World Bulletin / News Desk

Turkey’s Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Fikri Isik called on American-based technology giants to establish research and development centers in Turkey and not to see the country only as a customer.

Isik, who started his U.S. visit on March 17, visited Silicon Valley giants HP, Oracle, Intel, Apple, Cisco and Google.

After a meeting with Turkish businessmen, entrepreneurs and engineers on Thursday, Isik told The Anadolu Agency that the example of the Silicon Valley is very important.

“A decision has been made to support Turkish entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, to make technology transfers and to establish a (technology) center in order to gain access to the world market,” Isik said.

Turkey in recent years has made public plans to establish a “Silicon Valley” technology center in Istanbul, Turkey's biggest city and economic capital.

Isik said that the Turkish delegation will hold some meetings in the U.S. in regard to establishing the technology center in Istanbul.

He also said that Turkey will first hire science attachés in Berlin, Germany and later on, in Los Angeles and San Francisco. 

“We are working in this regard,” Isik added.

On Friday, the Turkish minister will speak at the “International and National Reintegration Opportunities” panel at Stanford University and will later visit the Microsoft technology center and Tesla, which produces electric cars.