Azernews.Az

by News Centre

Türkiye’s leading digital transformation company, Türk Telekom, and defence industry powerhouse ASELSAN, known for its engineering strength in advanced technologies, have signed a strategic cooperation agreement aimed at reducing external dependency in technology and strengthening the domestic technology ecosystem.

Within the scope of the partnership—also involving key stakeholders such as the Ankara Chamber of Commerce and the Turkish World Business Council—a joint working model has been established to develop hardware and software for domestically produced smartphones, user devices, and communication infrastructure systems. The roadmap of the project and the main areas of cooperation have also been defined.

Türk Telekom CEO Ebubekir Şahin commented on the agreement, stating:

“We are taking leadership in digital transformation and consider the development of innovative domestic and national products as a core responsibility and priority. Increasing our country’s competitiveness in the global technology arena and producing domestic communication devices is, in this sense, a red line for us. In line with the digitalisation and localisation vision of our President, we have signed a highly valuable cooperation agreement. Thanks to this strong partnership, the roadmap for our domestic and national device project has been defined, and the first concrete steps towards implementation have been taken. As Türk Telekom, we are not only a telecommunications company but a technology company shaping Türkiye’s future. The more than 70 international patents of our subsidiaries Argela and Netsia in advanced technologies are the strongest proof of our innovation capacity. Our efforts to reduce Türkiye’s technological dependence and shape a technology-driven future will continue uninterrupted.”

Highlighting its vision of leading the era of technology and digitalisation, Türk Telekom stated that it has taken a historic step to increase Türkiye’s global competitiveness by developing domestic and national solutions. The company is joining forces with ASELSAN—one of the strongest players in the ecosystem—to develop hardware and software for locally produced smartphones, user devices, and communication equipment. The partnership aims to elevate the share of domestic and national production in communication technologies to the highest level.

A high-level meeting attended by Türk Telekom CEO Ebubekir Şahin, ASELSAN CEO Ahmet Akyol, Ankara Chamber of Commerce President Gürsel Baran, and Turkish World Business Council President Aydın Erkoç brought together strong representatives of both the public and private sectors. During the meeting, initial steps were taken to implement the domestic communication device project and its roadmap was formally outlined.

Emphasising that they are entering a new era with a vision not only of consuming technology but also producing and exporting it, Türk Telekom CEO Ebubekir Şahin added:

“We are taking leadership in digital transformation and consider the development of innovative domestic and national products as a core responsibility and priority. Increasing our country’s competitiveness in the global technology arena and producing domestic communication devices is, in this sense, a red line for us. In line with the digitalisation and localisation vision of our President, we have signed a highly valuable cooperation agreement. Thanks to this strong partnership, the roadmap for our domestic and national device project has been defined, and the first concrete steps towards implementation have been taken. Our efforts to reduce Türkiye’s technological dependency and shape a technology-driven future will continue without interruption.”

Şahin also emphasised that Türk Telekom’s domestic products are already used in various countries around the world, stating:

“As Türk Telekom, we are not only a telecommunications company but a technology company designing Türkiye’s future. The more than 70 international patents held by our subsidiaries Argela and Netsia in advanced technologies are the strongest proof of our innovation strength. Our strategic agreements with global technology companies further reinforce our regional influence. We successfully commercialised our synchronisation product developed together with our international partner Net Insight. Likewise, our engineers’ dedicated work on Open RAN solutions, as well as our RIC and SEBA products, are actively used both within our organisation and across the world. As one of the sector’s largest investors, our infrastructure investments and R&D activities play a crucial role in building our country’s digital future with domestic capabilities.”

ASELSAN CEO Ahmet Akyol stressed the importance of transferring the advanced technological momentum achieved in Türkiye’s defence industry into civilian applications, stating:

“The first field of activity for ASELSAN was communications. Our founding philosophy was to produce military communication devices domestically. To date, we have manufactured and delivered more than one million communication systems to the field. With projects such as JEMUS and KETUM developed for the Police and Gendarmerie forces, we have established critical communication infrastructures across Türkiye. Recent global conflicts have shown that communication infrastructure and devices are not only technological tools but also among the most critical capabilities for security in the field. ASELSAN, with its field experience, production capacity, and capability in establishing critical infrastructure in communication technologies, is a natural and strong part of this ecosystem. As ASELSAN, we fully support such localisation projects, particularly in communications. With our more than half a century of experience and deep-rooted expertise in communication systems, we will continue to serve our state and nation.”