Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday announced Türkiye’s new AI Action Plan at the Türkiye Artificial Intelligence Summit in Istanbul, outlining a 2026-2030 roadmap to boost the country’s digital capacity.
The summit was held at Tersane Istanbul, a historic shipyard site whose foundations date back to the era of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, also known as Mehmed the Conqueror.
Türkiye will mobilize at least $10 billion in mainly private-sector investment for data centers, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure under the new plan, Erdogan said.
Speaking at the Türkiye Artificial Intelligence Summit in Istanbul, Erdogan said the country aims to increase its installed data center capacity to at least 1 gigawatt by 2030.
He said at least 2% of public investment programs will be allocated to artificial intelligence projects.
Erdogan said the action plan aims to carry Türkiye into the league of leading countries in artificial intelligence technologies.
He said political, military, and economic power can no longer be considered separately from digital sovereignty, adding that digital capacity has become a force multiplier.
Türkiye is among the countries that recognized this technological transformation early and shaped its policies accordingly, he added.
Erdogan cited Türkiye’s 5G launch on March 31, the establishment of the Cybersecurity Presidency, and the launch of the country’s first indigenous communications satellite Turksat 6A in 2024 as steps strengthening digital independence.
He said Türkiye is now one of 11 countries capable of producing its own communications satellite.
The president also said Türkiye has built a major innovation infrastructure over the past 23 years, with more than 1,700 research, development, and design centers, 114 technoparks, and over 13,000 technology companies.
Erdogan also announced plans to make at least 2,000 public datasets available to citizens through a National Data Library, including data from sectors such as health, agriculture, defense, and e-commerce.
He said the plan will create a regulatory framework that protects users’ rights and provides predictability for investors, based on a proportional and risk-based approach.
Under the new action plan, Türkiye will train 10,000 advanced AI specialists and 100,000 AI application professionals, he said.
The president further added that AI literacy workshops will be launched in all 81 provinces, with the goal of providing training to 5 million citizens within two years.
“We will launch the National Artificial Intelligence Literacy Program to ensure that people of all ages understand artificial intelligence correctly and use it safely,” Erdogan said.
The AI Action Plan is built on four main pillars — “discover, benefit, produce and govern” — with four complementary actions under each pillar, he noted.
Under the “benefit” pillar, Erdogan said artificial intelligence will be turned into concrete value in fields ranging from public services and industry to education, health, agriculture, and security.
He said legal regulations will be introduced to guarantee that data centers meet international standards and energy efficiency requirements.
E-government will be treated as a transformation area where citizens can directly experience AI-supported public services, he added.
Erdogan said small and medium-sized enterprises will be supported through AI vouchers, especially in priority areas such as health, energy and smart manufacturing.
Under the “produce” pillar, Türkiye will develop its own AI models, establish AI growth zones, and support research and startups through national AI research and growth funds.
He said work on Turkish large language models will continue to strengthen digital sovereignty, citing TUBITAK’s local language model Bilge as one example.
Erdogan also referred to large language model projects developed by the T3 Foundation and Baykar, as well as HAVELSAN’s 9-billion-parameter model on the MAIN platform.
Under the “govern” pillar, Türkiye will position Istanbul as the country’s international showcase and investment diplomacy city in artificial intelligence.
Terminal Istanbul will be used as a meeting ground for entrepreneurs and global investors, he said.
Erdogan added that Türkiye will take an active role in shaping human-centered AI standards at the OECD, G20, UN, and other international platforms.
He also said Türkiye will work with the Organization of Turkic States to gradually develop a joint Turkic large language model covering Oghuz, Kipchak, and Karluk languages.
