Following the Paragliding Festival in 2014 and Mount Hasan XC Open Paragliding Turkey Cup Championship in 2016, the Aksaray governorate and municipality are hosting the Paragliding World Cup, the world's largest international paragliding organization. A total of 200 pilots including 100 international ones participate in the flights which will take place until Aug. 28. The first flights took place at the foot of Mount Hasan, and the pilots who took off following their preparations created a magnificent view over Aksaray. The parachute pilots landed in Niğde's Çukurkuyu village, the hometown of Ömer Halisdemir, the noncommissioned officer who was killed after shooting senior coup plotter Br. Gen. Semih Terzi during the coup attempt orchestrated by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism Mustafa Doğan said: "The location where we are standing is 2,000 meters high and is one of of Mount Hasan's best locations. We are hosting senior professional pilots from 13 different countries. Every day, pilots taking off from this very spot fly at least 70 meters."Before the flight to Halisdemir's village, the pilots talked to the press. Saying it is his second time flying from Mount Hasan, parachute pilot Güner Akkaya said this year is more important than before. "It is important because we will land in Çukurkuyu, Halisdemir's hometown, who was died on July 15, during the failed coup attempt. This is a very meaningful day for us. Despite traitors, we will land in the heart of democracy. Another parachute pilot, Özlem Çalışkan, said they are training before the competition begins and continued, "We will fly for the family of Halisdemir and land in his village."