Over 1M competitors applied to TEKNOFEST technology contests since 2018

ISTANBUL

More than 1 million competitors have applied to technology contests at TEKNOFEST, Türkiye’s premier aerospace and technology festival, since it made its debut in 2018.

Selcuk Bayraktar, chairman of the T3 Foundation, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of TEKNOFEST, offering his condolences to the victims of the earthquakes that hit southern Türkiye on Feb. 6.

"Earthquakes are unfortunately the reality of our geography. The technologies we develop have meaning if they offer benefits to humanity," he said.

He added that he believes that young people from the TEKNOFEST festival will develop technologies that offer solutions to earthquakes and other disasters.

"TEKNOFEST has become the name of a silent revolution that started in minds from the past to today," Bayraktar said.

He said 20,000 people applied for technology competitions at the first-ever TEKNOFEST in 2018, and since then, more than 1 million have.

Mustafa Varank, the Turkish industry and technology minister, said the Turkish public has followed the events with great pride.

He also mentioned that they strive to hold TEKNOFEST competitions all around Türkiye, including the provinces of Kocaeli, Bursa, Ankara, Istanbul, and Aksaray.

He expressed his great pleasure in experiencing the excitement of the competitions together with the young participants and sharing their enthusiasm by witnessing their projects.

Participation in the TEKNOFEST competitions grows every year, he said.

"This year, 332,000 teams and more than 1 million competitors from 81 provinces and 66 countries applied to the technology competitions in 41 main and 102 sub-categories."

The five-day TEKNOFEST runs through Monday.