The opening ceremony of the award-winning Antalya Teknokent R&D 4 Building and Antalya Teknokent Entrepreneurship Office, located on the campus of Akdeniz University, was held with broad participation.

The R&D 4 Building and Entrepreneurship Office, which had previously earned Akdeniz University Antalya Teknokent the Güngör Pekşen Green Transformation Award at the 23rd Entrepreneurship Days Award Ceremony organized by the Antalya Industrialists and Business People Association (ANSİAD), were officially inaugurated. The ceremony was attended by Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Deputy Minister Muhammet Kasım Gönüllü, Governor of Antalya Hulusi Şahin, Akdeniz University Rector Prof. Dr. Özlenen Özkan, Antalya Teknokent General Manager Dr. İbrahim Yavuz, Members of Parliament Mustafa Köse, İbrahim Ethem Taş, Atay Uslu, Tuba Vural Çokal and Kemal Çelik, AK Party Antalya Provincial Chairman Ali Çetin, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations, academics and students.

Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır expressed his pleasure in attending the ceremony and stated that he wished the new service building and Entrepreneurship Office of Antalya Teknokent, one of the leading infrastructures of Türkiye's R&D and innovation ecosystem, to bring prosperity to Antalya and the country. Emphasizing that humanity is witnessing one of the most profound and rapid transformations in history, he underlined that technology is the driving force behind this change, reshaping social life, production models and development approaches. He noted that advancements in artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and the Internet of Things are determining countries' growth trajectories, and stated that strategic autonomy in production and technology development has become an essential component of national sovereignty and global leadership. He described technology entrepreneurship as the mechanism that transforms innovation into added value, employment and exports, and as the key to a more prosperous and fully independent Türkiye in the Century of Türkiye.

Minister Kacır stated that technoparks function as a bridge between academia and industry by enabling the commercialization of knowledge and the transformation of innovative ideas into products and services. He noted that over the past 23 years, the number of technoparks in Türkiye has increased from 2 to 114, while the number of R&D and innovation-focused companies operating within them has grown from 56 to more than 12,000.

Highlighting Antalya's unique potential for technology entrepreneurship, he stated that the scale of tourism in the city allows innovative products to be rapidly tested in areas such as travel technologies, AI-based service solutions, data analytics and cybersecurity. He further emphasized that Antalya's agricultural production offers a natural innovation laboratory for high value-added initiatives in smart agriculture, climate technologies, water efficiency and food technologies. With nearly 250 companies and a high level of institutional capacity, Antalya Teknokent serves as a strategic hub that makes the city's potential visible and strengthens its position on the global innovation stage.

The R&D 4 Building, realized with approximately 235 million Turkish lira in ministry support, has a total indoor area of 7,200 square meters. It was designed to serve as a center of R&D for both Turkish technology startups and global technology firms. Within this building, innovative projects will transform into prototypes, and new technological pathways extending from Antalya to the world will be established. The GO Entrepreneurship Office within the building will provide comprehensive support to startups at pre-incubation and incubation stages, offering mentorship, investor meetings, acceleration programs, prototyping and testing opportunities. In addition, approximately 1,100 decares of land have been designated as Antalya Agricultural Technopark by Presidential Decree in order to accelerate the technological transformation of agriculture and position Antalya as a reference center in agricultural technologies.

Governor Hulusi Şahin expressed pride in Akdeniz University's rapid progress in scientific production and emphasized the university's growing national standing. He noted that Antalya's technoparks are delivering strong results and highlighted the presence of TUSAŞ and the strategic importance of defense industry investments in the region.

Akdeniz University Rector Prof. Dr. Özlenen Özkan stated that Antalya should be recognized not only as the capital of tourism and agriculture but also as a center of scientific production and advanced technology. She emphasized that Antalya Teknokent is currently the sixth largest technopark among Türkiye's 114 Technology Development Zones and the leading technopark in Anatolia after Istanbul and Ankara. Stressing that advanced technology production is not an option but a necessity, she underlined that domestic and national production is a matter of independence and future security. She described the Technology Valley project, covering approximately 300,000 square meters, as a long-term vision that will shape Antalya's future century by hosting advanced technology activities from defense to artificial intelligence.

Antalya Teknokent General Manager Dr. İbrahim Yavuz stated that with 250 companies and 2,100 R&D personnel, Antalya Teknokent has built a strong ecosystem that generates added value for the country. Through the Antalya Technology Valley project, which includes 10 modern R&D buildings across 280,000 square meters, the goal is to transform Antalya into a regional technology hub, with 11 additional buildings planned to begin construction in 2026. He also emphasized that the 1,100-decare Agricultural Technopark project, declared by Presidential Decree in September 2025, aims to establish one of Türkiye's largest agricultural technology development zones and an international agropark.

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Minister Kacır remarked that he considers both Boğaziçi University, from which he graduated, and Akdeniz University, which awarded him his first honorary doctorate, as his universities. He also announced that within one year, Türkiye's largest GO Entrepreneurship Office will be established across the road from the current facility and that the foundations of the Agricultural Technopark will be laid this year.

Following the speeches, the ribbon was cut by Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Rector Prof. Dr. Özlenen Özkan, General Manager Dr. İbrahim Yavuz and accompanying officials. After the ceremony, they visited the newly opened Entrepreneurship Office and met with students and entrepreneurs. Discussions on young people's projects and future goals once again demonstrated the country's strong and determined growth in technology and entrepreneurship.

The Antalya Teknokent Entrepreneurship Office will continue to contribute to a strong success story extending from the city to the nation by transforming dreams into projects and projects into value.

Antalya Teknokent had previously been awarded the Güngör Pekşen Green Transformation Award at the 23rd Entrepreneurship Days Award Ceremony organized by ANSİAD. The award, presented in memory of the late entrepreneur Güngör Pekşen since 2010, recognized Antalya Teknokent's contribution to sustainable development through its energy-efficient and environmentally friendly infrastructure approach, its environmentally conscious architectural design, its focus on agricultural and green technologies, its role as a new technology production center, its support for young tech entrepreneurs through university collaborations, its strong stakeholder structure supporting regional development, and the value it adds to public–university–industry cooperation.