Türkiye officially introduced its new comprehensive action plan to turn into a global artificial intelligence center by advancing technological independence and integrating innovative solutions across strategic sectors, according to a circular published in the country's Official Gazette on Tuesday.
The circular regarding the new 2026-2030 Türkiye AI Action Plan was signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after the road map was initially introduced earlier in June.
The Ministry of Industry and Technology coordinated the new road map to update the vision of the country in line with technological sovereignty and sustainable digital transformation goals.
The government designed the framework around four main stages, titled "notice, utilize, produce and manage," to cultivate a reliable ecosystem.
Commenting on the new action agenda, Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır said that artificial intelligence is not merely a technological field, but that "it is one of the new determinants of economic prosperity, competitive strength and sovereignty boundaries."
"As Türkiye, we will not be mere spectators of this transformation; we will be among its pioneers," he wrote in a post on X.
The road map centers around several key goals, including working on building AI literacy and expanding data center capacity.
The notice published in the Official Gazette states that "significant gains" have been made through the National AI Strategy covering the 2021-2025 period, but that a new action plan was needed to update the country's vision in the emerging field.
The plan was built on the principles of human-centeredness, reliability, ethical responsibility, digital sovereignty, and sustainable development, the statement said.
Among its top objectives, the initiative aims to provide AI literacy training to 5 million citizens across 81 provinces within two years.
In line with this, authorities launched a national talent program to train 10,000 high-level experts and 100,000 application professionals.
Officials also planned to prepare at least 2,000 public datasets and establish a legal and ethical framework to protect user rights.
Moreover, Türkiye set a goal to increase its total data center installed computing power to 1 gigawatt (GW) by 2030.
The government allocated 20 million GPU-hours to researchers, startups and small businesses to democratize access to computing resources.
At the same time, the plan mandated public institutions to dedicate at least 2% of their investment budgets to AI projects.
In line with this, sectoral pilot programs started in priority areas, primarily health, energy and smart manufacturing.
The government also decided to establish AI growth zones in campuses with ready energy and infrastructure.
Similarly, officials created an AI research fund alongside a growth fund to finance domestic initiatives.
The road map also encourages developers to build and export Turkish sectoral language models and physical robotic solutions.
When looking at infrastructure goals, Ankara targets attracting at least $10 billion in private sector-led AI and data center investments.
The state also planned to take active roles in shaping AI standards at different international platforms like the OECD, G-20 and U.N.
Moreover, regional efforts included developing a common large language model for Turkic languages and operating regulatory sandboxes in at least five priority sectors.
Among his remarks shared on Tuesday, Kacır also noted that the country aimed to build an ecosystem that develops trustworthy products with its own values and scales solutions across strategic areas.
"We will build a Türkiye that develops artificial intelligence technologies with its own values, produces reliable products and services; and scales artificial intelligence solutions in strategic areas ranging from industry to health, education to public services," he said.
"With our qualified human resources, strong R&D infrastructure, entrepreneurial ecosystem and production capabilities, we will transform Türkiye into the center of investment, talent, and innovative technologies in the field of artificial intelligence," Kacır said.
