Turkey Needs to Make Its Own Chips, Not Just Design Them

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine highlighted how semiconductor access is now a key geopolitical tool, with Western nations cutting off advanced chips as a first response. Turkey, having learned th... Read original →

Turkey’s push for a domestic 65nm fab is a defensive response to geopolitical supply shocks. Technically, it unlocks local RISC-V and defense electronics design but remains bottlenecked by the absence of EUV or FinFET capabilities for high-performance chips. Compliance risks persist: even mature-node equipment faces Wassenaar restrictions, making supply chain resilience contingent on U.S.-EU licensing flexibility. Strategically, TSMC (Taiwan, China) and Infineon may offer joint ventures or tech licensing—containing full autonomy while ensuring long-term dependency. Within 18 months, successful execution of the HIT-Çip initiative could catalyze similar 'digital sovereignty' plays across the Middle East and Southeast Asia, fragmenting the global foundry map and diminishing the strategic premium of cutting-edge nodes.