The world's largest aerospace and technology festival TEKNOFEST successfully concluded its Southeast edition at Şanlıurfa GAP Airport, attracting a record-breaking attendance of more than 1.5 million visitors across all events. The festival brought together President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz; Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır; Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu; Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar; Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı; TEKNOFEST Chairman Selçuk Bayraktar; Investment and Finance Office President A. Burak Dağlıoğlu; Şanlıurfa Governor Hasan Şıldak; and Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mehmet Kasım Gülpınar, alongside other senior officials and distinguished guests.
As a partner of TEKNOFEST since its inaugural edition, Investment and Finance Office participated in the festival with a dedicated pavilion, engaging with the next generation of innovators and showcasing Türkiye's position at the nexus of innovation and technology.
Speaking at TEKNOFEST Southeast, President Erdoğan underscored Türkiye's accelerating transformation in the defence industry, noting that more than 4,500 companies and 100,000 professionals are driving the country's capabilities to new heights. President Erdoğan highlighted that defence exports reached USD 6.3 billion in the January-August period, representing a 16.2 percent increase year-on-year, up from just USD 248 million annually when the current administration took office. Addressing the young participants, President Erdoğan expressed his confidence in the next generation, stating that they will develop the technologies on display today and carry Türkiye's future forward.
TEKNOFEST Chairman Selçuk Bayraktar highlighted that the festival set a new record, welcoming more than 1.5 million visitors across all events. Bayraktar emphasised that TEKNOFEST exists not only to give young people the opportunity to compete and win, but also to inspire them to believe in their own ideas and capabilities, from AI and robotics to autonomous systems and agriculture. He noted that participants leave with more than trophies and that they also gain friendships, new ideas, and the first steps toward dreams that may one day become great achievements.
Meanwhile, during his address at the KÜME Talks, held as part of the “The Human Condition: An Experience" exhibition, Investment and Finance Office President A. Burak Dağlıoğlu shared his insights from “The Circulation of Money Experience" and drew a parallel between the collaborative spirit behind humanity's earliest achievements and today's TEKNOFEST teams, where diverse talents come together around a shared goal to develop breakthrough technologies. Noting that finance plays a fundamental role in connecting savings with human effort, Dağlıoğlu highlighted that Türkiye's financial technology sector has established the country as a regional powerhouse in financial services. Dağlıoğlu further underscored that the Istanbul Financial Center's technopark strengthens Türkiye's ambition to become the nexus of fintech innovation and talent.
Over five days, the powerful wave of technological enthusiasm that swept through Şanlıurfa marked another significant milestone in Türkiye's National Technology Initiative, bringing together innovation, talent, and investment across defence, aviation, and financial technologies. As Türkiye's technology ecosystem continues to expand, TEKNOFEST Southeast reaffirmed the country's determination to advance toward full technological independence and its ambition to build a future driven by its young generation, guided by the vision of the Türkiye Century.