The “Google Cloud Day Turkey” event was held with the participation of Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Turkcell General Manager Ali Taha Koç, Google Cloud Country Manager Önder Güler and industry experts.
Minister Kacır, in his speech at the opening of the event, evaluated Turkcell's $1 billion investment and Google Cloud's $2 billion investment in the hyperscale cloud infrastructure to be realized in Türkiye.
Kacır said that proper analysis of global developments is the key to preparing for tomorrow's world today.
Stating that digitalization has profound and multi-layered impacts in various areas, from access to information to business, from management to social life, Kacır said: “Institutions that combine the speed, agility and scalability of innovative technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, 5G and the Internet of Things with a successful innovation culture and a visionary management approach stand out in the global competitive environment, which is becoming tougher every day.” he said.
Pointing out that none of the steps in the grand transformation step of digitalization can be permanent and sustainable without dealing with data, the precious resource of the digital world, with an approach that considers it as a strategic asset of the new era, Kacır stated that it has been observed that the ability to convert data into economic value has become a crucial element that determines the market value of technology companies.
Emphasizing on increasing the strategic value of data, Kacır said: “With the increase in strategic value, data is also leaving behind traditional data governance mechanisms and necessitating the adoption of a new generation approach that focuses on security, privacy and data sovereignty.” he said.
“We have made our country a leading player in the world”
To answer the questions about who owns the data, where it is stored and by whom it is processed, for what purposes and for artificial intelligence applications, Kacır made the following evaluations:
“For countries like us that are based on technology-driven development, this is not a mere economic decision, but decisions that are directly aimed at digital sovereignty and national security. The enormous progress we have made in the development and production of technology under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan makes our data policy even more important. We have made our country a world leader in many areas, from the defense industry to space technologies to the automotive industry. With our industry with strong, With competitive and agile production, we are at the heart of European value chains.” Skills.”
Stating that there were only two technoparks in the whole of Türkiye in 2002, Kacır said: “Today, more than 12,000 companies operating in 113 technoparks in 60 cities carry out research and development and innovation-oriented studies. Our entrepreneurs and engineers develop innovative products in more than 1,700 research, development and design centers.” he said.
Kacır pointed out that Türkiye has a unique model that allows all parts of society to participate in technology development, noting that Türkiye is one of the best addresses to start, expand and make technology initiatives available to the world.
“We have set a strategic goal for the total value of our Turcorns to exceed $100 billion.”
Explaining that Türkiye is described as Europe's shining star in technology entrepreneurship, Kacır said, “An important reference point for the success of the ecosystem in the world of entrepreneurship is the number of technology startups, that is, unicorns, that exceed a billion dollars in value. In 2019, there was not a single technology startup in our country that achieved this title. Today, Türkiye now has 7 unicorns, or 7 turcorns, like we call them.” gave his assessment.
Stating that 100,000 technology start-ups are expected to emerge in Turkey by 2030, Kacır said:
“We have set a strategic goal for the total value of our Turcorns to exceed the $1 billion mark. It is possible for us to build a wealthier and more fully independent Türkiye by ensuring that the data of innovative companies in our country is processed within our borders and converted into high value-added for 86 million people. As a country that has set our sights on the global Champions League in technology development and production, we are taking decisive steps to expand our country's data processing and high performance computing Improve capacity: “We have launched our ARF compute cluster with cores, 504 GPU cards and 14.5 petabytes of data storage.”
Recalling that steps have been taken to expand the high-performance computing capacity needed by the private sector, the public and universities, Kacır said: “With the EuroHPC Joint Initiative, in which we participated, we have provided our researchers with the high-performance computing infrastructures established across Europe. Our technology startups can benefit from the Digital Europe EuroHPC Joint Initiative supercomputers for artificial intelligence solutions for free. They can also use the processor capacity of MareNostrum 5, one of the 20 most powerful supercomputers in the world.” World.” he said.
Noting that they have seized every opportunity to strengthen private sector investments in data centers, Kacır said that they have enabled companies to build strong infrastructures that keep Türkiye's data within their borders, process it, store it and convert it into value, both through incentive and support mechanisms and by designing the regulatory framework in a predictable and investment-friendly structure.
“There is currently about 250 megawatts of data center infrastructure.”
Stating that investment incentives alone have paved the way for around $1 billion in investments in the database and data processing area since 2012, Kacır said: “As a result of all these steps we have taken, there is currently about 250 megawatts of data center infrastructure within the borders of our country. With the projects and support measures we will carry out, we aim to increase data center investments to the level of 1 by 2030 Increase gigawatts.” he said.
Pointing out that with the HIT-30 program, they have tried to make Türkiye a magnet for high-technology investments, Kacır said: “With the HIT-Data Center Call, which we recently announced with a funding budget of $1.5 billion, we have taken steps to accelerate investments in secure and energy-efficient high-capacity data centers.”
Stating that they provide comprehensive support for the installation of high-quality data centers with a minimum capacity of 30 megawatts, Minister Kacır continued as follows:
“With our HIT-Artificial Intelligence Call with a budget of 1.6 billion dollars, aimed at accelerating the construction of cloud-based infrastructures in our country, we aim to bring Türkiye's artificial intelligence ecosystem to a world-leading position and accelerate digital transformation in all sectors from industry to healthcare, from finance to public services. With the accelerating effect of these supports, we will mobilize 10 billion dollars of investments in data centers and artificial intelligence by 2030. With our With HIT-Quantum Call we want to go beyond the limits of classic computing.” “Our goal is to build our infrastructure in quantum technologies, which are considered the technology of the future. With all these studies, we want to position our country as a regional center in data processing and storage and benefit from the diverse possibilities of artificial intelligence at the highest level.”
Emphasizing that the cooperation between Google Cloud and Turkcell is an important step that promotes Türkiye's vision, Kacır explained that he asked Turkcell General Manager Ali Taha Koç for a date for investing in the project and that they received a commitment that the investment in question would take place in the first half of 2026.
“This investment is a sign of the trust of global technology leaders in Türkiye. Our companies, entrepreneurs, public institutions and researchers will now have access to world-class hyperscale cloud infrastructure.” Kacır said that they will have the opportunity to offer the world high-performance, low-latency and secure digital solutions from Türkiye, emphasizing that this move, which strengthens Türkiye's digital infrastructure and increases its innovation capacity, is an important win for Turkey.
“We will continue to make legislative regulations specifically for the Türkiye”
Emphasizing that Türkiye is the meeting point of three continents, Kacır said, “With its competent human resources, investor- and entrepreneur-friendly legislation and infrastructure measures that will drive the high-tech and value-added growth model, it will continue to be a magnet for global technology investments.” he said.
Referring to Türkiye's goal in the coming years with its expanded fiber infrastructure, Kacır said: “We will accelerate the integration of our companies into the digital economy with our expanded fiber infrastructure, 5G investments, national and national cybersecurity solutions, cloud systems and data center investments. We will continue to equip our youth with the skills of the future.” he said.
Kacır stated that they will keep the doors wide open for innovation in breakthrough areas such as artificial intelligence with a risk-based and measured regulatory framework tailored to the needs of the Türkiye.
Noting that they are closely following the legislative efforts of other countries or international institutions in this area, Kacır said: “We will continue to make legislative arrangements specifically for Türkiye, with an approach that takes into account Türkiye's own needs, opportunities and resources.” he said.
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