TEKNOFEST Chairman Selçuk Bayraktar in Şanlıurfa: record attendance, Kızılelma and reverse brain drain

TEKNOFEST Southeast: "Breaking record after record"

How do you assess TEKNOFEST Southeast?

TEKNOFEST suits Şanlıurfa very well, and the enthusiasm on the grounds is remarkable. The true spirit of the event comes from children and the new generations. Because it is a mega event there have been crowds, but the site has turned into a veritable "wonderland".

TEKNOFEST is breaking record after record in attendance. From what we can see, we are having the best TEKNOFEST experience here in Şanlıurfa. I extend my heartfelt thanks to all the institutions and colleagues who worked for it.

"The greatest Kızılelma is young people producing for the good of humanity"

What is your "Kızılelma" goal in space work?

Kızılelma — the "Red Apple" — is an ideal that moves further away the closer you get to it.

What makes me happiest is that the Kızılelma ideal — working for the good of our homeland and to make our country fully independent and prosperous — has become our young people's Kızılelma too. Millions of our young people applying to competitions for this cause, turning them into start-ups and doing all of this with an upright principle for the benefit of humanity is the greatest Kızılelma we could have. Thank God we are experiencing this together with our teammates. God willing, this experience will continue to be shared across all our friendly and kindred regions.

There are competitors from Azerbaijan in every category of the TEKNOFEST Southeast competitions. How do you see this?

The TEKNOFEST we held in Azerbaijan was also tremendous, wonderful. We have never forgotten it. In a sense, after it we saw a TEKNOFEST generation begin to grow up in Azerbaijan too.

There is participation from 97 countries, and the interest from our kindred regions makes us very happy. As with Gaziantep, we expect great championships to come out of Şanlıurfa in the future.

Positioning system and Baykar: "A long-distance marathon"

Where does Türkiye's goal of building its own global positioning system stand?

Fergani Space's work towards this goal continues; projects like this are a long-distance marathon. Baykar, too, became the world's largest armed drone maker over more than 20 years; today it operates in 40 countries and has set up facilities in 7.

All of this is work that takes many years. Of course we are trying to get there as soon as possible. In our National Technology Initiative, our principle has been to schedule our goals correctly and communicate them honestly. It will take many years. We are talking about many engineering problems that need to be solved. I believe that every road walked with determination, perseverance and utmost effort will one day reach its destination.

"Reverse brain drain has begun"

Will the National Technology Initiative lead to a reverse brain drain in the future?

This process has already begun. We are now seeing thousands of our academics, technology people and members of the scientific community return. I think this number will grow even further.

What is your advice to young people?

Aim high and never settle for little. We were the "Can we really do it?" generation. You are the "If we do it, we'll do the best in the world" generation. Our expectations of you are much higher, because this fire burns within you. God willing, with our support you will rebuild a world whose values and institutions have collapsed. You have this core, this faith, this effort, this ideal.

Video: Anadolu Agency