Erdogan hails broad participation of youth in Türkiye’s largest tech event

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday appreciated a broad participation of young people in Teknofest, the country’s largest technology event.

"The adoption of a technology event by our youth is truly an intellectual revolution," Erdogan said at the event in the Black Sea province of Samsun.

Erdogan said Teknofest has turned into a "feast" as 600,000 young people from 154,000 teams from Türkiye and 107 different countries competed in 40 different branches.

This year's Teknofest festival features technology competitions in more than 40 different categories such as semiconductors, drones, satellites, rockets, robotics and artificial intelligence.

“Today alone, our unmanned combat aerial vehicles proudly represent our country in more than 30 countries worldwide," Erdogan said.

About the newly designed Turkish fighter drone Kizil Elma, which was exhibited for the first time in Samsun, Erdogan said it is regarded as a "game-changing move" in military history.

"The reason why we are proud of many technology-based breakthroughs is not our enthusiasm for war, but our obligation to keep our country powerful," he added.