The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), of which Turkey is one of the founding members, was established with the Chicago Convention signed on 7 December 1944. Since 1994, December 7 has been celebrated as "International Civil Aviation Day" all over the world.

Today, the civil aviation sector brings countries closer to each other than ever before and makes a great contribution in economic and many other fields. By following these developments in the last 20 years in our country, it has come a long way in having a large share in the expansion of the sector.

As a result of the work carried out under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Turkey has become one of the countries that contribute the most to the global aviation system, not only with the growth figures in passenger and airplane traffic, but also with the highest level of compliance with ICAO rules and standards and close cooperation with the organization.

 Turkey carries out its activities in civil aviation security and flight safety in accordance with the standards of organizations of which it is a member such as EUROCONTROL and ECAC, as well as ICAO.

It is obvious that the aviation industry has made great contributions to our economy due to the increase in passenger and freight transportation. However, our country has also started to show presence in the fields of production, design and certification in the last decade. The recognition of our General Directorate by NATO as the "civil aviation authority" in the last month is one of the best examples of this situation.

With these feelings and thoughts, in the difficult process that our aviation industry has undergone in recent years due to the COVID-19 outbreak, I sincerely congratulate the 7 December International Civil Aviation Day of our civil aviation personnel, who made all kinds of sacrifices during the difficult process, of our sector, of all organizations and trainers that continue their education and training activities in this field as well as of institutions and organizations operating in the field of civil aviation.