Turkey's new initiative in the field of technology will change the balances.

The Minister of Industry and Technology, Mehmet Fatih Kacır, stated, "We have the design and domestic production capability for the chips needed by our defense industry. TÜBİTAK in Gebze and AB Mikronano, a subsidiary of Aselsan in Ankara, contribute to our technological independence with their competencies in this field." Kacır participated in the discussions of the 2025 Central Government Budget and 2023 Final Account Law Proposal held in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and made a presentation to the members of parliament.

"WE HAD BEEN SPECTATORS TO THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION"

Kacır reminded that the average growth rate over the last 22 years has been 5.4% annually, stating, "Our economy has been growing uninterrupted for 17 quarters. Our national income has exceeded 1 trillion 250 billion dollars. Our per capita income has reached 15 thousand dollars. The industrial production index, compared to the pre-pandemic period; while it decreased by 13% in Germany, 6.7% in Italy, and 3.9% in France; in Turkey, it increased by 19.5% during the same period. The projects and services we have brought to our country under the leadership of our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, made this success possible. Let's refresh our memories. The steps taken in the early years of our Republic could not be continued for many years. We had been spectators to the industrial revolutions that occurred in the 20th century. Our industrial sector could not go beyond assembly industry for a long time. R&D-focused production had not been able to turn ideas into reality even in our country's largest companies. Turkey had squandered its potential and energy with political and economic instability and could not make a leap in industry and technology. After such a picture that does not match the capabilities and potentials of the Turkish nation, we have achieved great successes that have brought Turkey to the position it deserves on the world stage with the AK Party governments. We increased the number of people employed in the industry from 3 million 900 thousand to 6 million 700 thousand. We turned the organized industrial zones, which increased from 191 to 363, and 45 industrial zones into Turkey's production bases. We broke production and export records in industrial sectors. Our automotive production increased from 357 thousand to 1 million 468 thousand annually, making Turkey one of the largest producers in Europe. Our white goods production rose from 6 million 700 thousand to 32 million 400 thousand; our exports increased from 672 million dollars to 5.5 billion dollars," he stated.

"WHICHEVER FIELD HAS A HIDDEN OR OPEN EMBARGO, TURKEY WILL DO GREATER WORK IN THAT FIELD"

Kacır emphasized that the terror scourge has hindered Turkey's development journey, continuing: "We have fought against the embargoes of those who want to weaken our country at the table and on the military field. We saw that they did not even give us defense systems for money. This experience showed that there is no alternative other than developing national and unique technologies in the defense industry. They did not give us unmanned aerial vehicles; we produced the world's most advanced UAVs and armed UAVs. They did not provide the cameras we used in UAVs. We produced cameras with much more advanced capabilities. They did not provide the engines we used in the missiles we developed. We developed and produced turbojet engines with our own means. Let everyone know that whichever field has a hidden or open embargo, Turkey will do greater work in that field. Whatever systems are withheld from Turkey, whatever products are not given to Turkey, Turkey will develop and produce better ones with its own means."

"OUR DEFENSE INDUSTRY MEETS THE NEEDS OF BOTH TURKEY AND OUR FRIENDS"

"While thousands of aircraft and helicopters were produced in the 20th century, the Turkish nation, which was left out of the game, is now a world leader in new-generation aviation with Bayraktar, Akıncı, Anka, Aksungur, and Kızılelma. With our systems that change the war paradigms, we have a 70% share in the global unmanned aerial vehicle market. Atak, Gökbey, Hürkuş, Hürjet, Kaan; our works that instill confidence in friends and fear in enemies. Koral, Şimşek, Hisar, Siper, Atmaca, Som, Gökdoğan, Bozdoğan, Göktürk, İmece, Milgem are our pride in our production capabilities in the defense industry, which provides security solutions that meet the needs of not only Turkey but also friendly countries."

"NO ONE WILL EVEN THINK ABOUT IT"

"Our defense and aerospace exports, which were 250 million dollars in 2002, are reaching 6.5 billion dollars this year. We will work harder to develop missiles that can go faster and further, to enhance our electronic warfare capabilities, to complete the steel dome project that will enable our layered air defense systems to respond to all kinds of threats, to improve the capabilities of our unmanned systems in the air, on land, and at sea, and to achieve independent access to space. We will definitely reach a level of deterrence that no one will even think about harming Turkey."

