Türkiye plans to position itself among leading countries in artificial intelligence (AI) through major investments and a new national action plan, Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacir has said.

Speaking at the GITEX AI Türkiye event in Istanbul on Thursday, Kacir said the government was rolling out comprehensive support to expand the country’s innovation ecosystem.

He said Türkiye now has 1,700 research and development centres and supports more than 13,000 companies across 115 technoparks.

Public fund-of-funds mechanisms have mobilised $2.8 billion for the startup ecosystem, while a recently announced $300 million allocation to venture capital funds is expected to bring more than $750 million into the sector, Kacir said.

Türkiye has eight unicorns, known domestically as Turcorns, and aims to establish 100,000 technology startups, he added.

The government is also converting the former Istanbul Ataturk Airport terminal into what Kacir described as the world’s largest startup hub to strengthen Istanbul’s position as an international technology centre.

AI investment and infrastructure

Kacir said Türkiye would allocate $150 million in public funding to AI-focused venture capital funds.

The government’s HIT-30 programme, a $30 billion support initiative, includes a $1.6 billion call for AI projects aimed at accelerating digital transformation.

Under the AI Action Plan for 2026-2030, Türkiye plans to allocate at least 2 percent of public investment programmes to AI projects.

By 2030, the country aims to expand data centre capacity to one gigawatt and mobilise at least $10 billion in private investment in cloud technologies and digital infrastructure.

Kacir also said the government would soon release the first version of BILGE, a Turkish large language model, to developers.

He also highlighted the national all-electric Togg, saying nearly 120,000 of the vehicles are now on Türkiye’s roads.