Turkey to own patent rights to upcoming auto

By Dilara Zengin, Mehmet Fatih Erdogdu and Ayse Bocuoglu Bodur

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey will own the intellectual and industrial property rights of its first indigenous car, the Turkish industry and technology minister said on Thursday.

The car prototype will be unveiled on Friday in the industrial province of Kocaeli, Mustafa Varank noted.

"With this ceremony, we will also open officially the Gebze Information IT Valley, which will be the technology base of our country," the minister said.

He said that with the prototype, Turkey will achieve its two targets -- owning a global brand and creating a billion-dollar enterprise.

In June 2018, five Turkish industry giants; Anadolu Group, BMC, Kok Group, Turkcell and Zorlu Holding and an umbrella organization, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey joined hands to create Turkey's indigenous car prototype.

He said Turkey mobilized 750 million Turkish liras (over $126 million) as funds for innovation and regional development.

* Writing by Gokhan Ergocun from Istanbul