"THE NUMBER OF R&D CENTERS HAS INCREASED"

Today, more than 11 thousand technology initiatives are running innovation-focused projects in our 104 technoparks. With more than 1,600 R&D and design centers, our private sector is leading R&D. Through TÜBİTAK, we are providing 8.9 billion lira support for 9,988 projects from 186 universities and 2,769 companies this year. As a result of our incentives over 22 years; our annual R&D expenditures increased from 1.2 billion dollars to 16.1 billion dollars, and the number of R&D personnel increased from 29 thousand to 291 thousand. With the number of internationally qualified scientific publications increasing fivefold, our country rose from 22nd to 14th in the world. With the projects we launched this year in the competitive sectors program, we have established Composite Materials and Technical Textiles in Bursa, Food Testing and Analysis in Şanlıurfa and Giresun, Smart Technologies Design in Konya, Advanced Prototyping in Eskişehir, Deep Technology Incubation in İzmir, Autonomous Vehicle Development and Life Sciences Research in Istanbul, and Rare Earth Elements Research centers in Tunceli. We are 12th in the world in domestic patent applications, 6th in brand applications, and 2nd in design applications. Under the AK Party governments; the annual export of medium-high and high-tech products increased from 10 billion dollars to 97 billion dollars. In the first 11 months of this year; we issued incentive certificates for 10,487 investments. We opened the way for 227 thousand employments. In the upcoming period, we will further increase the selectivity, local focus, and support effectiveness of our incentive system; we will prioritize advanced technology investments more.

"TOGG WILL CARRY TURKISH TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS INTO THE FUTURE"

Responding to criticisms regarding Togg vehicles, Kacır said, "When we introduced Togg vehicles to the public, they said, 'These are models, there is no factory,' we did not care. When we laid the foundations of the factory with our President, they said, 'These foundations are for show, they will rot underground,' we did not give up. Togg vehicles hit the roads. They said, 'These cars are secretly brought from Italy, they are not produced in Turkey'; we did not pay attention. We did not stop, we did not hesitate. As in everything we do; we believed, we worked, and we succeeded."

In 1.5 years, 45 thousand Togg owners have met. Of course, we still have a lot of work to do. Just as we have been by Togg's side until today, we will continue to strongly support Togg and take steps to ensure Togg's competitiveness on an international scale. Togg is not just a domestic and national electric vehicle project for us. Togg is a locomotive that carries Turkish technology initiatives it collaborates with into the future. At the same time, it is a demonstration of our determination to maintain the competitiveness of the automotive sector, which is the export champion with 36 billion dollars annually and employs thousands of workers.

"WE ARE IN TALKS FOR A NEW AUTOMOBILE COMPANY"

"Indeed, our determination towards electric vehicles and new technologies has paved the way for many global brands such as Ford, Toyota, and Renault to bring their next-generation vehicle production to Turkey. At the same time, it has made our country a center of attraction for automotive brands that previously did not produce in our country. The world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, BYD, will establish a production facility with an annual capacity of 150 thousand electric vehicles and an R&D center for innovative technologies in Manisa. We continue our discussions with global companies to attract new investments of similar nature to our sector. We are carrying out all these efforts with the understanding of making our Turkey a high-tech production base. Our goal is to quickly reach an annual production capacity of at least 1 million electric vehicles. In battery production, we aim to create a capacity of 80 GWh by 2030. Thus, we will empower the automotive sector and accelerate energy storage investments."

A MOVE THAT WILL CHANGE THE BALANCE: A NEW CHIP PRODUCTION FACILITY WILL BE ESTABLISHED

Regarding chip investments, Kacır stated: "Chips, whose importance has increased with artificial intelligence, not only contribute to technological development but also shape international power balances. Currently, we have the design and domestic production capability for the chips needed by our defense industry. TÜBİTAK in Gebze and AB Mikronano, a subsidiary of Aselsan in Ankara, contribute to our technological independence with their competencies in this field. In the upcoming period, we will carry out the design and manufacturing of sensors to be used in industries such as defense, automotive, and white goods with a new chip production facility in our country. With the chip call in the HIT-30 program, we will provide 5 billion dollars in support for investments in 65 nanometers and more advanced technology."