Türkiye’s largest aerospace and technology event showcasing the profound transformation the country has gone through in everything from uncrewed aerial vehicles to space technologies has attracted a record number of visitors at this year’s edition.
More than 1.92 million people flocked to the site of the now-closed Atatürk Airport for Teknofest to examine the latest technology advancements and vehicles manufactured by prominent Turkish companies.
Over 1 million visitors arrived on Sunday alone, up from around 600,000 on Saturday, 300,000 on Friday and more than 25,430 on Thursday.
The figure is expected to lift the record further, given that the last day Monday, May 1, marked Labor and Solidarity Day. May Day is observed worldwide as a celebration of workers’ rights with rallies, marches and other events.
"We showed once again that we are the world’s largest technology festival with more than 1 million visitors," Teknofest said in a statement.
The previous record was in 2019 when the festival welcomed more than 1.7 million visitors.
This year’s five-day event saw visitors pouring in for a glimpse at the latest offerings from tech giants and defense companies from Türkiye and around the world.
It featured cutting-edge technology, defense products and events such as concerts, workshops and airshows.
Teknofest also hosted international and domestic agreements in many fields, especially defense.
The fair also functions as a diplomatic summit welcoming top foreign officials.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the head of the Tripoli-based government of Libya, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, addressed the festival on Saturday.
Libya’s Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Ahmed Ali Omar; Nigerian Science and Technology Minister Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora; Burkinese Defense Minister Kassoum Coulibaly; National Education Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Nazım Çavuşoğlu, and Malta’s Parliamentary Secretary for Youth Keith Azzopardi Tanti also attended the event.
Several foreign officials also met with their Turkish counterparts during the fair.
Meanwhile, held as part of the event, the 8th Istanbul International Invention Fair (ISIF’23) showcased inventions from 31 countries.
A total of 424 domestic and foreign inventions were featured at ISIF’23.
Marking the peak, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday unveiled Türkiye’s first astronaut who will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) by the end of the year.
Air force pilot Alper Gezeravcı, 43, was selected as the first Turkish citizen in space. His backup is Tuva Cihangir Atasever, 30, an aviation systems engineer at Turkish defense contractor Roketsan.
"Our friend, who will go on Türkiye’s first human-crewed space mission, will stay on the International Space Station for 14 days," Erdoğan said. "Our astronaut will perform 13 experiments prepared by our country’s esteemed universities and research institutions during this mission."
Erdoğan described Gezeravci as a "heroic Turkish pilot who has achieved significant success in our Air Force Command."
The Turkish Space Agency website describes Gezeravci as a 21-year air force veteran and F-16 pilot who attended the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology.
Since Teknofest’s debut in 2018, more than 1 million competitors have applied to technology contests held as part of the fair, according to Selçuk Bayraktar, chairperson of the T3 Foundation.
Bayraktar said Teknofest had become "the name of a silent revolution that started in minds from the past to today."
The applications for the competitions have soared from just 20,000 at the first edition to more than a million.
According to officials, this year, 332,000 teams and more than 1 million competitors from 81 provinces and 66 countries applied to the technology competitions in 41 main and 102 subcategories.