Tayyip Erdogan Asks Elon Musk To Select Turkey For Tesla’s New Factory

Turkey's state-owned Anadolu news agency said that Musk revealed that Tesla would be considering Turkey among it’s most important candidates for the next factory.

During the meeting, Erdogan also expressed that Turkey was open to cooperation on artificial intelligence and Starlink. ( Image Source :Getty )

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan asked Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk to build a Tesla factory in Turkey, the country’s communications directorate informed on Monday. The state-owned Anadolu news agency stated that Musk revealed that Turkish suppliers are already collaborating with Tesla and the American electric automobile maker would be considering Turkey among it’s most important candidates for the next factory.

Notably, the Turkish President and Musk were having discussions during a meeting at Turkish House, reported Reuters. The Turkish House is located near the United Nations in New York, US. Currently, Erdogan is in the United States to attend the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly. 

During the meeting, Erdogan also expressed that Turkey was open to cooperation on artificial intelligence and Starlink, added the Turkish news agency. Starlink is the satellite internet venture of Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

It further stated that Musk voiced SpaceX’s desire to collaborate with Turkish authorities to obtain the required licence to provide Starlink satellite services in Turkey. The Turkish President apparently, extended an invitation to the Tesla CEO to attend Turkey’s aerospace and technology festival Teknofest in Izmir towards September end. Musk affirmed that he would attend the festival. 

Notably, Tesla didn’t provide any response yet on the matter, stated Reuters. 

Musk is also expected to meet Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. The CEO posted on social media platform X (formerly called Twitter) that their discussions will focus on artificial intelligence technology. 

Earlier in August, Tesla displayed an interest in building a factory in India to produce an economic electric vehicle. Currently, the car maker has six factories and is building a seventh factory in Mexico as part of it’s initiative to increase it’s global footprint. In May, Musk said that Tesla would potentially select a location for it’s new factory by the end of this year.