Erdogan says Türkiye exported more than $10 billion in defense and aerospace products to 180 countries and regions in 2025, sets 2030 startup target

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye exported more than $10 billion in defense and aerospace products to 180 countries and regions in 2025. Speaking at Türkiye Innovation Week 2026 in Istanbul, he said the national technology initiative had built a research, development and innovation infrastructure possessed by only a handful of nations.

Erdogan also set a goal of fostering 100,000 technology startups with a combined valuation of $100 billion by 2030. He said the terminal buildings at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport are being transformed into what is intended to be the world’s largest technology and entrepreneurship center, under the name Terminal Istanbul.

On ongoing investigations into investment funds, Erdogan said authorities were handling the operations “with the precision of a surgeon.” He said the investigations affect 4.6% of funds and warned against using them to cast suspicion on Türkiye’s capital markets as a whole, arguing that this would undermine the Turkish economy.