Turkic-speaking countries are joining forces to develop robotics and engineering skills among young people. In Astana, the Robotek Grand Tournament is underway as part of the TurkTime presidential initiative. For the first time, the competition has brought together teams from Kazakhstan, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.
«This reflects Kazakhstan’s growing role in the innovation and technology agenda. As part of the Head of State’s TurkTime initiative, such championships contribute to strengthening integration, as well as educational and cultural processes between our countries. We believe that such cooperation will, lead to the emergence of more significant, large-scale initiatives that will benefit both society and the economies of Central Asian countries,» noted Sanzhar Shalkarbekov, organizer of the international robotics championship.
Around 220 teams, with participants aged 9 to 17, are competing across nine engineering categories. Among these are sorting and delivery, racing, obstacle course navigation, precision-based tasks, and engineering projects.
«This is our robot, with the Azerbaijani flag right there, and one special thing about this robot is it’s very simple. So we know that the simple things are the most perfect ones, so we are aiming to win this competition really. So, actually, I attended World Robot Olympiad in Baku. We had WRO 2024 and 2025 in Baku. It was a really big event, actually, and we had some Kazakh referees in our competition also,» said Mahammad Samadli, coach of the team from Azerbaijan.
Over the past five years, the championship has grown into one of
Kazakhstan’s most recognizable IT brands. The competitions are held under
unique rules developed by internationally renowned Kazakh specialists. The
winners receive educational grants from the country’s leading technical
universities.
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