President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to unveil Türkiye’s new artificial intelligence road map on June 13, outlining a comprehensive strategy aimed at strengthening the country’s position in the rapidly evolving global AI landscape while accelerating its digital transformation.
The roadmap, prepared under the auspices of the presidency, will be launched at a high-profile event in Istanbul, bringing together government institutions, technology firms, defence industry representatives, academics and entrepreneurs.
The initiative is expected to build upon Türkiye’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy for 2021–2025 and mark a transition from planning to implementation.
The new strategy represents far more than a technological agenda, says Professor Erman Akilli, a faculty member at Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University and a researcher at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA).
“What we are likely to see is not simply a technical strategy, but a new stage in Türkiye’s digital statecraft,” Akilli said.
He argued that the country is moving towards integrating AI into core areas of governance and economic management, including budget administration, agricultural planning, healthcare, customs risk analysis, disaster response and public service delivery.
“For Türkiye, this is not only about efficiency,” he says. “It is about building what I would call a capacity insurance for the state.”
As global supply chains become increasingly vulnerable to geopolitical tensions, sanctions and technological dependencies, AI is emerging as a strategic tool that can enhance national resilience.
Akilli believes the central theme of Erdogan’s AI vision will be “digital autonomy”, which translates into Türkiye’s ability to design, govern and deploy artificial intelligence according to its national priorities rather than relying exclusively on imported technologies.
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Defence and local AI models take centre stage
One of the key areas likely to receive significant attention is the defence sector, where Türkiye has already developed internationally recognised capabilities in unmanned systems and military technologies.
Akilli says the next stage will involve integrating AI into swarm drone technologies, autonomous platforms, decision-support systems and secure communications networks.
“Türkiye already has strong capabilities in drones, defence technologies and command systems. The next logical step is to multiply these capabilities through AI,” he noted.
Another major priority is expected to be the development of Turkish large language models (LLMs).
As AI-generated content increasingly shapes information flows and online narratives, Akilli argues that language models have become strategic assets.
“Language is not only a communication tool. It is also a carrier of culture, meaning, memory and national perspective,” he says.
Projects such as T3 AI, developed through cooperation between the T3 Foundation and Baykar, as well as HAVELSAN’s MAIN enterprise AI platform, are examples of efforts aimed at creating domestic AI capabilities that can operate in Turkish and address local needs.
Beyond defence and language technologies, the roadmap is expected to focus heavily on modernising public administration.
AI systems could help reduce bureaucracy, improve decision-making processes and enable public institutions to extract greater value from large-scale data sets.
Small and medium-sized enterprises are also likely to be a key target of the strategy, as policymakers seek to improve productivity and competitiveness through wider AI adoption.
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