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fork(2) writes:

Spacepolicyonline.com reports that

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.

In late June, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden canceled all NASA reimbursements for travel to the conference citing security concerns based on a State Department travel advisory. At that time, many were concerned that the NASA action was sending the wrong message about responding to terrorism.

[Continues...]

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.

Related: NASA Cancels All Travel to COSPAR Meeting in Istanbul (SoylentNews Jun 27, 2016.)

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