Erdogan, Musk meet: Is Turkey the next location for new Tesla factory?

Turkey's communications directorate on Monday revealed that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has requested Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, to develop a Tesla factory in the country.

The directorate quoted Musk as saying that Turkey was among the top contenders for its upcoming factory and that several Turkish suppliers currently deal with Tesla.

However, Tesla has not made any comment about the possibility of establishing a factory in Turkey yet.

Erdogan who is in the US to attend the 78th session of the UN General Assembly and Musk were in conversation at a meeting at Turkish House, a skyscraper close to the UN in New York, according to Turkey's Anadolu news agency.

According to the communications directorate, Erdogan also stated during the meeting that Turkey is ready to collaborate on both AI and Starlink, a satellite internet project by Musk's space agency, SpaceX.

While discussing SpaceX and Starlink, the tech billionaire also expressed his wishes to work with Turkish authorities to obtain the necessary licence to offer Starlink satellite services in Turkey, Reuters reported.

Additionally, the 69-year-old president invited Musk to attend the Turkish aerospace and technology festival Teknofest in Izmir at the end of September, which the 52-year-old tech giant expressed his willingness to attend.

Musk is also scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in California, with their discussions focusing on AI technology.

Tesla recently revealed plans to build a low-cost electric vehicle factory in India, alongside six existing factories in Mexico and a seventh in northern Nuevo Leon state, as part of its global expansion strategy.

Tesla would probably choose a location for a new facility before the end of this year, Musk predicted in May.

The automotive company also announced on Saturday that it has built its 5 millionth car, sending its stock up a whopping 123% so far this year.

Furthermore, in 2022, Musk purchased X, formerly known as Twitter, for $44 billion in addition to controlling Tesla.

Musk, who calls himself a "absolutist" of free speech, has acceded to some requests from the Turkish government to restrict some of the country's online content on the social media platform.

Otherwise, the social networking company has already objected to Turkish court decisions in other instances.