The Turkish research team arrived at Istanbul Airport on Tuesday after completing an epic 46-day journey as part of Turkey's sixth National Antarctic Science Expedition.
Özgün Oktar, who was in charge of the expedition team's logistics, said the project was carried out by a total of 20 researchers, including two foreigners, and that they completed all the studies they planned within 33 days.
Hasan Hakan Yavaşoğlu, the team member responsible for scientific studies, said their work was in the life, physical and earth sciences as well as astronomy.
"We have 86 publications," he said, noting this was a relatively high figure among countries that conducted research on Antarctica.
He also said the trip had been particularly productive for the researchers studying life sciences.
Since Jan. 22, the 20-person science team had covered 36,000 kilometers (22,370 miles) with 20 helicopter operations, 100 hours of boat operations and 18 hours of field studies.
Their studies included 14 projects examining sea and lake sediments, microorganism samples and cosmic particle studies, as well as insolation and albedometer (radiation reflection) studies.
Participants gathered 400 lichen and 35 kilograms (77 pounds) of rock samples belonging to 120 species in 14 projects, water, sediment and microorganism samples from seas and lakes, cosmic particle research for atmosphere studies and other samples and data.
The team had launched field studies on Feb. 14 on Horseshoe Island, where a temporary Turkish science base is located on the world’s coldest continent, and moved on to Dismal Island where a Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) station operated by Turkey is located.
In April 2016, the first-ever Turkish team of researchers that included 14 medics, botanists, geologists and oceanographers from seven universities traveled to Antarctica to study the impact of climate change. Three years later, the expedition established Turkey's first polar base. The expeditions also host guest researchers from other countries.
Before Turkey established its temporary research base on Horseshoe Island in Antarctica in 2019, its scientific team was supported by Ukraine’s Vernadsky station. Since 2016, Turkey has accelerated its scientific investigations on the South Pole. It is believed that expeditions and further research will help the country’s scientific achievements.
Currently holding observer status, Turkey acceded to the Antarctic Treaty in 1996. The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C. by 12 countries in December 1959. In 2015, Turkey applied to become an observer to the Arctic Council, which was established in 1996 to promote cooperation, coordination and interaction among the eight Arctic states, including Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
