Turkey's largest technology event Teknofest ends

GAZİANTEP-Anadolu Agency

Teknofest, Turkey's largest technology and aerospace event, which was being held in the southern Gaziantep province, ended on Sept. 27.

The four-day event did not accept visitors, and was broadcast live through social media platforms due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The festival included a host of activities such as air shows with warplanes and helicopters, seminars and summits, as well as competitions and fairs.

The annual event's third edition organized competitions in nearly two dozen categories, including biotechnology innovation, agriculture, environment and energy, transportation, education, helicopter design and jet engine design.

Winners were granted awards worth over 3 million Turkish liras (around $390,000).

Top officials such as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and others also attended the event.

Over 100,000 young people and more than 20,000 teams applied for Teknofest competitions from 84 countries.

Last year, over 1.7 million people had attended the event in Istanbul.

This year it was scheduled for April, but got postponed due to the pandemic.

Teknofest shows Turkey's development

Meanwhile, Soylu said that Teknofest shows the country's impressive development in its region.

The festival has been getting better and better since it began in 2018, Suleyman Soylu told the event during an awards ceremony Sunday.

Turkey is at a different point than 10 years ago, he said, and added: "We couldn’t imagine an indigenous car, underwater subway, huge bridges, and major technology events 10 years ago."

"Looking from today, we also can’t imagine 10 years from now," he said, adding that the future will be written by Turkey's youth.

Soylu then handed out awards to champion teams in Teknofest competitions.