TEKNOFEST, where millions of technology lovers come together every year, will be the meeting point for young people in 2026. Technology competitions will attract attention at TEKNOFEST, which will be held at Şanlıurfa GAP Airport. YOUNG PEOPLE WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO APPLY

TEKNOFEST, which has been the meeting point of ideas since 2018, has hosted more than 4 million applications to date. At TEKNOFEST 2026, thousands of young people from all education levels, from primary school to postgraduate, will have the opportunity to apply to technology competitions in different categories to turn their dreams into projects.

4 NEW CATEGORIES ADDED

This year, unlike previous years, “Electronic Warfare Competition, Advanced Autonomous Systems Design and Operation Competition, TEKNOFEST Mining Technologies Competition, FPV Drone Tracking Competition and Technologies for the Benefit of Humanity Competition” were opened for applications for the first time. 52 DIFFERENT

WILL BE COMPETED IN THE CATEGORY

At TEKNOFEST 2026, technology competitions will be held in a total of 52 different categories in many fields such as “Rocket Competition, Agricultural Technologies Competition, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Competitions, Steel Dome Air Defense Systems Competition, Artificial Intelligence Competition in Health and Secure Satellite Communication Competition”, which young people follow with great interest.

Emine Erdoğan, wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, attended the TRT World Citizen Award Ceremony held at a hotel in Beşiktaş. In her speech at the ceremony, First Lady Erdoğan stated that TRT World Citizen Awards is a very valuable project that draws attention to global problems and raises awareness since 2017, and said, “There are more than 130 ongoing conflicts in many parts of the world. More than 676 million women and children are struggling to survive in the shadow of weapons. It is really difficult not to be pessimistic in the face of such a picture.” Stating that humans are the epitome of hope, First Lady Erdoğan said:

PEOPLE ARE FREEZING TO DIE

“We have a ‘World Citizen of the Year’ award winner who cannot be with us today. Our brother was one of the approximately 300 journalists murdered by Israel. Despite the ceasefire, attacks on Gaza still continue. It is a pity that when it comes to Palestine, the common conscience of humanity can remain silent despite universal values. While the lands of Gaza are turning into a children’s cemetery, in the region where the destruction reaches ninety percent, people freeze to death in winter conditions without even finding a tent. The pain of a child is a human being’s pain.” “It is one of the hardest trials anyone can experience; in Gaza, this pain has become a part of daily life. Unfortunately, these images are lost in the flow of social media, videos and promotions. Let’s not surrender to the fatigue of compassion. Let’s continue to be a voice for the oppressed, to correct the wrongs, to act with empathy and to stand against the oppressor wholeheartedly.” First Lady Erdoğan, who took a photo with the award winners at the end of the ceremony, said in her social media post, “I wholeheartedly congratulate the valuable names who were deemed worthy of the award and wish their courage and success on behalf of humanity to be permanent.”

Akın Gürlek brought to light the corruption of the century while he was the Chief Public Prosecutor of Istanbul. Gürlek, who was appointed to the Ministry of Justice, explained his goals one by one in A Haber, stating that he is the minister of 86 million people and that his door is open to all political parties who have grievances against rights and law. Gürlek, who started his speech by thanking President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said, “I am now the Minister of Justice for 86 million citizens. I am on the side of 86 million citizens, regardless of their political identity, and my door is open to all of them if they have grievances regarding justice or law.” Minister of Justice Gürlek stated the following in the live broadcast:

CHP PROVOCATION IN THE ASSEMBLY

I don’t know which of them personally congratulated me, but it was a very polite and kind environment. Everyone said their good intentions and we shook hands. I was pleasantly surprised when the situation changed after passing through a door and a corridor. You come to the rostrum of the Parliament, suddenly people come towards you. In fact, I saw later that a booklet was also thrown. I wish this had not happened. I especially want to express this. I am a humble person. I am Akın Gürlek, but the Parliament is very important here, it is the apple of our eye.

THE COURT IS NOT THE AREA OF POLITICAL SHOW

There is absolutely no political show in courtrooms. Judges decide based on the evidence in the file. The court is not a place for political propaganda. There can be no political show in the courts. I also handled important cases. The decision is made based on material evidence and on behalf of the Turkish nation.

IMM CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION: INSTRUCTIONS CANNOT BE GIVEN TO THE COURTS

No one can give suggestions or instructions to the courts. As a public prosecutor, we do not look at the person’s rank. There were denunciations and complaints. There were complaints from among themselves. There were serious allegations about money towers. We launched an investigation to uncover the truth. We should not confuse the investigation with individuals. We clearly included the evidence in the indictment, witnesses. MASAK reports, HST records, money traffic. Aziz İhsan Aktaş says, ‘I have something to pay from the municipality, they want money’ and we are working to confirm it. There is no such thing as secret witness pressure. You will see at the trial. Regarding the effective remorse expression processes in the IMM investigation, Gürlek said, “Ertan Yıldız was released after making a sincere statement. Then the number increased to tell what he knew. We did not leave anyone who benefited from every effective remorse. Every detail needs to be confirmed.”

