High-tech economy grows in Turkish capital

A high-tech economy is growing in Turkey's capital, according to Nurettin Özdebir, the head of Ankara's Chamber of Industry.

"Ankara is becoming a center for high-technology, with local innovation exceeding that of Istanbul," Özdebir told Anadolu Agency.

The quality of Ankara's exports has become very high, as the level of value-added content in exports from the capital is more than 30 percent higher than that of the Turkish average, and more than Istanbul contributes, Özdebir explained.

"What's more, industries with a high level of technological innovation are expanding in Ankara. Defense technology is the largest sector, and it is expanding very rapidly.

"But the level of research culture in Ankara has become very high, thanks in part to the concentration of defense industry innovation. It has spread to areas like information technology, and particularly software, which are also growing fast," Özdebir said.

Özdebir pointed out that Ankara has six technoparks. The oldest and largest is Technopolis in Middle East Technical University [ODTÜ], established in 2001, which houses more than 250 companies.

There were six Ankara-based companies included among the Deloitte Technology Fast50 companies in 2014.

"In our technoparks, cutting-edge innovation is taking place. For example, Ankara software companies are leaders in the development of embedded software - not just in Turkey, but abroad. They are taking a large share of export markets," Özdebir said.

Ankara produces more patents than any other city in Turkey, thanks to the high level of research at its technoparks, Özdebir said.

 "And there is a nanotechnology cluster centered around the Ankara technopark which is among the best in the world...