By Chandni Shah and Daren Butler
ISTANBUL (Portal) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has asked Tesla boss Elon Musk to build a Tesla factory in Turkey, the country’s communications directorate said on Monday.
In it, Musk was quoted as saying that many Turkish suppliers are already working with Tesla and that Turkey is one of the main candidates for the next factory.
Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Erdogan and Musk spoke during a meeting at Turkish House, a skyscraper near the United Nations in New York, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported.
Erdogan is in the US to attend the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
Erdogan also said during the meeting that Turkey was open to cooperation on artificial intelligence and Starlink, the satellite internet project of Musk’s SpaceX, the communications directorate said.
It quoted Musk as saying SpaceX wanted to work with Turkish authorities to obtain the necessary license to offer Starlink satellite services in Turkey.
It also said Erdogan invited Musk to the Turkish aerospace and technology festival Teknofest in Izmir in late September and quoted Musk as saying he would like to attend.
Musk will also meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in California on Monday. Musk announced on the social media platform X that their discussions would focus on artificial intelligence technology.
Tesla expressed interest in August in building a factory in India to produce a low-cost electric vehicle.
Tesla currently has six factories and is building a seventh in Mexico, in the northern state of Nuevo León. This is part of the automaker’s efforts to expand its global presence.
Musk said in May that Tesla would likely select a site for a new factory by the end of this year.
Tesla shares are up 123% so far this year and the automaker announced Saturday that it has produced its 5 millionth car.
In addition to running Tesla, Musk also purchased X, formerly known as Twitter, for $44 billion in 2022.
While Musk describes himself as a free speech absolutist, he has complied with some of the Turkish government’s demands to censor content in the country. In other cases, the social media company has objected to orders from Turkish courts.
(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru and Daren Butler in Istanbul; Additional reporting by Michael Derby in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Jamie Freed)