Türkiye’s Data Center Market: Investments, Capacity and Policy

Türkiye’s data center market is small by global standards but is entering its first hyperscale investment cycle, driven by data-localisation rules, the arrival of a Google Cloud region and a new state incentive programme. This guide, part of the Kurums Data Center Economy hub, covers current capacity, the main operators and projects in Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir, the HIT-30 incentives, the regulatory framework and the energy question. For regional context, compare it with the European FLAP-D and Nordic markets and the Gulf data center race.

How big is Türkiye’s data center market in 2026?

Türkiye had roughly 250 MW of data center capacity at the end of 2025 and 81 data centers in total, with 33 of them in Istanbul. The government’s target is to quadruple capacity to at least 1 GW by 2030, which would require the fastest build-out in the country’s history.

The 250 MW figure was cited in November 2025, when Google Cloud and Turkcell announced their joint investment at Google Cloud Day Türkiye in Istanbul. An Anadolu Agency summary published in June 2026 listed 81 data centers nationwide: 33 in Istanbul, 13 in Ankara, 10 in İzmir, 8 in Bursa, 4 in Kocaeli, 3 in Denizli, 2 in Gaziantep and one each in nine other provinces including Antalya, Adana, Kayseri, Konya and Trabzon. Most are enterprise or telecom facilities, not hyperscale campuses.

By revenue, the colocation segment is modest. EY-Parthenon Türkiye estimates the colocation market at about $311m in 2023 and $354m in 2024, and projects it reaching about $543m by 2028, growth of roughly 12% a year, faster than the 6% pace of 2019–2023. Demand is rising quickly: EY-Parthenon expects Turkish data traffic to grow from 72 exabytes in 2023 to 310–350 exabytes by 2029. The gap between fast-growing data use and limited local capacity is what the new incentive programme is meant to close.

For perspective, 250 MW is smaller than a single large AI campus in the United States. Building 1 GW by 2030 at current global costs, which we cover in how much it costs to build a data center in 2026, implies the tens of billions of dollars in combined facility and IT investment that ministers and developers are now discussing.

What is Türkiye’s 1 GW data center target and how will it be funded?

The Ministry of Industry and Technology aims for at least 1 GW of installed data center capacity by 2030. It plans to use about $3bn of public resources to mobilise around $10bn of private investment in data centers and AI over the same period.

Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır set out the $10bn goal in February 2026, and a June 2026 programme added detail: at least 2% of public investment programmes are to go to AI projects, investors get a single-window roadmap of up to 30 working days, and the National Data Library is to open at least 2,000 public datasets. The ministry also wants to spread data centers to secure regions of Anatolia rather than concentrating everything in Istanbul and Ankara.

Industry voices want more. At the October 2026 groundbreaking of the Rönesans–Digital Realty campus, Rönesans honorary chairman Erman Ilıcak proposed raising the national target to 2,000 MW, saying his group could deliver around 600 MW of it, and set an ambition for Türkiye to become Europe’s fifth-largest data center hub after France, Germany, the UK and the Netherlands. Fuat Oktay, chair of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, suggested the target could reach 2,000–3,000 MW. These are aspirations, not policy, but they show how quickly expectations have moved.

How do Türkiye’s HIT-30 data center incentives work?

HIT-30 is Türkiye’s high-technology investment programme, launched in July 2024. Its data center call, announced on 17 October 2025, has a $1.5bn support budget, and a separate HIT-AI call has a $1.6bn budget for cloud-based AI infrastructure.

According to a January 2026 legal summary by Çakmak Avukatlık Bürosu, full support under the HIT data center call requires a minimum of 30 MW of IT capacity, at least 50% of capacity compatible with AI hardware, a maximum PUE of 1.4, and integration with major cloud or AI service providers. Projects that meet only some criteria can receive partial support. Benefits include tax incentives of up to 50%, energy support of up to 10% of the investment, and employment support. The minimum fixed investment under HIT-30 is 2 billion lira.

Smaller projects use the general incentive decree (No. 9903). It requires TS EN 50600 certification at availability class 3, a PUE no higher than 1.65 at full load, fibre from at least two telecom operators, and minimum installed power of 3 MW for the Priority Investments scheme or 500 kW for the Target Investments scheme. Benefits include customs duty and VAT exemptions, corporate tax reductions, interest support and land allocation. The general application window runs to the end of 2030.

Who are the main data center operators in Türkiye?

The market is led by the two largest telecom groups, Türk Telekom and Turkcell, alongside Vodafone Türkiye, carrier-neutral players such as Equinix and NGN, and newer entrants including Rönesans Holding with Digital Realty and Trendyol with Castle Investments.

Türk Telekom runs large facilities in Istanbul (Esenyurt and Gayrettepe) and Ankara (Ümitköy), according to Sabah, and has laid the foundation for a third large data center at Başkent OSB in Ankara. At a September 2026 investor meeting reported by Bloomberg HT, management said capacity was struggling to keep up with demand, that the company had 10-year customer visibility, and that a framework for data center services with Oracle was under negotiation, with Meta also showing interest. Türk Telekom has also reported successful tests of liquid immersion cooling and promotes a sovereign AI model.

Turkcell has invested about €585m in data centers to date, according to Habertürk, and is now building Türkiye’s first hyperscale cloud region with Google Cloud. It is also expanding its own renewable generation from 63 MW to 200 MW, with a $240m commitment to solar and wind plants, so that data center growth is backed by in-house power.

