Selcuk Bayraktar describes TEKNOFEST as ‘confidence revolution’ in opening speech
‘It is a rebellion against the mentality that says, ‘We cannot do it.’ It is an objection to imitation and learned helplessness,’ festival chairman says at TEKNOFEST Southeast opening
Selcuk Bayraktar, chairman of the board of trustees of the Türkiye Technology Team Foundation (T3 Foundation) and chairman of the TEKNOFEST board, described the festival as “a confidence revolution” challenging the mindset that says “we cannot do it” in his opening speech at TEKNOFEST Southeast on Wednesday.
“TEKNOFEST is a confidence revolution. It is a rebellion against the mentality that says, ‘We cannot do it.’ It is an objection to imitation and learned helplessness,” Bayraktar said in his opening address.
Türkiye’s premier aviation, space and technology festival TEKNOFEST opened its doors to visitors Wednesday in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa.
TEKNOFEST Southeast, a leg of the event held in southeastern Türkiye, brings together tech enthusiasts, young investors and thousands of visitors for various shows, exhibitions and the finals of technology competitions across 14 categories from Wednesday through Oct. 4.
Describing Sanliurfa as “the zero point of history,” Bayraktar said it was among the lands where humanity transitioned to settled life, developed agriculture and laid the foundations of civilization.
‘More than 1.6 million young people applied’
Holding its 15th festival since its launch in 2018, Bayraktar said the TEKNOFEST “seedling we planted in 2018 has today turned into a major technology movement.”
He said young people from all 81 provinces of Türkiye and 97 countries were participating in the festival, adding that more than 730,000 teams and over 1.6 million young people had applied to technology competitions in 62 categories.
“These are not just numbers. They are Türkiye’s changing story,” Bayraktar said.
He highlighted the participation of young people from southeastern Türkiye, saying children in the region were learning artificial intelligence and robotics at DENEYAP Technology Workshops.
Referring to the region’s hot climate, Bayraktar said: “When we came to Urfa, we understood something else. If a system works smoothly at noon in the Urfa heat, it will work anywhere in the world, and even in space.”
‘National Technology Initiative is not only in the sky’
Bayraktar said confidence strengthens production, production strengthens technology, and technology creates the foundation for independence.
“That is why the National Technology Initiative exists,” he said.
“The National Technology Initiative is not only in the sky. It is in the fields, factories, laboratories, hospitals, workshops and universities.”
He said the initiative aims to turn ideas into economic value, dreams into production, projects into employment and technology into prosperity for Türkiye.
“Our goal is high technology, domestic production and value-added exports,” Bayraktar said.
“We want to build an entrepreneurship ecosystem that will strengthen our country’s full independence, led by the TEKNOFEST generation.”
- Agricultural technologies in focus
Bayraktar also highlighted the strategic importance of agricultural production, saying food had become a more critical issue than ever.
“We can no longer view agriculture simply as a traditional sector. Agriculture must become one of the high-technology fields of the future,” he said.
He pointed to next-generation national agricultural technologies, AI-supported solutions, genetic science, efficiency and sustainable production as areas of focus.
“As the solutions developed by young people meet these fertile lands, our future will become stronger and more prosperous,” he said.
- Bringing science together with conscience
Bayraktar also addressed the rapid transformation driven by artificial intelligence, saying the technology could accelerate learning and research but should be viewed as a tool that expands human potential rather than a guide that replaces human judgment.
“Technology is a tool. It is the human who determines its direction and must make the final decision,” he said.
“Our aim is not merely to develop technology, but to determine what kind of spirit and direction we will give it,” Bayraktar said.
“We want to use technology for the benefit of humanity. We want to bring science together with conscience, intelligence with morality, and power with justice.”