WE WILL ESTABLISH ALO JUSTICE APPLICATION

I am explaining here for the first time that we will install the Alo justice application. Now, if a citizen wants a case to be concluded, the citizen will contact Alo Adalet and submit his complaint. HSK Judicial Effectiveness Office will call the relevant commission chairman and the citizens’ grievances in the judiciary will be resolved. The fight against FETO will continue. All our prosecutors are on alert regarding this matter. FETO is a threat to the country. The new structuring is currently being worked on. The fight against FETO is definitely not over, it will continue.

FETO IS OUR RED LINE

FETO is our red line and our main agenda. Our struggle on this issue will continue uninterruptedly. In the 11th judicial package, some regulations were made regarding these issues, and penalty increases were also made. Unfortunately, criminal organizations use children by taking advantage of the loophole in the law. Unfortunately, our brothers Atlas and Minguzzi also lost their lives. There was also an operation against those who threatened the family. We will do the necessary work regarding these. Of course, our fight against street gangs will continue and we will not tolerate the gangs.

WE WILL GO TO THE END OF THIS

We need to get rid of the evil of illegal betting. We will see this through to the end, we did. We will eradicate it. They smuggle illegal betting money abroad using the cold wallet method. We brought this 1 billion to Türkiye and added it to the treasury. In 2025, 80 billion liras laundered from the operations of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Laundering Bureau were transferred to the state treasury. Mothers and fathers come to me saying, ‘Save our children from this disease.’ We will do our best to combat drugs during my ministry term. We need to completely get rid of this evil like illegal betting. Kasım Garipoğlu has a mansion in the heart of Istanbul. Partying for 3 days. As Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor, I cannot allow it. 2-3 kilos of cocaine are consumed. We do not hire users, but those who organize, encourage, and provide space and opportunities.

Speaking at the meeting held within the framework of the courtesy visit, Yayman emphasized that the Republic of Türkiye follows the TRNC closely and that they attach great importance to the unity and integrity of the Turkish Cypriot people.

Referring to the developments in the region, Yayman drew attention to the armament activities of the Greek side and said:

“We are following very closely the armament of the Greek side. This is never acceptable. We carefully note the armament of the Greek side. Today, as yesterday, the Turkish nation stands by the Cyprus cause. The peace and well-being of the Turkish Cypriot people means the peace, prosperity and well-being of Türkiye. The well-being of Türkiye is the well-being of Cyprus.”

Yayman also conveyed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s greetings and hoped that the new service building of the TRNC Assembly would provide beneficial services for the Turkish Cypriot people.

TRNC Parliament Speaker Öztürkler expressed his satisfaction with the visit and stated that every contact from the motherland Türkiye gives strength to the TRNC. Stating that the armament activities of the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus are carefully monitored, Öztürkler underlined that the ties between the motherland Türkiye and the TRNC are unshakable.

The delegation also included TRNC Friendship Group President, Konya Deputy Orhan Erdem, AK Party Culture and Art Policies Directorate Deputy Chairman Şeyhmus Dinçel and Deputy Şamil Ayrım.

The visit ended with mutual good wishes and taking a souvenir photo.

Stating that the Turkish left does not support the Palestinian cause, Erdoğan said, “In Western countries, especially the left segments are at the forefront regarding Palestine. There is no left segment in Türkiye. The entire world left supports Palestine. In our country, in fact, for a while, leftists supported the Palestinian cause, but we cannot see that sensitivity there in this period.” Erdoğan also pointed out that Turkey’s population is rapidly aging and said, “Add meaning to your life. Do not delay marriage. Let’s work to give birth to as many children as we can.” Erdoğan answered a question about politics by saying, “I do not have a political career goal.”

Bilal Erdoğan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Knowledge Dissemination Foundation, met with university students at the Youth Meeting at Konya Tantavi Culture and Arts Center. Answering the questions of the students here, Erdoğan said that the Turkish left does not support the Palestinian cause. Bilal Erdoğan said, “Palestinian sensitivity in Türkiye is only the sensitivity of a certain group. In fact, some groups that are the target of certain political polarization do not want to participate there. Because if I go there, they will think that I am this or that person, I am not one of them, so I should not go there. This is one aspect of the matter. On the other hand, the Palestinian cause is seen as the cause of religious believers. You see, in the world, especially in Western countries, left-wing groups are at the forefront regarding Palestine. There is no left-wing section in Türkiye. The whole world’s left supports Palestine.” In our country, there was a time when leftists supported the Palestinian cause, but we cannot see that sensitivity there. Although the left supports this cause all over the world, the fact that the left in our country does not support this cause is a bit of an obstacle to the spread of this sensitivity in Türkiye. This is the issue of all humanity. Even if you do not have sensitivity about Jerusalem, you have to say something with religious sensitivity. “We need to ensure that those who do not have religious sensitivities can also embrace this cause. The boycott is important and should not be diluted.”

