Türkiye has unveiled new implementation targets for its National Artificial Intelligence Plan 2026–2030, during a speech delivered by Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır at the “Integration of Artificial Intelligence Security and Economic Value in Enterprises” summit at Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul.
Kacır said the plan was built around four pillars: “Know, Benefit, Produce, and Govern,” and includes 16 measures to strengthen the artificial intelligence ecosystem and define concrete targets through 2030. Among the key targets is reaching 5 million citizens through artificial intelligence literacy workshops that will be established in Türkiye’s 81 provinces within two years, in addition to training 10,000 advanced experts and 100,000 specialists in artificial intelligence applications.
Financing Small Businesses and Testing Solutions
The minister explained that Türkiye has begun implementing the Artificial Intelligence Loan Program of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization, with the aim of giving small and medium-sized enterprises cost and competitiveness advantages. He also pointed to plans to launch artificial intelligence vouchers to help these companies access the technologies they need.
The plan includes support for transforming innovative ideas into field-tested products, with priority given to the health, energy, and smart manufacturing sectors. “Regulatory sandboxes” will be established to allow startups to test their solutions under safe and predictable conditions, with the resulting experience to be used in developing regulations and scaling successful applications.
Safety and Trust as Conditions for Expansion
Kacır emphasized that the adoption of artificial intelligence applications will not expand without the trust of users and affected parties. He said the government will, in areas that directly affect citizens’ lives—such as health, education, and employment—assess the potential impacts of systems before they are deployed, while considering human oversight and technical safety tests essential parts of the process.
He also announced plans to establish a National Artificial Intelligence Ethics Council tasked with providing developers and institutions with guidance on privacy protection, preventing discrimination, and protecting children. According to the minister, general principles will be translated into practical guidelines that can be applied in institutions.
What Matters to the Technical Reader?
The most significant change in the announcement is not the introduction of a new model or product, but the shift toward a national program that combines skills development, business financing, solution testing, and the establishment of safety requirements before use in sensitive sectors. This could affect small businesses, developers, and government entities seeking to implement artificial intelligence in Türkiye.
At the same time, the source does not specify the budgets, the timeline for each of the 16 measures, or the criteria for accrediting the sandboxes and the ethics council. The announced targets—such as training 110,000 specialists and reaching 5 million citizens—also remain implementation targets that require clear measurement mechanisms to determine the extent to which they have been achieved.
Kacır warned of the risks of a widening gap between countries that possess critical infrastructure and global platforms and countries that do not control their data or develop their own models and digital infrastructure. He also called for technology to be used in accordance with the principles of fairness, privacy, and responsibility, noting that algorithms do not eliminate the moral and legal responsibility of human beings.