Turkish youth ready to lead breakthroughs in all sectors: Technology minister

At Türkiye's premier technology and aerospace event, Teknofest 2023, the country's industry and technology minister has highlighted the pivotal role young people play in achieving progress.

"We see here at Teknofest that, just as we have achieved a great breakthrough in the defence industry, we will again achieve great success with the technology initiatives to be established by our young people in all areas from the environment to energy, from climate to health, from tourism to barrier-free life technologies," Mehmet Fatih Kacır told the crowd on Wednesday at the official opening ceremony of the five-day technology event at Türkiye's Izmir province.

Teknofest is being held with the participation of 121 institutions, public- and private-sector organisations, academic institutions, and media companies.

Teknofest creates 'a mental revolution'

Speaking at the event, Selcuk Bayraktar, the chairman of the T3 Foundation, which organises the event, said the country is "researching, producing and developing in every field."

Turkish young people are creating new fields by integrating industry with high technology and artificial intelligence, he added.

"We're going to be the ones who give spirit to these new areas and the changing world," Bayraktar said. Teknofest "comes as a giant bottom wave, creating a mental revolution that the world has never witnessed before," he added.

"Our millions of young people who apply to technological competitions will carry the flag much higher in all other civilian fields of technology, such as our UCAVs (unmanned combat aerial vehicles), which are renowned all over the world,” Bayraktar said.

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 2.5 million visitors. The second was held earlier in September in the capital Ankara, attracting nearly 1 million people.