ADDS STATEMENT BY TURKISH PRESIDENT
By Iclal Turan and Zehra Nur Duz
WASHINGTON, ANKARA (AA) — Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Friday that he will be attending Türkiye's largest tech and aviation event TEKNOFEST next year.
Thanking Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the invitation, Elon Musk said on X: "I look forward to attending in person next year, as well as discussing further opportunities for investment in Türkiye."
"Congratulations to all the teams competing in @Teknofest," Musk wrote, sharing a video of the event.
Later on Friday, Erdogan responded with another post on X, saying: "Dear @elonmusk, we would be delighted to see you at next year's TEKNOFEST, the world's largest aviation, space and technology festival."
"I believe we will make great contributions to our country and humanity in many areas through partnerships with a win-win approach. Looking forward to meeting you again soon...," Erdogan said.
Erdogan last week met with Musk at the Turkish House, also called the Turkevi Center, in New York on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly session, inviting him to attend TEKNOFEST in Türkiye and asking him to establish Tesla's seventh factory there.
The third edition of TEKNOFEST 2023 kicked off on Wednesday in Türkiye's Aegean province of Izmir. The five-day festival at Cigli Airport features competitions, air shows, exhibitions, and workshops.
The event was previously held in various Turkish cities in even years and in the metropolis of Istanbul in odd years. To mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Türkiye, the event was planned in three different provinces this year.
The first edition of the event this year was held at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport in May, welcoming a world record of 2.2 million visitors. The second was held from Aug. 30- Sept. 3 in the capital Ankara, attracting nearly 1 million people.
Anadolu has been among TEKNOFEST's media shareholders as a global communications partner of the event since the first edition.