AI Strategy and Regulations in the Turkish Market: Türkiye’s Quest for Technological Sovereignty
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer just a frontier technology; it's the engine powering the next wave of global economic and geopolitical competition. China is already leading the game, and the US and the EU are ambitious to catch up. Recognizing this potential, Türkiye has taken bold steps to secure its place in the AI-driven future. Through its National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (2021–2025) and the recently updated 2024–2025 Action Plan, the country aims to catch up and lead, particularly in applications rooted in its language, data, and regional advantages.
A Homegrown AI Vision: From Strategy to Execution
At the heart of Türkiye’s AI agenda is technological sovereignty. This means building indigenous capabilities in critical areas like generative AI, language models, and computational infrastructure, and not relying on foreign platforms and datasets.
Domestic Generative AI & LLMs: The strategy prioritizes the development of Turkish-language large language models (LLMs) to unlock culturally and linguistically tailored services, ranging from legal AI tools to smart customer support platforms.
High-Performance Computing: Investment in compute infrastructure is underway, with the goal of providing the processing power needed for deep learning research and AI product development.
Data as a Strategic Asset: The government plans to establish a Central Public Data Area, a structured and secure environment for researchers and startups to access public datasets, accelerating innovation while maintaining privacy compliance.
Driving Economic Growth through Smart AI Policy
Türkiye is betting on AI as a key economic growth driver, aiming to raise its contribution to 5% of GDP by 2025. To get there, it’s taking a multi-pronged approach:
SME Enablement: Through public funding programs, procurement advantages, and capacity-building grants, small and mid-sized businesses are being nudged into adopting AI solutions.
Global Positioning: Programs like TechVisa are designed to attract international talent and entrepreneurs, positioning Türkiye as a regional AI hub across MENA, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe.
Talent as a Catalyst: Education and Workforce Development
The ambition to build a domestic AI ecosystem is grounded in human capital. Türkiye aims to train 50,000 AI professionals by 2025, including 10,000 with graduate-level specialization.
Curriculum Modernization: Universities are rolling out associate, undergraduate, and postgraduate AI and data science programs. AI-focused elective courses are also entering general higher education.
Public-Private Partnerships: Through TÜBİTAK’s AI Institute, co-development labs are being established in strategic sectors, offering real-world exposure and fostering academic-industrial synergy.
Ethics, Regulation, and Trust: Laying the Groundwork for Responsible AI
AI progress cannot come at the expense of ethics or public trust. Türkiye is building a regulatory framework that mirrors international best practices while addressing local needs.
Legal Alignment: Draft AI legislation aligns closely with the EU AI Act, ensuring compatibility with European markets. It outlines legal obligations across AI development, deployment, and product lifecycle.
Ethical Oversight: A dedicated committee of experts is defining technical and ethical guidelines for generative AI, and a new “Trusted AI Seal” will serve as a national benchmark for responsible innovation.
IP Clarification: The government is working on legal structures to determine intellectual property rights for AI-generated outputs—an issue of increasing relevance as generative models proliferate.
Strategic Initiatives Taking Shape
Several anchor projects signal Türkiye's intention to move fast and build strategically:
Turkish LLM Community: An open-source consortium focused on developing LLMs and generative tools in Turkish—a move that reduces foreign dependency and fosters inclusive innovation.
AI Co-Development Labs: TÜBİTAK and private enterprises co-funded sector-specific research centers to accelerate application-specific innovation in areas like health, education, and defense.
Government Procurement Leverage: A “buy local” AI procurement policy prioritizes domestically developed AI technologies in public sector tenders.
Headwinds and Hurdles: Balancing Innovation with Governance
Despite the momentum, Türkiye faces notable challenges:
Overregulation Risks: Draft laws proposing strict penalties for non-compliance could deter startups and limit experimentation, especially if not coupled with adequate regulatory sandboxes.
Data Privacy: Ensuring alignment between AI policies and the Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK) is critical, particularly for projects relying on shared public or anonymized data.
Global Competition: Türkiye’s emerging ecosystem must compete with AI giants in the U.S., EU, and China, particularly in compute resources, talent acquisition, and foundational model development.
What’s Next?
The updated 2024–2025 Action Plan reflects an agile policy mindset that is responsive to global trends but grounded in national imperatives. Whether Türkiye can carve out a competitive advantage will depend on:
Sustained investment in compute, talent, and data infrastructure
Policy execution that balances regulation with flexibility
International collaborations that amplify domestic strengths
If successful, Türkiye is poised to become a key player in regional AI leadership, particularly in Turkish-language applications, SME AI integration, and ethical AI governance.
The 2024-2025 Action Plan reflects Türkiye’s adaptive approach to rapid AI advancements, prioritizing domestic capacity-building while engaging globally. Success hinges on effective collaboration between government, academia, and industry and on balancing innovation with ethical oversight. If implemented effectively, Türkiye could emerge as a significant player in regional AI markets, particularly in Turkish-language AI applications.
