Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan asks Elon Musk to build Tesla factory in Turkey

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has urged Tesla CEO Elon Musk to create a Tesla factory in Turkey, according to the country’s communications office.

According to Musk, numerous Turkish suppliers are already working with Tesla, and Turkey is one of the most prominent prospects for its future manufacturing.

Tesla did not reply quickly to calls for comment.

Erdogan and Musk were talking at Turkish House, a skyscraper near the United Nations in New York, according to Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency.

Erdogan is in the United States for the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Erdogan also stated at the discussion that Turkey was ready to collaborate on artificial intelligence and Starlink, Musk’s SpaceX satellite internet endeavour, according to the communications directorate.

According to the report, Musk stated that SpaceX intended to collaborate with Turkish officials in order to secure the required licence to offer Starlink satellite services in Turkey.

It further stated that Erdogan asked Musk to visit the Turkish aerospace and technology event Teknofest in Izmir at the end of September and that Musk agreed.

On Monday, Musk will also meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in California. Musk said on the social networking site X that their discussions will centre on artificial intelligence technologies.

Tesla in August expressed an interest in building a factory in India that would produce a low-cost electric vehicle.

Tesla currently has six factories and is building a seventh in Mexico in northern Nuevo Leon state, part of the automaker’s push to expand its global footprint.

Musk said in May that Tesla would probably pick a location for a new factory by the end of this year.

Tesla shares are up 123 per cent so far this year and the automaker on Saturday said it had produced its 5 millionth car.

In addition to running Tesla, Musk also bought X, formerly known as Twitter, for $44 billion in 2022.

While describing himself as a free speech absolutist, Musk has complied with some demands by the Turkish government to censor content in the country. In other cases, the social media company has objected to orders by the Turkish courts.