The introduction of the Turkey Tech Visa program was held at Istanbul Airport.

“Turkey Tech Visa” introduction program was held at Istanbul Airport with the participation of Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır and Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan.
The “Turkey Tech Visa” program introduction ceremony took place at Istanbul Airport. The ceremony was attended by Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, and many invited guests. Within the framework of the Turkey Tech Visa program, prepared by the Ministry of Industry with the support of the Ministry of Labor, entrepreneurs and skilled workers will be granted a three-year work permit if companies operating in certain high value-added areas are established in Turkey, thus attracting high value-added technological ventures to Turkey.
Stating that the rapid transformations in the working life are increasing the labor demand in some sectors and professions day by day, Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan said, “We are granting work permits to foreigners without falling behind in the global competition for qualified labor supply in our country, while prioritizing and protecting our local workforce. I want to emphasize that the foundation of our international labor policy primarily includes providing employment opportunities for our own citizens.”

“They will enable great success stories”
Minister Işıkhan, who provided information about the Turkey Tech Visa program, stated, “Today, we are launching the Turkey Tech Visa Program with the support of our relevant public institutions, especially our Ministry of Industry and Technology. Under this program, we will offer expedited and exceptional work permit processes for foreigners wishing to establish a start-up initiative in our country, and we will issue work permits for up to three years upon the first application. By shortening the bureaucratic process, we will implement an administrative process that meets the needs of this rapidly growing sector. This diversity will enrich our entrepreneurship ecosystem by allowing different perspectives and new ideas to emerge, creating new opportunities for valuable entrepreneurs and leading to great success stories,” he said.
Noting the rapid growth of the information and communication sector, Minister Işıkhan stated, “This sector is also creating a demand for qualified human resources. Acting on this, we have been conducting the ‘International Talent Transfer Program’ with the Ministry of Industry and Technology since September 1, 2022. Within the scope of this program, we evaluate and conclude work permit applications made for foreigners who will work in designated 284 professions in firms operating in R&D and Technology Development Regions under exceptional procedures and on a priority basis. I proudly express that we have brought 2,544 bright talents to our country so far under this program.”
Emphasizing that they wanted to hold the Turkey Tech Visa introduction program at Istanbul Airport, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır stated, “Today, we are at the new Istanbul Airport, which is the meeting point of the world. Our new airport has the characteristic of being the airport that connects 316 points in 128 countries, thus relating the most points together in the world. We wanted to launch the ‘Turkey Tech Visa’ together with our Minister of Labor and Social Security at our new Istanbul airport. With this program, we are taking a step to strengthen Istanbul and Turkey as a meeting point for technological entrepreneurship and qualified human resources. With this program, we aim to encourage technological ventures to relocate their centers to Turkey and continue their technology development journeys in our country. As you know, Turkey has built a tremendous R&D and innovation ecosystem under the leadership of our esteemed President over the last 22 years. We have increased the number of our technoparks from 2 to 104. Today, more than 10,800 technological ventures are continuing their R&D innovation-focused activities in our technoparks. Turkey has more than 1,600 R&D and design centers. We have raised our R&D human resources from 29,000 to over 270,000 during this period. Turkey has technological ventures worth over a billion dollars. Today, seven of our technological ventures have gained the status of unicorns, meaning they are billion-dollar technology ventures,” he said.
Kacır explained that they will offer expedited procedures for work and residence permits in Turkey to qualified human resources, saying:
“Our goal is for a hundred thousand technological ventures to emerge from Turkey by 2030, with at least a hundred of them surpassing a billion dollars in value. It is very valuable for us to make Turkey a global attraction center to achieve this. We are establishing the world’s largest technopark at Istanbul Airport. With the upcoming launch of Terminal Istanbul, both Istanbul and Turkey’s position as a global center for technological entrepreneurship will be further strengthened. With the Turkey Tech Visa program, we will provide expedited procedures for work and residence permits in Turkey for technological ventures and qualified human resources employed in technology programs. We will ensure they effectively benefit from our technopark facilities and thus help them stand out in the coming period,” he said.

“We continue with the same determination to attract technological entrepreneurs to Turkey”
After the introduction, Minister Kacır answered journalists’ questions. In response to a journalist’s question, “Which countries are you particularly targeting to bring entrepreneurs from?” Kacır stated, “Turkey is a country that interacts very effectively with all seven continents of the world. We have the ambition to attract qualified human resources from both our friendly and brotherly geographies with whom we have had strong relations throughout our civilization history, as well as from European countries, which are our largest trade partners, the Balkans, and many different centers of the world. But one fact remains that Turkey’s strongest asset is the established infrastructure and ecosystem. This ecosystem is not available in many countries around the world. We are also observing that, especially with the rising global xenophobia and Islamophobia, Turkey is strengthening its position as an attraction center for qualified human resources and technological ventures. But as we express, just as Istanbul Airport connects more than 300 points and provides access to 128 points across six continents, we continue with the same determination to attract qualified human capital and technological entrepreneurs from all geographies of the world to Turkey.”