Global Courant 2023-04-26 23:01:27
ISTANBUL
TEKNOFEST, the world’s largest aviation, space and technology event, which has attracted millions of visitors since it was held in 2018, will open its doors in Istanbul for the seventh time on Thursday.
The festival includes many events such as technology competitions, air shows, concerts and seminars.
TEKNOFEST aims to increase the interest in technology in Turkey. The inaugural fair attracted nearly half a million visitors, while the 2019 fair hosted 1.72 million visitors, setting a world record for an aviation-themed event.
The first TEKNOFEST outside of Istanbul, held in Istanbul in 2018 and 2019, was hosted in the province of Gaziantep in southeast Turkey in 2020, but was held virtually due to pandemic restrictions.
In 2021, TEKNOFEST returned to Turkey’s commercial capital, Istanbul.
Last year, it was visited by 1.25 million people, hosted by the Black Sea province of Samsun.
The first international version of the event was also held in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, last year.
Since 2018, tens of thousands of competitors and teams in dozens of categories have applied to the event.
Teknofest was planned for Izmir, Istanbul and the capital Ankara this year as part of the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Republic of Turkey.
However, the İzmir event, which was planned to be held in March, was canceled due to the devastating earthquakes on 6 February.
While the Istanbul edition will start on Thursday, it will open its doors in the capital Ankara on August 30.
More than a million contestants applied to participate this year.
In 2023, the organizers, the Turkish Technology Team Foundation (T3 Foundation) and the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology will distribute a total of 13 million Turkish lira ($670,000) prize money to the winners.
It will also provide financial support of over 30 million TL (US$ 1.55 million) to the participants.
At the five-day event, where the latest technologies and the latest defense products, including unmanned aerial vehicles, will be introduced, dazzling air shows will also be held.
*Written by Gökhan Ergocun
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