ŞANLIURFA, Türkiye — Marking another milestone in Türkiye’s National Technology Initiative (Milli Teknoloji Hamlesi), the Southeastern edition of TEKNOFEST has officially concluded at Şanlıurfa GAP Airport, drawing a combined regional attendance of 1.5 million visitors over five days. Organized under the joint leadership of the Turkish Technology Team Foundation (T3 Foundation) and the Ministry of Industry and Technology, with the backing of 157 partner institutions, the event transformed the historic city of Şanlıurfa into an expansive showcase of domestic aerospace, defense, and civilian innovation.
Held between September 30 and October 4, the festival served as the 15th staging of TEKNOFEST over its nine-year history. During the five-day run, 1.3 million attendees entered the grounds at Şanlıurfa GAP Airport directly, joining hundreds of thousands of spectators across surrounding regional venues to celebrate the country’s engineering achievements and youth-led scientific pursuits. By pairing the deep cultural heritage of Southeastern Anatolia with advanced research and technology, the event reinforced the nationwide drive toward technological self-reliance.
A Historic Milestone for the National Technology Initiative
Since its launch, TEKNOFEST has evolved from an aviation and defense exhibition into an international technological gathering. Across its nine years of existence, the organization has staged 14 previous festivals—including two editions hosted abroad—which together drew nearly 12 million visitors. The Şanlıurfa gathering added another 1.5 million people to that cumulative tally, underscoring sustained public engagement with technological innovation.
The Southeastern edition served as a platform for nationwide and global competition. For the TEKNOFEST Southeastern 2026 Technology Competitions, applications poured in from all 81 provinces of Türkiye as well as 99 other countries. Organized across 62 primary categories and 145 subcategories, the competitive branch of the festival received registrations from more than 730,000 teams, representing over 1.6 million individual applicants.
Following a multi-stage evaluation and elimination process, more than 2,000 teams comprising over 14,000 young finalists earned the opportunity to present their projects directly to expert juries, industry leaders, and the general public on site. To ensure participants could convert theoretical designs into working prototypes, organizers disbursed over 100 million Turkish Liras in material and logistical project support throughout the competition lifecycle. In addition, more than 75 million Turkish Liras in monetary awards were allocated to top-performing teams across the various competitive tracks.
The scope of student projects addressed pressing industrial and societal needs. Participants demonstrated solutions across fields including artificial intelligence, agricultural technologies, autonomous unmanned vehicles, financial technology (fintech), and advanced material sciences. Given Southeastern Anatolia’s role as an agricultural center, automated farming solutions, precision irrigation systems, and climate-resilient monitoring tools received particular attention from panels of academic and industrial experts.
Aerial Demonstrations and Domestic Defense Platforms Take Center Stage
From the opening day, the skies above Şanlıurfa GAP Airport were dominated by aerobatic performances from the Turkish Armed Forces and the domestic defense sector. The Turkish Stars (Türk Yıldızları), the aerobatic demonstration team of the Turkish Air Force, alongside the SOLOTÜRK F-16 demonstration team, carried out daily aerial choreography that drew hundreds of thousands of spectators to the flight line.
Alongside the dynamic flight routines, the festival gathered an extensive fleet of domestic defense, civil aviation, and aerospace platforms across static display lines and demonstration slots. Prominently featured was KAAN, Türkiye’s national fifth-generation fighter jet project, displayed alongside the unmanned combat aircraft Bayraktar KIZILELMA. The uncrewed aerial vehicle fleet also included the carrier-capable Bayraktar TB3, the Bayraktar TB2, and the twin-turboprop Bayraktar AKINCI, as well as the medium-altitude long-endurance ANKA system.
Helicopter and trainer platforms were also heavily represented. Flight demonstrations and static exhibits featured the HÜRJET advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft, the T129 ATAK combat helicopter, and the T625 GÖKBEY multirole utility helicopter. These platforms appeared alongside Turkish Air Force operational aircraft and helicopters, including F-16 Fighting Falcons, upgraded F-4E Phantom IIs, T-38 Talon trainers, and CASA CN-235 transport aircraft. Rounding out the rotary-wing and specialized maritime exhibits were Eurocopter AS 532 Cougar transports, Bell 429 light utility helicopters, ATR 72-600 TMPA (P-72) maritime patrol aircraft, Sikorsky SH-70 Seahawk naval helicopters, Agusta-Bell AB 412 utility helicopters, as well as tactical unmanned systems like the K2 Kamikaze loitering munition and the Sivrisinek rotary drone platform.
Hands-on Experience Areas and Public Engagement
Beyond static viewing and flight line displays, TEKNOFEST Southeastern offered immersive discovery spaces designed to introduce visitors of all ages to emerging sciences. Festival grounds housed custom planetariums, aerospace simulators, and interactive engineering workshops where young children and students were guided through foundational coding, robotics, and basic flight mechanics.
The festival was structured as an integrated gathering combining science with culture and the arts. Cultural pavilions, interactive zones, and scientific shows operated continuously throughout each day. In the evenings, the focus transitioned to musical performances, with crowds attending open-air concerts headlined by popular Turkish performers Ceza and Semicenk.
Presidential Address and Award Ceremony
On the fourth day of the festival, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited the Şanlıurfa site to review finalist projects and participate in the official award ceremony for winning student teams. Addressing the assembly at GAP Airport, President Erdoğan personally presented first-place awards to teams that earned top marks in their respective categories before delivering remarks on the festival’s wider significance.
"The Century of Türkiye will carry the trace, the seal, and the imprint of the TEKNOFEST generation," President Erdoğan stated in his address. "The youth gathered here are the pride of this nation and the apple of this country’s eye. They are the strongest testament to a prosperous and respected Türkiye. I wholeheartedly congratulate every single one of our young people who has turned their dreams into reality here at TEKNOFEST. Türkiye’s future is in safe hands."
Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz on Regional Economic Transformation
The closing day proceedings were attended by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, who focused his address on the shifting economic and social landscape of Southeastern Anatolia. Yılmaz noted that large-scale technology initiatives are playing an active role in driving local enterprise and diversifying regional industry away from historical challenges.
"There is now a Southeastern Anatolia where we talk not of terrorism, but of development, youth, and entrepreneurship," Yılmaz said during the closing program. "From agriculture and food processing to the defense industry, we see this accumulation of knowledge and capability permeating all sectors. I extend my sincere gratitude to everyone in Şanlıurfa who has contributed to this tremendous atmosphere and shared in this forward-looking vision."
Selçuk Bayraktar: "The Youth of TEKNOFEST Is Türkiye’s Fully Independent Future"
Delivering the final address of the event, TEKNOFEST Chairman of the Board Selçuk Bayraktar reflected on the event’s journey, praising the hospitality of the people of Şanlıurfa and the dedication of the participating teams.
"The human journey of production, which began yesterday by shaping stone, continues today through software code, robotics, and artificial intelligence," Bayraktar told the crowd. "In defiance of those who claimed ‘you cannot do it,’ we did it, we are doing it, and we will do it best. The youth of TEKNOFEST is the youth that makes history when told something is impossible. The youth of TEKNOFEST is Türkiye’s fully independent future. Our path is clear, our direction is truth, and our horizon is KIZILELMA."
With the conclusion of its five-day run in Şanlıurfa, TEKNOFEST ended its 15th staging having mobilized hundreds of thousands of student competitors and millions of visitors, reinforcing the broader objectives of the National Technology Initiative across the Southeastern Anatolia region and nationwide.
