The first hot air balloon took off after the trials in Emre Lake in Döğer town of İhsaniye district of Afyonkarahisar.
Afyonkarahisar Governor Gökmen Çiçek said, “We hope that we will host thousands and millions of people. We are ready for this and we call Afyonkarahisar a truly mysterious city, it is a unique country worth seeing.”
The first hot air balloon flights were made in the Phrygian Valley, which has a history of 3 years, located on the borders of Eskişehir and Kütahya provinces, together with Afyonkarahisar. As part of the studies carried out to make the Phrygian Valley the 'Cappadocia of the Aegean region', test flights with hot air balloons to be flown in Emre Lake, one of the most beautiful points of the valley, were successfully completed.
Afyonkarahisar Governor Gökmen Çiçek, AK Party Afyonkarahisar deputies Veysel Eroğlu, Ali Özkaya and İbrahim Yurdunuseven, Afyonkarahisar Mayor Mehmet Zeybek, provincial directors and guests attended the event, and the first hot air balloon flight to Emre Lake was made at sunrise. On the other hand, a boat called 'Saltanat Kayak' was prepared for local and foreign visitors to visit Emre Lake.
Our Balloons Are Now in the Sky of Afyonkarahisar
Governor Gökmen Çiçek stated that they experienced a different kind of happiness in the mysterious city of Afyonkarahisar. Çiçek said that they dreamed and decided with the deputies, “We were going to raise both this region and Ayazini, Phrygia in particular. We would make Phrygia to be recognized by all of Turkey. We had dreamed and planned to make balloon flights. We put a lot of effort together, thank God, as a result of those efforts, our balloons will now be in the skies of Afyonkarahisar. In particular, we will have boats on the lake, balloons in the sky, and water sports on our lake. We invite all our compatriots and people from all over Europe to see the unique air, nature and beauty of Afyonkarahisar with our balloons in the sky. Let them come and see this mysterious city, this unique beauty. We hope that we will host thousands, millions of people. We are ready for this and we call Afyonkarahisar a truly mysterious city, it is a unique country worth seeing.”
We are very happy
Deputy Veysel Eroğlu stated that Lake Emre is magnificent with its natural views. Saying that Lake Emre is the center of Phrygia, Eroğlu said, “Afyonkarahisar has now become the center of thermal, nature, health, sports and cultural tourism. So we are really happy here, especially today. Our balloons have arrived. "Hopefully, local and foreign tourists who will come with these balloons will be able to watch these natural beauties from the sky," he said.
Deputy Ali Özkaya also said, “Don't think of Afyonkarahisar as a place you stop by, take time for Afyonkarahisar. When you take the time, you will see that we have very serious cultural and historical heritages from every period of history in Afyonkarahisar.”
Mayor Mehmet Zeybek, on the other hand, stated that they are engaged in a study to highlight the historical and natural beauties of Afyonkarahisar.