In Exchange for Buying American Jets, Turkish Officials Tried to Finagle a Shuttle Ride
Discovery In Orbit NASANew quid pro quo drama emerges in Wikileaked cable In exchange for buying American-made jets, Turkey tried to barter for a space shuttle ride for one of its astronauts, according to a U.S. State Department message released by WikiLeaks and reported by Space.com. In January 2010, former U.S. ambassador James Jeffrey (now ambassador to Iraq) was urging the partially-state-owned Turkish Airlines to buy some jets from Boeing, rather than its European counterpart Airbus. Turkey, a European Union hopeful, was apparently willing - but wanted the U.S. to sweeten the deal. Turkish Minister of Transportation Binali Yildirim told Jeffrey price was the main consideration, but Turkey could be swayed with the right perks: "Yildirim hinted obliquely that Turkey's desire to send an astronaut into space - expressed in a letter from President (Abdullah) Gül to President Obama - is also tied into its consideration of commercial deals, and that...