HE CALLED TO YOUTH; ‘DO NOT DELAY MARRIAGE’

Drawing attention to the importance of the family, Erdoğan said, “Add meaning to your life. Do not delay marriage. Believing how great an institution the family is. It is not that I should look out for my own pleasure, you should look out for yours, let’s build a home for it. Let’s all have a beautiful, happy home in this world for our afterlife. Let’s work to give birth to as many children as we can. Our Lord gives us this responsibility as a responsibility. If we don’t give such a meaning to this world, this will not get better. You too can change your marriage.” Don’t delay, don’t delay. Our primary schools will start to become empty in 5 years or 10 years. The aging of the population is very bad news. Our fertility rate has dropped from 2.5 percent to below 1.5 percent in 20 years. It is very bad news. Turkey will be a country with a super-aged population of less than 50 million in 2100. “We talk about goals and things to be done in the world, but is it possible to achieve these at this rate?” he said. Answering a question about politics, Erdoğan said, “I do not have a political career goal. Let’s say we became famous when someone came up with something.”

The investigation carried out by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office against Bayrampaşa Municipality for the crimes of “extortion”, “bribery”, “qualified fraud” and “tender rigging” continues.

Bayrampaşa Municipality Deputy Mayor Mahmut Kılıç, who was released in January within the scope of effective remorse provisions during the investigation, testified 3 times in this context.

In his statement given on December 30, 2025, Kılıç explained that he started working as a coordinator at the logistics support center affiliated with Support Services in Bayrampaşa Municipality on September 20, 2024.

Stating that Hasan Mutlu’s brother, Ayhan Mutlu, has been his friend for 20 years, Kılıç said, “Although steps were taken within the scope of the investigation regarding the Marnas Hotel, I was not involved in any irregular transactions here, but as far as I heard from Bilgehan, 1.5 million liras were agreed here upon the instructions of Hasan Mutlu. I do not know how 1 million liras of this money was received, but 500 thousand liras of it was given to Lütfi K. by Bilgehan Yağcı in his office at the municipality.” “I saw that this money was distributed to 10-12 municipal council members. Öztürk H, Ersin B, Deniz U, Arzu D, Çetin K. are some of the council members to whom this money was given, I do not know the others. However, I know clearly that it was not given to Saki T.” he claimed.

Kılıç claimed that Bekir Ö had a business in the illegal structure built here and that he was much more aware of the irregularities here, and said, “The cleaning tender before the cleaning tender awarded to Aslan B was canceled by Öztürk H.’s initiatives. Later, Öztürk H. had the tender canceled again. He ensured that the cleaning job was given to İŞTEM, owned by Aslan B, for 6-month periods. Here, they acted together with Bilgehan Yağcı.” gave his statement.

Kılıç stated that although the price of this tender should have been 12 million liras, it was given to 17 million liras, that he could not know how the 5 million liras were shared between Öztürk H. and Bilgehan Yağcı, and that a shopping card worth 5 million liras was received from the application-market owners regarding the SOO application.

THE ALLEGATION THAT SÜLEYMAN KÖŞKEROĞLU AND ÖZLEM TUT AGREED IN EXCHANGE FOR BRIBE

In his additional statement on January 8, Kılıç claimed that the detained suspect Süleyman Köşkeroğlu wanted to build a construction within the borders of Bayrampaşa district, and that the then Deputy Mayor of Bayrampaşa Özlem Tut, with whom he met, asked for a bribe regarding the transactions to be carried out in the municipality and they mutually agreed.

Kılıç, who claimed that Tut told this to Ayhan Mutlu when Köşkeroğlu prepared the money, that Mutlu sent Safa B, an employee of the company named VG, to these people’s company, and that Safa B received 300 thousand dollars, said that Safa B allocated 80 thousand dollars from this money and went to the municipality to give it to Tut.

Kılıç claimed that Özlem Tut later called him and asked for 200 thousand liras to be collected from the contractor Halit A, who has an office in Yıldırım District of Bayrampaşa Municipality, and that he went to the office with the personnel he worked with in the municipality and gave him 6 thousand 700 dollars, the equivalent of 200 thousand liras.

Kılıç, who stated that he gave this money to the staff he came with to convey to Özlem Tut, claimed that he did not know for what purpose the money was received.

BRIBERY ALLEGATION AGAINST AYHAN MUTLU

Suspect Kılıç continued his statement as follows:

“In addition to my statement about the cleaning tender that Aslan B received, Öztürk H. called me on a Friday, the date of which I cannot remember exactly, and asked if I was at the logistics support center. When I told him that I was here, he said that he wanted to come and have a coffee. A short time later, Ayhan Mutlu came to the same place. Here, together, we took out the money in the bag of 2 million 400 thousand liras that Öztürk brought from the trunk of the vehicle. Later, Ayhan pulled up to the same place. He put this money in his trunk. As far as I know, this money was brought on the day the payment was made. Ayhan (Mutlu) then went to my office. He said that he had credit card and check debts and that he needed 2 million liras. This situation will be seen when the account transactions are examined.