Member of the YATA Macedonia Presidency, Mr. Hristijan Despotovski was part of this year's Aliante 2013 competition and participated at the winner’s trip held in Turkey which was organized by the Turkish Ministry of National Defence. Twenty finalist and ten coordinators together were exploring outstanding Turkey while taking journey start from Ankara on September 24th and end at Istanbul on October 3rd .



During this journey they traveled more than 1600 kilometers visiting 5 cities and 20 different locations. In the administrative center Ankara they visited the Anitkabir which is the Mausoleum of their great leader, father and founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Also they visited the Military Academy in Ankara and also TAI (Turkish Aerospace Industries), where they witnessed a presentation of company’s models and productivity.

The journey continued in Eskisehir, where after visiting the first Air Force Command in the night hours a boat trip in the city river was organized. Next day the participants arrived in Izmir, third most populated city in Turkey and were guests of the NATO Land Command. The journey also included visit of the House of the Virgin Marry and ancient city of Efes.



The place Canakkale is also a must stop destination in the Turkish history where one of the biggest ship battle was held during the First World War. Of course, Istanbul, a city with population of approximately 20 million was the last stop of this trip. Those three days were not enough to visit everything this splendid city has to offer. Starting with the Golcuk Naval Base and war college, but also all cultural monuments such as Dolmabahce Palace, Topkapi Palace,Galata Tower, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia and Basilica Cistern. Grand Bazar and Spice Bazar were also part of the agenda. The journey through Istanbul ended with boat trip across Bosporus and free time at Taksim Square.



Not only the visit agenda was extraordinary, during the trip all participants enjoyed the great Turkish cuisine and hospitality of the hosts. This trip had provided the participants with an invaluable opportunity to benefit from enlarging their knowledge and to make acquaintances with similarly-interested students from deferent countries.