Turkey - National AI Strategy (2024-2025)

Overview

The National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2024-2025 Action Plan is an executive, cross‑sectoral implementation update to Turkey’s 2021–2025 Ulusal Yapay Zeka Stratejisi. The 2024–2025 Action Plan sets out 71 priority actions to be delivered by central government bodies, public research organisations and partner institutions, focusing on workforce development, national model development (including Turkish large language models), infrastructure and data access, rules and standards, and international cooperation. The plan was announced and put into implementation under the coordination of the Presidency Digital Transformation Office and the Ministry of Industry and Technology; the official announcement is published by the Presidency Digital Transformation Office. For the official announcement see Presidency Digital Transformation Office — Announcement (24 July 2024).

Definitions

For operational clarity the Action Plan uses and updates definitions from the 2021–2025 National AI Strategy and related ministerial guidance. Core terms include: "Artificial Intelligence" (systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence), "generative AI" (models that produce text, audio, images or other media), "large language model (LLM)" (a neural network model trained on large corpora of text, typically used for language generation/understanding), "ecosystem actors" (public bodies, universities, research centres, start‑ups, and industry partners), and "critical infrastructure" (data centres, processors and cloud resources necessary for AI training and inference). The Action Plan adopts risk‑based terminology for high‑impact AI uses and asks lead agencies to prepare more detailed, sector‑specific definitions where required for implementation and oversight.

Governance and Institutional Framework

The Action Plan establishes multi‑level governance arrangements. At the top level, a National AI Strategy Guidance Board (Yönlendirme Kurulu) chaired by the Vice‑President provides high‑level coordination; the Presidency Digital Transformation Office and the Ministry of Industry and Technology serve as operational coordinators. Lead ministries and public agencies are assigned to each action with named cooperating agencies. Sectoral implementation units (for example, in the Ministry of National Education for education sector actions) are responsible for day‑to‑day delivery. The Plan formalises regular reporting cycles and requires action leads to submit progress updates to the steering board. Institutional roles are further supported by specialist public research organisations such as TÜBİTAK and by workforce bodies (for example, the Vocational Qualifications Authority/MYK) for skills mapping and standard setting. Relevant official pages describing coordination and implementation responsibilities include the Presidency Digital Transformation Office announcement and sectoral ministry pages; see Presidency Digital Transformation Office and the Ministry of National Education sector implementation materials at Ministry of National Education — Education AI Policy & Action Plan.

Key Focus Areas

The Action Plan organises activity under the six strategic priorities originally set out in the UYZS (2021–2025) but focuses on near‑term deliverables for 2024–2025. The primary focus areas are: (1) Talent and workforce — expanding graduate output, retraining programmes, TechVisa‑style attraction schemes and vocational pathways; (2) Research, innovation and entrepreneurship — funding targeted R&D, start‑up support, sectoral adaptation programmes and university‑industry partnerships; (3) Quality data and technical infrastructure — investments in high‑capacity data centres, high‑performance computing, local processor development and secure data access frameworks enabling responsible AI R&D; (4) Regulatory and socio‑economic measures — review and drafting of fit‑for‑purpose regulatory guidance, ethical frameworks for generative models, procurement incentives favouring domestic solutions, and sectoral regulatory adjustments to accelerate socio‑economic adoption; (5) International cooperation and standards — active participation in international standard‑setting and cross‑border research collaboration; (6) Structural and labour market transformation — preparing labour markets for automation through reskilling and social adaptation measures. Actions explicitly include developing Turkish LLMs and forming expert committees to set technical and ethical standards for generative AI, and measures to prioritise domestically‑developed AI in public procurement where appropriate.

Implementation Framework

Delivery is implemented through named action leads (ministries and agencies) and cooperating partners; each action is accompanied by timeframes, KPIs and reporting obligations. Central co‑ordination is provided by the Presidency Digital Transformation Office and the Ministry of Industry and Technology, which convene the Yönlendirme Kurulu and working groups. The Plan uses a mix of direct public funding calls (through programmes such as HIT‑30), public procurement levers, incentives for private sector investment, and partnerships with research bodies such as TÜBİTAK. Ministries are required to prepare sectoral roadmaps and to present periodic implementation reports to the steering board. The Plan emphasises interoperability, open standards and measurement frameworks to ensure that public investments in compute and data infrastructure are reusable across sectors; see relevant infrastructure calls at the Ministry of Industry and Technology's HIT‑30 portal (HIT‑30 Calls — Sanayi ve Teknoloji Bakanlığı).

Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring is two‑tiered: (a) internal monitoring by action leads who report progress and obstacles to the central coordination office; (b) steering‑board oversight, with periodic public summary reports. The Plan sets KPIs such as target graduate numbers, employment figures in AI roles, number of domestic AI products commercialised, compute capacity targets and milestones for LLM development and sectoral pilots. The steering board is mandated to review progress, reprioritise actions as necessary, and issue guidance on resource allocation. Public agencies are expected to publish progress summaries, and participating ministries are required to include implementation updates in their annual reports to central authorities.

Penalties, Liability, and Appeals

The Action Plan is an executive strategy rather than a statute; it does not itself create new criminal or administrative penalties. Implementation compliance is secured through assignment of responsibilities, budget allocations and administrative performance management. Where actions intersect with statutory regimes (for example, personal data processing under Law No. 6698/KVKK, or safety and liability rules in health or transport), existing legal liability, sanctions and appeal mechanisms under sectoral law continue to apply. The Plan also instructs lead agencies to prepare guidance and, where necessary, propose regulatory or legislative amendments to address gaps, including accountability and redress mechanisms for high‑impact AI deployments. For privacy or data protection obligations, implementers must follow KVKK and related sectoral advice.

Relationship to Other Instruments

The 2024–2025 Action Plan is explicitly an update to the 2021–2025 National AI Strategy (issued under the 2021/18 Presidential Circular published in the Official Gazette) and is aligned with the 11th and 12th Development Plans and the Presidency’s "Digital Turkey" and "National Technology Initiative" priorities. Many actions are implemented through or in coordination with existing programmes and agencies such as TÜBİTAK (for R&D grants), the Ministry of Industry and Technology (HIT‑30 strategic investment calls), national skills bodies (MYK) and sectoral ministries (e.g., Ministry of National Education for education actions). The Plan instructs ministries to coordinate with existing legal frameworks such as public procurement law and the Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK) while seeking to close regulatory gaps where needed.

International Alignment

The Action Plan prioritises alignment with international standards and multilateral policy developments. It instructs agencies to follow and contribute to EU/OECD standardisation processes, international technical standards for model safety and evaluation, and cross‑border research partnerships. The Plan calls for active engagement in global dialogues on trustworthy AI and data governance, and for domestic expert committees to adopt or adapt international good practice for generative AI safety, transparency and interoperability. International cooperation is emphasised both to secure access to best practice and to ensure Turkish AI outputs meet export and interoperability requirements.

Implementation Timeline

Sources and References