Teknofest, Turkey's premier aviation, space and technology festival, opened its doors to visitors on September 29 in Şanlıurfa. The event will continue through October 3 at Şanlıurfa GAP Airport, covering an area of 191,000 square meters. Since its launch in 2018, the festival has welcomed approximately 12 million visitors. It is organized under the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, the T3 Foundation, and STM (Defense Technologies Engineering and Trade Inc.).

Teknofest plays a significant role in the development of Turkey's defense industry and aviation ecosystem. The festival serves as a platform for domestic defense companies such as TUSAŞ, ROKETSAN, ASELSAN and Baykar to introduce their products to the public and discover talent through technology development competitions. Platforms displayed at the event, including Bayraktar TB2, Bayraktar TB3, AKINCI, ANKA and Hürkuş, represent concrete examples of Turkey's localization and national production achievements. Additionally, ATAK helicopters, MİLGEM-class vessels and land vehicles will be available for visitor inspection.

The festival features air shows by Solotürk and the Turkish Stars aerobatic teams, fighter aircraft flight demonstrations, simulation areas, science shows, a planetarium and educational workshops. Throughout the five-day event, activities will be offered for all age groups, with special first-flight experiences arranged for students. The Teknofest Time Tunnel, exhibitions of domestically developed land, sea and air vehicles, and commercial fair activities are important components of the program.

This year's Teknofest technology competitions received applications from more than 1.6 million participants and hundreds of thousands of teams from 99 countries. Of more than 730,000 teams that applied, 2,000 advanced to the finals. Successful participants will receive more than 100 million Turkish lira in total support. Applications also came from countries including the United States, France, China and Japan. This year, 11 new categories were added, including 5G, Artificial Intelligence and Smart Road Safety Competition, Technological Applications in Combating Addiction Competition, and Electronic Warfare Competition.

The finals of technology competitions in 14 categories will be held as part of the festival. These include the Steel Dome Air Defense Systems Competition and Mobile Satellite Terminal Competition organized by ASELSAN, the HackMasters Southeast Competition organized by the Cybersecurity Presidency, the Blockchain Competition organized by TÜBİTAK, and the Teknofest Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Championship and World Drone Cup organized by STM. Agricultural Technologies, Mining Technologies, Financial Technologies and Architecture-Visual Design competitions are also featured in the program.