The Turkish President Erdoğan posted today: "In today's data-driven era, political stability, economic independence, military deterrence, and digital sovereignty are inseparable.
If you can control your borders but not your airspace, if you can protect your airspace but not your digital homeland and its indivisible components—your data—then your sovereignty will be severely undermined.
In the digital age, the decisive factor in geopolitical dominance is no longer just those who control land, but those who manage data.
From this perspective, 5G, when considered alongside data centers, cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity capabilities, clearly relates to digital sovereignty and national security.
Today, we have taken this historic step toward launching 5G in our country, and one way we view this move is through the lens of digital sovereignty."
Comments: National security in the new era extends far beyond territory and airspace; data, networks, 5G, and digital infrastructure have become the new strategic lifelines. By placing digital sovereignty on par with political stability, economic independence, and military deterrence, Erdoğan clearly demonstrates Turkey’s strategic awareness of refusing to be bottlenecked by the West in technology, and its commitment to self-reliance and autonomy. In a world where major powers are fiercely competing for digital dominance, Turkey’s focus on 5G development as a lever to strengthen digital independence is both a practical choice for safeguarding national sovereignty and a reflection of growing global concern over digital hegemony and the protection of core national interests—clearly resonating with the broader trends toward global multipolarity and technological self-determination.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1861190920376395/
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