First Turkish astronaut hospitalized after traffic accident

Alper Gezeravcı, the first Turkish person to fly into space, was hospitalized on Friday following a road accident in the northwestern province of Kocaeli.

A minibus collided with the rear of Gezeravcı’s vehicle on the D-100 highway in Izmit district, Anadolu News Agency (AA) reported.

Medical and police teams were dispatched to the scene of the accident before Gezeravcı, who appeared uninjured, was taken by ambulance to Kocaeli City Hospital for precautionary examinations.

Hospital officials confirmed that Gezeravcı’s condition was stable and he was not expected to suffer any long-term effects from the accident.

Gezeravcı, a former fighter pilot and captain of Turkish Airlines (THY), returned to Earth in early February after a nearly three-week mission on the International Space Station (ISS).

His flight is seen in Turkey as a source of national pride and a pinnacle of technological progress.

The trip is part of Turkey’s ambitious 10-year space roadmap, unveiled in early 2021, which includes missions to the moon and the development of internationally deployable satellite systems.

Turkey founded its own space agency in 2018 and announced a moon landing by 2026.

The program envisages cooperation with other countries to build a spaceport and create a global brand for satellite technology.