Weekly Turkey Report (10-17 Sep.): Joint military drills begin,Virgin Galactic uses Turkish software

 Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan started their first-ever joint military drills in Baku.

The exercises called the ‘’Three Brother-2021’’ kicked off with an opening ceremony.

Speaking at the ceremony, the heads of Turkish and Pakistani delegations said The "three brothers will grow closer" as reliable regional partners despite international political change.

The joint military drills will serve to ‘’further strengthen the existing ties between the armies, as well as provide an opportunity to discover new ways to combat terrorism.

 The joint military drills will be held until September 20th.

In July, the three countries accepted the Baku Declaration that emphasize their roles in building peace and stability in the regions.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu virtually attended a High-level United Nations Ministerial Meeting on Afghanistan.

 At the meeting convened by Antonio Guterres, Mevlut Cavusoglu argued that “a humanitarian and security crisis in Afghanistan would have direct implications across the globe.”

He emphasized the need for urgent global action and expressed support for Guterres’ call for mobilizing an effective response.

 On the other hand, The European Union intends to strengthen cooperation with Turkey on the issues of irregular migration and border security.

Commercial space flight operator Virgin Galactic uses software made by the Turkish company Quantum3D.

Virgin Galactic trains pilots with the software called IDX 80 integrated with the company’s award-winning real-time scene management software ''Mantis''.

The software creates life-like effects which allow pilots and passengers to test critical conditions such as altitude and sightlines.

This realistic experience enables pilots and passengers to prepare for their real journey to space, as well as significantly reducing training costs.

Turkey’s biggest aviation and technology event  Teknofest will start next week in Istanbul.

Being held for the fourth time, the six-day event will start on Tuesday at the Atatürk Airport.

The event aims to raise awareness on technology and science throughout society and to support young people to work in these fields.

The festival will host activities such as air shows with warplanes, unmanned aerial vehicles, and helicopters, as well as seminars, competitions, and fairs.

Nearly 50,000 teams have applied to take part in the competitions in 35 different categories.

Last year, the event was organized virtually because of the pandemic measures.

Archeologists have discovered a 3,500year-old mosaic, in central Turkey.

The mosaic consisting of 3,147 stones with a size of 3x7 meters was found in Usakli Hoyuk located in Yozgat province where excavations have begun in 2012.

Scientific studies determined that the mosaic found belongs to the 1500s B.C, and therefore it is the first mosaic in world history. 

 The excavation team said that they know there are similar ones in Greece, but they think that the newfound is the oldest in the world.

 The authorities are planning to earn the place to the tourism sector.