of Florida, Gezeravcı and the accompanying astronauts were taken aboard by the ground team and brought to Houston. Gezeravcı, who was placed under rest as part of the readaptation process to Earth, held a phone call with AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

In his speech, Gezeravcı provided information to Erdoğan about his mission, stating, “We have fulfilled the task you entrusted to us successfully and with our heads held high. I thank you very much for gifting our country and future generations such a source of inspiration.”

AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan congratulated Gezeravcı for the mission he carried out, saying, “I thank you very much on behalf of myself, my family, and my nation for successfully fulfilling this duty. I would be very happy if we could meet one-on-one when you come to Ankara and you tell us about this entire process in detail. There will be very valuable tasks ahead for you from now on as well.”

Responding to Erdoğan's question about whether he had met with his family yet, Gezeravcı stated, “We haven't met yet; they are waiting for me in Houston. We landed on the sea surface in Florida. I will have the opportunity to meet with my family approximately 2 hours from now.”

Responding to President Erdoğan's question about his health, Gezeravcı said the following:

“Everything is going very well. The doctors who welcomed us here were also a bit surprised. They were expecting my adaptation process to take a bit longer. When I started running around outside the building as soon as possible, they were a bit taken aback. Thank God, everything is in perfect order.”

AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan also conveyed his regards to Gezeravcı's family, saying, “I hope we will have the opportunity to meet when you return to Turkey.”

At the end of his remarks, Gezeravcı thanked President Erdoğan for his contributions to Turkey becoming the 22nd country to reach the International Space Station, stating, “Among the missions carried out there, we became the country that reached the International Space Station the fastest from the beginning of the training. I thank you for your decision on this matter and for your vision that led our country to take this next step.”