Türkiye's top technology and aerospace event, Teknofest, opened its doors to visitors on Wednesday, this time held in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa.
"Teknofest Southeast," a leg of the event held in the southeastern part of the country, brings together tech enthusiasts, young investors and thousands of visitors for various shows, exhibitions and the finals of tech competitions across 14 categories from Sept. 30 through Oct. 4.
The event will host air shows by the aviation and defense industries, as well as demonstrations by the aerobatic teams SoloTurk and the Turkish Stars and other fighter jets.
Numerous domestic defense platforms from Turkish Aerospace Industries' (TAI) Atak, Hürkuş and Anka to Baykar’s Bayraktar TB2, TB3 and Akıncı drones will be on display alongside land and sea vehicles.
Visitors will experience a wide range of activities at the event, including concerts, various stage performances, exhibitions, educational workshops, simulation zones, a planetarium, science shows, the Teknofest Time Tunnel, trade show events, an exhibition of homegrown naval, land and air vehicles and special first-flight activities for students.
The first day of the event was expected to feature a parachute jump, a flight demonstration with a Bayraktar Akıncı drone, a paramotor flight demonstration and a science show.
Teknofest came for its 15th edition to Şanlıurfa after already being held in several cities across the country, including Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, as well as in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Azerbaijan.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the event, Selçuk Bayraktar, the chair of the board of directors of Teknofest and chair of the board and CTO of Turkish drone giant Baykar, underscored the role of Teknofest as a "revolution of self-confidence" and "a major technological movement," as he recalled its inception back in 2018.
"The sapling we planted in 2018 has now turned into a major technological movement. Young people from all 81 of our provinces and 97 different countries are here," he said.
"More than 730,000 teams and over 1.6 million young people applied for our technology competitions in 62 different fields. These are not just numbers. These are the changing stories of Türkiye," he added.
He also touched upon the rich history of Şanlıurfa, mentioning its iconic sites such as Göbeklitepe and Karahantepe, adding: "Knowledge, wisdom and civilization are here. And today, the technology of the future is also here."
"Thousands of years ago, a new world was built here. Today, a new future is being built here too," Bayraktar said.
He also went on to emphasize the significance of the National Technology Initiative, suggesting it stretches beyond the skies to factories, laboratories, hospitals, workshops and universities.
Moreover, suggesting that technology empowers societies, Bayraktar said that they aim to see technological transformation "not only as an opportunity for our country’s prosperity, but also for the shared future of our friends and our region of the heart."
He also appealed to young people to draw strength from the roots "to build a fairer, more prosperous and more beautiful world."
