COSPAR Cancels Istanbul Conference As Security Concerns Escalate – UPDATE

The international Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) has cancelled its biennial conference for this year, which was scheduled to take place in Istanbul, Turkey from July 30-August 7.   COSPAR President Lennard Fisk called it a “difficult and sad decision,” but the wise course of action following this weekend’s attempted coup.

COSPAR was created in 1958 as part of the International Council for Science (formerly the International Council of Scientific Unions).  It  holds a “scientific assembly” every two years that brings together the world’s top space scientists who share and discuss their recent discoveries and future plans.  The 2014 COSPAR meeting was in Russia (Moscow) and the 2018 COSPAR meeting will be in the United States (Pasadena).   The Space Studies Board (SSB) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is the U.S. national committee to COSPAR. 

Fisk is the first American to serve as COSPAR President.  A Distinguished University Professor at the University of Michigan, he is a former SSB chairman and former NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science and Applications.

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden decided on June 21 to cancel all NASA-sponsored travel to the Istanbul conference because of security concerns based on a travel advisory from the State Department that restricted official travel to “mission critical” tasks.  At the time, similar advisories (alerts and warnings) were in effect for a significant number of other countries, and focused on concerns about the southeastern portion of Turkey.  Istanbul is in the northwest.  Under the circumstances at that time, Fisk expressed concern that NASA’s action was sending the wrong messages about responding to terrorism and the importance of space science.

The situation has changed dramatically since then.  On June 28, terrorists attacked the Istanbul airport.  On July 15, an attempted coup occurred.  Following the coup attempt, U.S. airlines now are prohibited from flying to or from the Istanbul and Ankara airports, and all airlines, regardless of country of registry, are prohibited from flying into the United States from Turkey either directly or via a third country.

In a statement on the COSPAR website, Fisk cited the coup attempt as the final straw in COSPAR’s decision to cancel.  “This is a difficult and sad decision, taken in consultation with the Executive Director of the COSPAR Secretariat and in consideration of the advice spontaneously expressed by several Bureau and Council members as well as COSPAR officers and Main Scientific event Organizers. It also reflects the sense of responsibilities of the President, Bureau and Secretariat of COSPAR.”

He stressed that COSPAR had been trying to maintain the conference to reflect “our common intent to resist terrorism and our willingness to respect the efforts of the local organizer. But now, that is no longer possible. … [I]t was our duty to try and maintain the Istanbul Assembly, notwithstanding the risks related to terrorism that can strike anywhere, as sadly demonstrated on 14 July in Nice (France), but also in the last few weeks in Orlando (USA), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Baghdad (Iraq), and other places.  What happened on 15 July in Turkey is of a different nature” and makes the decision to cancel “the only wise one available.”

The next COSPAR scientific assembly is scheduled for July 14-22, 2018 in Pasadena, CA, the home of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which manages many of NASA’s space and earth science missions.

The State Department also has a travel advisory in effect for Mexico, including the state of Jalisco where Guadalajara — the site of the September International Astronautical Conference (IAC) — is located.  When asked today whether NASA has any plans or expectations that travel will be prohibited to the IAC, NASA Associate Administrator for Communications David Weaver replied by email that “NASA fully intends to support this conference, but will continue to coordinate our presence in Mexico with the Department of State.”  

Updated to include the information that the State Department’s advisory about Turkey in effect at the time of Administrator Bolden’s decision, issued March 29, limited official travel to “mission critical” travel.   It is interesting to note, however, that on June 27 (the day before the attack at the Istanbul airport), the State Department replaced its March 29 advisory with one that did not include the mission critical language and continued to focus on threats in southeastern Turkey.  The latest advisory, following the coup attempt, referencing the airline restrictions, was issued July 16 and also omits the mission critical language.

Updated to add David Weaver’s comments about the September IAC.