Gulf investors help finance growth of Turkish data centres

• $500m from UAE’s Castle Investments
• Reflects global growth in AI
• Data centres could fuel startups

Turkey’s data centre sector is riding a wave of new investment that is likely to support expansion in the country’s digital economy, with much of the funding coming from the Arabian Gulf.

Last week, Turkish e-commerce platform Trendyol announced it was partnering with the UAE’s Castle Investments, headed by Gulf Data Hub founder Tarek Al Ashram, to develop a data centre in the Turkish capital, Ankara. 

The initial stage of the project, due for completion next year, will have almost 10 megawatts of capacity, rising to 48MW as the final components of the $500 million project are completed. 

About 60 percent of the capacity will be used by Trendyol and the balance offered to other clients, said Çağlayan Çetin, Trendyol’s president. 

“The Ankara Data Centre project will significantly enhance the quality of service we offer to our rapidly growing local and international customer base and represents further evidence of our commitment to investing in Turkey and our confidence in the country’s strong digital ecosystem,” Çetin said.

Zawya/Trendyol

This latest investment in Turkish data centres, along with other projects, reflects global growth in artificial intelligence (AI) and improved data security, according to Gökhan Say, CEO of early-stage investment, advisory and exit strategy company CyBridge Capital. 

“Demand from both sides, firms themselves and service providers, is incredibly high worldwide,” Say told AGBI. “The number of firms building the necessary infrastructure is growing each day in Turkey, both investing in centres for their own use and as service providers.”

Another Gulf entity to commit to Turkey’s data centre expansion is Dubai Islamic Bank, which announced last week that it was lending Turkish telecommunications service provider Turkcell $150 million for investments to strengthen the company’s infrastructure and data centre capacity. 

The loan comes on top of $113 million provided to Turkcell by Dubai-based Emirates NBD bank in mid-May.

Khazna Data Centres, which has its headquarters in Dubai, announced it too would be investing in the Ankara data hub. 

• Turkcell gets Emirates NBD loan to expand data centres
• Data centre projects struggle for funds despite soaring demand
• Turkey offers incentives to support regional industry

Last month, the company also announced plans to develop an AI centre in the capital, along with a site to house a facility with up to 100MW of computing capacity. 

Broadening the base of data centres in Turkey is likely to fuel growth in the country’s start-up environment, said Say, creating a cost-effective link into the global technologies companies need to expand beyond the initial stage of development.

“The more players entering the Turkish market, the more investments [that are] made, creating an environment of building experience for start-up growth,” Say said. 

“To have the technologies to develop in their own country means these start-ups build global connections earlier.”