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R&D and Artificial Intelligence: Türkiye's Innovation Ecosystem and the 2026–2030 Artificial Intelligence Action Plan

R&D and Artificial Intelligence: Türkiye's Innovation Ecosystem and the 2026–2030 Artificial Intelligence Action Plan

Building upon Türkiye's 1,363 R&D centers spread across 58 cities, a concrete artificial intelligence plan for 2026–2030 has been introduced, targeting training for 5 million citizens, 10,000 specialists, at least $10 billion in investment, and over 1 trillion TL in economic value added. This article outlines the plan's four pillars and how it integrates with the existing R&D infrastructure.

R&D and Artificial Intelligence: Turkey's Innovation Ecosystem and the 2026-2030 Artificial Intelligence Action Plan

Turkey's R&D ecosystem now spans 58 cities, with 1,363 R&D centers and 342 design centers. Building on this infrastructure, the 2026-2030 Artificial Intelligence Action Plan announced by President Erdoğan adds concrete targets: AI literacy for 5 million citizens, 10,000 advanced-level experts, and $10 billion in private-sector investment. This article examines Turkey's R&D infrastructure and AI strategy based on official announcements.

R&D and artificial intelligence have become two inseparable components of Turkey's innovation policy. As the R&D/design center infrastructure scales up, the 2026-2030 Artificial Intelligence Action Plan crowns that infrastructure with concrete, time-bound targets.

Turkey's R&D Expenditure: A Growing Budget

According to TÜİK (Turkish Statistical Institute) data, Turkey's central government budget spent 253 billion 544 million TL on R&D activities in 2025. This figure corresponds to:

  • 1.58% of the central government budget
  • 0.40% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

For 2026, 308.5 billion TL has been allocated for R&D activities — a marked increase over the previous year.

R&D and Design Center Infrastructure: Current Status

According to current data from the Ministry of Industry and Technology, in Turkey:

  • 1,363 R&D centers are operating across 58 cities
  • 342 design centers are operating across 28 cities
  • The number of R&D personnel covered by support at these centers has reached 3,284
  • The clustering support program covers 19 flagship sectors, including the nuclear industry, wind energy, cybersecurity, autonomous vehicle technologies, advanced materials, biotechnology, aerospace/shipbuilding, rail transport, and smart transportation

2026 Targets

The Ministry of Industry and Technology's 2026 Performance Program envisions further expanding this infrastructure:

  • The target is for 1,420 R&D centers and 366 design centers to become operational
  • A target of 99 active technology development zones (technoparks) (of the current 113 total zones, 95 are active, hosting 12,408 companies)
  • Awarding the Techno-Entrepreneurship Badge to 5,000 startups
  • Admitting 80 startups to the Turcorn 100 Program
  • Having 75 startups benefit from the Turkey Technology Visa Program

These targets show that the current figure of 1,363 centers is planned to rise to 1,420 within 2026; in other words, the gap between the "target" and the "current status" indicates that the infrastructure is still in an active growth phase.

Turkey's Artificial Intelligence Action Plan (2026-2030): Four Pillars

Turkey's Artificial Intelligence Action Plan, announced by President Erdoğan, builds the country's AI strategy on four core pillars:

Detect (Fark Et) — Building AI awareness and literacy across society

Benefit (Fayda Sağla) — Putting AI into practice in healthcare, agriculture, defense, and e-commerce

Produce (Üret) — Developing domestic AI capabilities and models

Manage (Yönet) — Ensuring sovereign AI infrastructure and governance

Concrete Targets

Education and Workforce:

  • Providing AI literacy to 5 million citizens through workshops in 81 provinces within 2 years
  • Training 10,000 advanced-level AI experts and 100,000 AI application professionals

Data Infrastructure:

  • Opening at least 2,000 public data sets to the public through the National Data Library
  • Increasing data center capacity to at least 1 gigawatt by 2030

Investment and Growth:

  • Mobilizing at least $10 billion in private-sector investment for infrastructure
  • Allocating at least 2% of public investment programs to AI projects

Research and Development:

  • Supporting Turkish-language models (including TÜBİTAK's "Bilge" model)
  • Establishing AI growth zones and regulatory sandboxes in five priority sectors

Economic Impact:

The plan's implementation is expected to create over 1 trillion TL in added value.

How Do the R&D Infrastructure and the AI Strategy Come Together?

Turkey's achievement of its AI targets depends largely on redirecting the existing R&D infrastructure toward artificial intelligence:

  • TÜBİTAK's "Bilge" model is a concrete example of the institution's R&D capacity being channeled directly into the field of AI.
  • The KOSGEB AI Credit Program provides technology startups holding the Techno-Entrepreneurship Badge with loans of 500,000-5,000,000 TL for high-performance computing resources (GPU, CPU, RAM) and AI platform tools; repayment is made in 12 equal installments following a 12-month grace period. Applications are accepted between July 9 and December 31, 2026.
  • The R&D Center incentives under Law No. 5746 (tax reductions, social security premium support) are directly applicable to companies looking to grow AI-focused R&D teams.

Practical Steps for Implementation

Align AI R&D investment with existing incentive mechanisms: TÜBİTAK 1501/1507, the KOSGEB AI Credit Program, and Law No. 5746 R&D Center incentives should be evaluated together.

Prioritize the Techno-Entrepreneurship Badge application: holding this badge is a prerequisite for accessing the KOSGEB AI Credit Program.

Track the development of Turkish-language data and models: data sets to be opened via the National Data Library and TÜBİTAK's Bilge model may create opportunities for sector-specific AI applications.

Base workforce planning on the action plan: the target of 100,000 AI application professionals will directly affect hiring and training strategies in the coming years.

Factor R&D Center status into growth strategy: the planned increase in the number of centers from 1,363 to 1,420 shows there is still room for growth in the sector.

Conclusion

Turkey's R&D infrastructure — 1,363 R&D centers, 342 design centers, and a growing budget — forms the necessary foundation for the 2026-2030 Artificial Intelligence Action Plan to achieve its targets. Spanning everything from education and data infrastructure to private-sector investment and sovereign AI models, this plan will largely determine the direction of Turkey's innovation ecosystem over the next five years.

Sources

  • [Türkiye'nin 58 Şehrinde Ar-Ge ve Tasarım Merkezleri Teknoloji Geliştiriyor – Anadolu Ajansı](https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/bilim-teknoloji/turkiyenin-58-sehrinde-ar-ge-ve-tasarim-merkezleri-teknoloji-gelistiriyor/3854875)
  • [Sanayi ve Teknoloji Bakanlığı'nın 2026 Hedefleri Belli Oldu: 1420 Ar-Ge ve 366 Tasarım Merkezi Faaliyete Geçecek – SER Danışmanlık](https://sd.com.tr/sanayi-ve-teknoloji-bakanliginin-2026-hedefleri-belli-oldu-1420-ar-ge-ve-366-tasarim-merkezi-faaliyete-gececek/)
  • [AR-GE'ye 2025'te 253,5 Milyar Lira Harcandı – Karar](https://www.karar.com/guncel-haberler/ar-geye-2025te-2535-milyar-lira-harcandi-2063983)
  • [KOSGEB'den Teknoloji Girişimlerine Yapay Zekâ Kredi Programı – KOSGEB Resmi Duyuru](https://www.kosgeb.gov.tr/site/tr/genel/detay/9427/kosgebden-teknoloji-girisimlerine-yapay-zek-kredi-programi)
  • [Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Cumhurbaşkanlığı Dijital Dönüşüm Ofisi – Yapay Zekâ](https://cbddo.gov.tr/yapay-zeka/)