Turkey's largest technology event Teknofest ends

By Gokhan Ergocun

GAZIANTEP, Turkey (AA) - Teknofest, Turkey's largest technology and aerospace event, which was being held in the southern Gaziantep province, ended on Sunday.

The four-day event did not accept visitors, and was broadcast live through social media platforms due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The festival included a host of activities such as air shows with warplanes and helicopters, seminars and summits, as well as competitions and fairs.

The annual event's third edition organized competitions in nearly two dozen categories, including biotechnology innovation, agriculture, environment and energy, transportation, education, helicopter design and jet engine design.

Winners were granted awards worth over 3 million Turkish liras (around $390,000).

Top officials such as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu and others also attended the event.

Over 100,000 young people and more than 20,000 teams applied for Teknofest competitions from 84 countries.

Last year, over 1.7 million people had attended the event in Istanbul.

This year it was scheduled for April, but got postponed due to the pandemic.

Anadolu Agency has been Teknofest's global communications partner since 2018.