In a new era in which artificial intelligence technologies are changing global balances and "data sovereignty" has become a matter of national security, Türkiye is signing one of the largest digital infrastructure moves in its history. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Ankara-Based Data Centre, to be built through the cooperation of Rönesans Holding and global data centre giant Digital Realty, was held on 19 October with the participation of Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır.
It may be a mistake to see this colossal infrastructure investment, which will reach a total of $4.1 billion, merely as a cloud storage project; this investment also carries the technical key to the return to Türkiye of global payment systems such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal, which millions of Turkish users have awaited for years.
A Historic Barrier Being Overcome for Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal
As is known, under the regulations of Türkiye's Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) and the Central Bank (Law No. 6493), data and servers belonging to financial transactions are required to be kept physically within Türkiye's borders. The greatest barrier that caused PayPal to exit the Turkish market and prevented giants such as Apple Pay and Google Pay from being activated in Türkiye for years was this rule on the localisation of data. Global giants were avoiding establishing billion-dollar local data centres for just a single market.
However, the name that changed the equation was Digital Realty, the world's largest carrier-neutral data centre platform. Digital Realty's establishment of a facility in Ankara — already one of the largest infrastructure partners of Apple, Google and international finance giants worldwide — brings a technical revolution with it. Thanks to this investment, the global payment giants will be able to achieve full compliance with Türkiye's data localisation law simply by renting Digital Realty's servers in Ankara, without disrupting their own cloud architectures or incurring vast hardware costs.
Staged $4.1 Billion Growth at Ankara-Based
This facility, which will pave the way for systems such as Apple Pay, will rise in the Başkent Organised Industrial Zone (OIZ) through a staged strategy:
- First Phase (2028): To be built with $450 million in building and infrastructure investment. This phase, which will offer 22 megawatts of capacity across 10,000 square metres of white space, will enter service in 2028.
- Advanced Phases: In subsequent phases, $900 million in advanced cooling systems and high-capacity IT hardware will be brought into service. When the project is completed, the total fixed capital investment at the Ankara-Based campus will reach exactly $4.1 billion.
Next Up Is a $5.2 Billion Istanbul Target
The Digital Realty and Rönesans partnership is not limited to Ankara alone. Following Ankara, the companies plan to build one of Türkiye's largest data centres in Istanbul with 120 megawatts of capacity. The total investment cost of this centre to be established in Istanbul is envisaged to reach $5.2 billion.
These mega steps have also raised Türkiye's capacity target under its "National Artificial Intelligence Action Plan." With the new vision announced by Minister Kacır during the ceremony, Türkiye's data centre capacity target has been raised directly from 1 gigawatt (GW) to 2 gigawatts.
"We Are Carrying $13 Billion of Trust into Digital Infrastructure"
Dr. Erman Ilıcak, Honorary Chairman of Rönesans Holding, which has to date brought approximately $13 billion in private sector investment to Türkiye together with its international partners, summarised this strategic investment in these words:
"We have always believed in Türkiye's potential. Our strategic location and entrepreneurial strength make Türkiye a highly important market for global investors. Data centres are now one of the strategic infrastructures determining the competitiveness of countries. With Digital Realty's global experience, we are carrying the trust we have built in international markets over 30 years to Türkiye as a long-term technology investment."
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