Turkiye’s largest tech event Teknofest kicks off in Azerbaijan's capital

BAKU, Azerbaijan

Teknofest Azerbaijan, the 2022 edition of Turkiye’s major technology and aviation fair, began in Azerbaijan's capital Baku on Thursday.

Teknofest, first held in Turkiye in 2018, has officially expanded to neighboring Azerbaijan this year and will run until May 29.

Last year saw Azerbaijan taking part in Turkiye's Teknofest for the first time with 11 local companies and startups.

Visiting the event area prior to the start of the festival, Selcuk Bayraktar, head of the board of the Turkish Technology Team event organizer, told reporters that the enthusiasm of Teknofest can be felt everywhere in Azerbaijan, adding that he expects all Azerbaijani "brothers and sisters" to visit the event.

Bayraktar said they decided to organize Teknofest in Azerbaijan to strengthen the cooperation between Ankara and Baku and develop critical technologies.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the event, Bayraktar said that Teknofest will "gradually grow with the interest of my younger brothers and sisters in Azerbaijan."

"On this occasion, Turkish youth will show the whole world what they can achieve thanks to their perseverance," he said.

International brand

Also speaking at the opening ceremony, Mustafa Varank, the Turkish minister of industry and technology, said: "Azerbaijan Teknofest will be a cornerstone in the technology adventure of our fellow citizens."

"Last year, when (Turkiye's) President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said 'We will make Teknofest an international brand', our first stop would of course be Azerbaijan," he continued.

"Today, I am happy not only on behalf of Turkiye but also on behalf of brother Azerbaijan," he said.

The four-day Teknofest Azerbaijan will feature 10 technology competitions in different fields such as rockets, agriculture, and unmanned aerial vehicles.

At the Baku event, companies and entrepreneurs are set to showcase their products and technical solutions.

On the entertainment side, the festival includes aerobatic flight shows from the Azerbaijani Air Force, the Turkish Air Force Turkish Stars and Solo Turk, a vertical wind tunnel, water attractions, flight simulators, and robots.

Anadolu Agency has been the event's global communication partner since 2018.

'Champions of technology'

Bayraktar underlined that the "champions of technology" will be given their awards on Saturday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev.

"Our nation's pride, Nobel Prize-winning scientist Aziz Sancar, attended Teknofest in Turkiye, gave our students their awards, and also gave them good advice. He didn't grind us down again. He will come to Azerbaijan and will give awards to our students," he said.

Bayraktar also stressed that Teknofest is a paradigm transforming event.

"We organized Teknofest in Turkiye with a motto 'let a child come, touch an airplane, maybe that child will work in our country's space program in the future.' In Azerbaijan we say 'let a child come, touch an airplane, maybe it will take our countries to space'," he said.

"We should attach importance to technology development so that our country can be independent and prosperous in these areas," he noted.

He stressed that Teknofest is an event to "instill self-confidence" in people to develop high technology.

Some 5,000 competitors in a total of 1,000 teams applied to the competitions organized as part of the event, while over 250 of the 1,000 teams that applied made it to the finals.

A total of 32 countries, including Germany, the US, Ireland, Pakistan, Egypt, Argentina, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, and other European countries, attended the Take Off Baku, an initiative summit held in Baku Crystal Hall as part of Teknofest Azerbaijan.

*Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev in Ankara, Rabia Iclal Turan in Istanbul