TUA President Kıraç was elected APSCO Council President

Türkiye has achieved another historic achievement in the field of space diplomacy and international space governance.

Turkish Space Agency (TUA) President Yusuf Kıraç was unanimously elected as Council President for 2026-2027 at the 19th Council Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO).

This decision is historic as it is the first time in APSCO's history that a Turkish representative was appointed Chairman of the Council.

Historic decision in Bangkok

This decision made at the meeting in Bangkok is considered a concrete indicator of Türkiye's active role in regional and global space governance. Turkey is increasingly gaining a say in the technical, diplomatic and academic studies conducted under the APSCO umbrella.

The increasing strategic weight of APSCO and Türkiye

APSCO; It functions as a multilateral international space organization that promotes the peaceful uses of outer space, capacity building, joint satellite projects, training programs and technical cooperation among member countries. Thanks to the active participation of the Turkish Space Agency, Türkiye has become one of the leading countries in joint projects, human resources development programs and data sharing mechanisms carried out on this platform in recent years.

With Yusuf Kıraç taking over the office of Council President, Türkiye's strategic weight within APSCO is intended to be further strengthened, multilateral satellite and ground system projects to be deepened and regional space capacity to be expanded through joint initiatives.

Yusuf Kıraç was also Vice President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). Kıraç, who was elected at the 76th International Astronautical Congress in Sydney, broke new ground by becoming the first Turkish representative to serve in the IAF management structure.

Türkiye's vision of space diplomacy

When the APSCO Presidency, the IAF Vice Presidency and the hosting of IAC 2026 in Antalya are assessed together, it is clear that Türkiye's diplomatic, institutional and scientific capacities in the field of space have increased in a holistic manner. This tripartite structure shows that Türkiye has become not only a country developing space technologies but also an active player in global space diplomacy and governance.