Turkey to build permanent base in Antarctica, says minister

ISTANBUL

Turkey is building a permanent base in Antarctica, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank has announced on Twitter, sharing a documentary about the continent in his message.

“Today we are building a permanent base in Antarctica, a place where we did not exist four years ago,” wrote Varank on Sept. 30.

He also shared footage from “The Black Box of the Planet: Antarctica,” Turkey’s documentary recorded in the frozen continent. The documentary was premiered at the presidential complex at an event hosted by the Turkish first lady, Emine Erdoğan, on Sept. 23.

The minister thanked Erdoğan for her support in his tweet.

Stating in a press conference in April 2019 that Turkey has long been conducting researches to build a base in Antarctica, Varank said, “We want to have a say in Antarctica. So, we want to build a permanent base there. So, we will work with other countries on the continent.”

Vice President Fuat Oktay also stressed the importance of a permanent base in the region in January 2019.

“This year we will again have a temporary base in the continent. But we are looking for a permanent one. Now we have to be members of two scientific associations. When we succeed, then we will be the 30th consultant country,” Oktay had said.

The documentary that Varank mentioned in his tweet is a cinematographic work that was prepared as part of the country’s forth National Antarctic Science Expedition last year.

In the fourth Antarctica expedition, 24 scientists headed by Ersan Başar and coordinated by Burcu Özsoy searched for several answers on the frozen continent.

During the expedition, 135 hours of raw video was shot to create the documentary.

In the event organized for the promotion of the documentary at the presidential complex, pointing out that the fourth National Antarctic Science Expedition has many firsts in many respects, Erdoğan said, “The first of these is the recording of the expedition in a documentary.”

She also praised Burcu Camcıoğlu, the director of the documentary who worked with a team of two to finish the film.