When people in Europe or the US talk about countries that are ahead on technology, they name Estonia, Singapore, maybe the UAE. Türkiye rarely makes the list.
It should. From where I sit, Türkiye is quietly doing three things that most Western governments are still writing white papers about:
- It just gave everyone with an e-Devlet login free access to a national AI platform.
- It runs almost the entire state through one digital front door that actually works.
- It now lets new residents keep their foreign income tax-free for 20 years.
Any one of these would be interesting on its own. Together they add up to a real case for building your life and your company here.
1. EVREN: a national AI platform, free for everyone
Last week Türkiye opened EVREN, a national AI platform built under the Defence Industry Presidency (SSB). The name means “universe,” and it is fitting.
Here is what you get:
- 11 open-weight large language models behind one API. It is OpenAI-compatible, so if you have ever built against OpenAI, you can point your existing code at EVREN with a change of base URL.
- Compute that stays in Türkiye. The models run on high-performance GPU infrastructure inside the country, so the data never leaves. For companies in regulated industries, and for anyone who cares where their prompts end up, that matters.
- Beyond chat. EVREN also covers the unglamorous parts of AI work: uploading datasets, labeling data (object detection, segmentation, classification) and training your own models on the platform’s GPU pool.
- Login with e-Devlet. No credit card, no waitlist, no sales call. If you have an e-Devlet account, you are in.
And right now it costs nothing. Until 1 November 2026, API calls are not deducted from your credit balance (there are daily token quotas per account, but you pay nothing). Developers get a free runway to test real workloads on sovereign infrastructure.
You can earn more compute
This is the part I find the most interesting. EVREN does not run on a pay-per-token model. It runs on a contribution model. You earn credits by giving something back to the ecosystem:
- uploading useful datasets,
- labeling data,
- sharing models you have trained.
Those credits buy GPU time for training and inference on the platform.
To be precise: the credits are compute, not cash. You cannot withdraw them to your bank account. But think about what they are worth. GPU time is the single biggest cost line for most AI startups. A platform that lets you earn compute by contributing data work turns a cost center into a flywheel. If you are a student, a solo builder or an early-stage team, you can label data, earn credits, train or run a model on those credits, and ship a product that makes you real money. The platform pays your infrastructure bill, and the business on top of it is yours.
Compare that to the default everywhere else, where the first thing between you and building with AI is a credit card and a monthly bill that scales faster than your revenue.
I spend most of my time helping companies become AI-native, and the biggest blocker is almost never the technology. It is access, cost and trust. EVREN takes on all three at the level of a country.
2. e-Devlet: the state in your pocket
EVREN only works as smoothly as it does because it sits on top of something Türkiye built years ago and keeps getting better: e-Devlet, the government’s single digital gateway.
The numbers are hard to believe if you come from a country where you still print forms:
- 68+ million registered users, in a country of about 86 million.
- 9,170+ services from one login, more than 5,000 of them in the mobile app.
- Over 1,100 institutions connected: ministries, 206 universities, 543 municipalities, utilities and private companies.
Here is some of what you can do from your phone:
- Get official documents instantly: criminal record certificates, proof of residence, education records and more, all with a barcode anyone can verify online.
- Handle your address and residency: register a change of address, check records, see your details as the state holds them.
- Health: book public hospital appointments, and see your lab results, prescriptions and medical history in e-Nabız.
- Taxes and social security: view tax debts, file declarations, check your social security record and contributions.
- Legal: follow court cases you are a party to, and see notary transactions.
- Vehicles and property: check vehicle registrations and traffic fines, see property records.
- Utilities and subscriptions: see every phone line registered in your name, apply for utilities, check subscriptions.
- And now AI: log in to EVREN.
The point is not any single service. The point is that the state is a platform, with one identity, one login and APIs underneath, so new services like EVREN can plug in on day one and reach tens of millions of people.
Foreigners can use it too. With a residence permit you get a foreign identity number, and you can pick up an e-Devlet password at any PTT (post office) branch with your residence card and passport. It takes a few minutes and costs a few lira.
3. Move here, and your foreign income is tax-free for 20 years
This is the one that made me write this post.
On 4 June 2026, Türkiye published Law No. 7582 in the Official Gazette. The headline: individuals who become Turkish tax residents from 1 January 2026 are exempt from Turkish income tax on their foreign-sourced income for 20 years.
What that covers:
- dividends from non-Turkish companies,
- capital gains on foreign securities,
- rental income from property abroad,
- interest from foreign bank accounts,
- salary from a foreign employer for work done outside Türkiye,
- business income and professional fees earned abroad.
Who qualifies: anyone who has had no domicile and no tax liability in Türkiye for the previous three calendar years. (Having paid Turkish tax only on Turkish rental income, investment income or capital gains does not disqualify you.)
There is more in the package:
- Inheritance and gift tax drops to a flat 1% for people using the exemption, for as long as the exemption period runs.
- An asset regularisation window until 31 July 2027, with a 0–5% rate on bringing in money, gold, currency and securities held abroad.
What it does not cover, so you go in with clear eyes:
- Turkish-source income stays taxable at normal progressive rates (up to 40%). If you earn in Türkiye, you pay tax on that in Türkiye.
- You cannot deduct costs linked to the exempt foreign income, and foreign taxes paid on it cannot be credited against Turkish tax.
For a founder with a holding company abroad, an investor living off dividends and capital gains, or a remote professional paid from outside the country, this is one of the most generous regimes anywhere. Portugal’s NHR, which pulled in thousands of people, ran for 10 years. Italy’s flat-tax regime now costs €200,000 a year. Türkiye is offering 20 years at zero on foreign income.
I am not a tax advisor, and your situation depends on your home country’s rules, tax treaties and how your income is structured. Talk to a qualified Turkish tax advisor before you move anything.
Why this adds up
Put the three together and a picture emerges.
A country where the government works from your phone. Where a state-backed AI platform gives you free compute and lets you earn more by contributing. And where, if you are coming from abroad, the income you bring with you is left alone for two decades.
Add what Türkiye already had: Istanbul as one of the great cities of the world, a young and technical workforce, a time zone that bridges Europe, the Middle East and Asia, a cost of living that is still far below London or Munich, and hospitality that is a way of life, not a marketing line.
Most countries talk about attracting builders. Türkiye is building the rails: identity, AI infrastructure and a tax regime designed for people who create value across borders.
If you have been thinking about where to build the next chapter of your life or your company, put Türkiye on the list. And if you are already here: go log in to EVREN before 1 November and see what you can build for free.