Vodafone Türkiye opened the first phase of its İzmir data center with DAMAC Digital in September 2026, a $100m project according to Posta (an earlier Anadolu Agency summary cited $150m for the İzmir build), and is adding capacity in Ankara. NGN agreed in October 2026 to host global companies’ data for France’s Orange at its Star of Bosphorus facility, backed by $40m of green financing from Yapı Kredi and Garanti BBVA. Equinix has an Istanbul presence and a Türkiye general manager who spoke at Data Center Eurasia 2026.

Source: Habertürk; Anadolu Agency via Foreks (19 Oct 2026); Webtekno; Posta; Bloomberg HT; Sabah (2025–2026). Investment totals include tenant/partner IT spending where stated.

Why is Ankara becoming Türkiye’s hyperscale hub?

Ankara’s Başkent Organized Industrial Zone has become the site of choice for the three largest new projects: Turkcell and Google Cloud, Rönesans and Digital Realty, and Türk Telekom. The capital offers land, power connections, lower seismic risk than Istanbul and proximity to government and defence customers.

The Turkcell–Google Cloud region will consist of three separate, redundant sites, the first at Başkent OSB, and is expected to start service in 2028. Google described it as one of its hyperscale data centers worldwide and Türkiye’s first hyperscale cloud region; Turkcell’s CEO said the investments could add $5bn a year to the economy. The Rönesans–Digital Realty Ankara campus broke ground in Temelli on 19 October 2026 with Minister Kacır attending. Its first phase will deliver more than 22 MW of IT capacity on about 10,000 square metres, with $450m for buildings and infrastructure and a further $900m expected from service providers for technology; Digital Realty said Türkiye is one of its new markets this year alongside Milan, Sofia, Lisbon and Kuala Lumpur.

Speakers at that ceremony stressed Ankara’s role as a production and defence hub, home to all five Turkish defence firms in the global top 100. For defence, public sector and regulated finance customers, a domestic hyperscale region solves a long-standing problem: they could not use foreign cloud regions for many workloads, and local enterprise facilities lacked the scale and service range of global cloud platforms.

What role does Istanbul still play?

Istanbul remains Türkiye’s main interconnection and enterprise market, with 33 of the country’s 81 data centers and most carrier-neutral facilities. It is where international networks, financial institutions and content providers meet.

Rönesans plans a 120 MW campus at Deliklikaya in Istanbul with Digital Realty, with $1.7bn of its own investment and $5.2bn in total once tenants and partners are included. NGN’s Star of Bosphorus deal with Orange shows Istanbul’s potential as a regional hosting point for multinational data. Türk Telekom’s two largest Istanbul facilities and Equinix’s presence anchor the interconnection ecosystem.

The constraints are land costs, grid capacity in dense districts and seismic risk, which pushes operators to geographic redundancy between Istanbul and Ankara. Our site selection guide explains how operators weigh latency against power, land and hazard exposure.

How do data localisation rules drive demand in Türkiye?

Turkish rules on banking systems and personal data push regulated organisations to keep data and core systems inside the country. That creates steady domestic demand for local capacity and is a key reason hyperscalers are building in-country regions rather than serving Türkiye from Europe.

Banks are subject to information-systems rules from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), which require primary and secondary systems to be located in Türkiye. Payment and e-money institutions face similar expectations. The personal data protection law (KVKK) was amended in 2024 to replace its strict explicit-consent approach to cross-border transfers with a framework closer to Europe’s GDPR, including standard contracts. This has made foreign cloud use easier for some workloads, but many public sector, finance and critical-infrastructure users still prefer or are required to use domestic facilities.

Industry participants told Ekonomi Gazetesi that customers increasingly choose data centers based on where data is stored, how it is protected and regulatory compliance, not only on capacity. Banking, finance and public bodies emphasise local storage, security and uninterrupted service. That gives Türk Telekom, Turkcell and the new local hyperscale regions a structural advantage.

Is energy a constraint for Turkish data centers?

Energy is the critical variable. Türkiye has expanding renewable capacity but relies on imported gas for part of its power, and electricity costs and grid connection times will determine whether 1 GW is realistic. The state is addressing this with energy support of up to 10% of investment under HIT-30.

Operators are hedging by building their own generation. Turkcell’s move from 63 MW to 200 MW of renewable capacity and Türk Telekom’s $300m solar programme, reported by Bloomberg HT, both aim to secure power and green credentials for data center customers. Efficiency requirements (PUE 1.4 for HIT-30 support and 1.65 under the general decree) push new builds toward modern cooling. Global hyperscalers also have their own carbon goals, discussed in our article on data center sustainability and 24/7 clean energy.

Some Anatolian provinces are pitching natural advantages. Officials have highlighted plans in Nevşehir, in Cappadocia, to convert rock-carved cold stores into data centers, claiming investment and operating costs around 45% lower than in Istanbul and Ankara. Such projects are small, but they fit the ministry’s goal of distributing capacity across secure regions.

What is the outlook for Türkiye’s data center market to 2030?

If announced projects are delivered, Türkiye could reach the 1 GW goal close to 2030, with Ankara emerging as the hyperscale hub and Istanbul as the interconnection centre. The key tests are whether the Google region opens on time in 2028 and whether more global cloud and AI companies follow.

Bulls point to a large domestic market, data localisation, a strategic location between Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia, and incentives that are generous by European standards. Bears point to lira volatility, energy import dependence, seismic risk and competition from Gulf states with cheap power and sovereign capital. Türk Telekom’s talks with Oracle and Meta’s reported interest suggest that more hyperscale demand could arrive if capacity is available.

For investors, the opportunity is less about immediate scale and more about first-mover positions in a market moving from enterprise colocation to hyperscale. Compare the Turkish model, where telecom operators and construction groups partner with global firms, with India’s conglomerate-led build-out and the ownership structures described in our private equity platforms guide.

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