Türkiye's premier aviation, space and technology festival, TEKNOFEST, has launched its drone contest in the southeastern province of Sirnak, drawing young competitors and technology enthusiasts from across the region.
Nearly 18,000 young people from Sirnak applied for this year's competitions, placing the province among the top 10 nationwide for participation.
TEKNOFEST has also set a new participation record, with 1.6 million people and 730,000 teams registering for competitions this year.
Teams are competing across 54 fields for total prizes exceeding 75 million Turkish lira ($1.5 million), while more than $2 million in financial support will be provided to participants.
Technology drive in Sirnak
Selcuk Bayraktar, chairman of the TEKNOFEST board and the T3 Foundation, attended the event and highlighted Sirnak's role in Türkiye's development of unmanned aerial technology.
Bayraktar said the initial development of Türkiye's first unmanned aerial vehicle took place in the province in 2006, adding that Sirnak was experiencing a technological revival following the end of terrorism in the region over the past two decades.
"Nearly 18,000 of our young people applied to technology competitions, and Sirnak ranked among the top 10 provinces nationwide in terms of applications; by producing 22 semifinalist teams, it achieved a major success relative to its population," he said.
The competition marks the first event of TEKNOFEST's southeastern leg.
TEKNOFEST Southeast will feature regional events before concluding in Sanliurfa in early October.
Organisers will also host the TEKNOFEST Blue Homeland maritime event at Golcuk Naval Shipyard in northwestern Türkiye later this month, showcasing advanced naval technologies.
