Erdogan urges Musk to set up Tesla factory in Turkey

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Elon Musk, the head of electric carmaker Tesla, to establish a factory in Turkey during a meeting in New York.

Mr Erdogan, who is in the US to attend the UN General Assembly, also discussed potential cooperation between Mr Musk’s space exploration firm SpaceX and Turkey’s space programme, the Turkish president’s office said.

A spokesperson said Mr Erdogan told Mr Musk that Turkey would welcome cooperation on artificial intelligence and Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service.

Images of the meeting showed Mr Musk holding one of his sons as he talked to Mr Erdogan.

Turkish industry and technology minister Mehmet Fatih Kacir, who attended the meeting, said Mr Musk described Turkey as “among the most important candidates for Tesla investment”.

He added that Mr Musk and Mr Erdogan also discussed Turkey’s armed aerial drone programme.