Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of X, arrives for the Inaugural AI Insight Forum in Russell Building on Capitol Hill, on Wednesday, September 13, 2023.
Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan invited Elon Musk to build his next Tesla factory in Turkey, the country’s state media reported Monday.
Erdogan on Sunday met with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO in New York while visiting the U.S. for the United Nations General Assembly. The two met at the Turkish House in Manhattan.
“Recalling that with the Turkish electric car Togg hitting the roads in Türkiye, Tesla entered the Turkish market, Erdogan called on Tesla to establish its seventh factory in Türkiye,” Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported, citing the country’s communications directorate.
Erdogan also offered collaboration opportunities with Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX and Turkey’s space program, and invited the billionaire inventor to Teknofest, Turkey’s largest aviation, aerospace, and technology festival taking place between late September and the end of October this year.
Musk replied that a number of Turkish suppliers are already working with Tesla and that Turkey “is among the most important candidates” for his next and seventh factory, Anadolu wrote. CNBC has contacted the Turkish communications directorate for the full statement.