Turkiye’s economy grew by 2.3 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, a relatively modest figure in an economy still dealing with high inflation and tight monetary policy. One number in the GDP data, however, deserves considerably more attention: information and communication activities expanded by 8.6 percent.

The first point to understand is that “information and communication” is broader than the traditional IT sector. It covers telecommunications, internet infrastructure, software, digital services, data centers and related activities. Turkiye’s sector has now recorded ten consecutive quarters of growth, with annual growth rates in the past four quarters ranging between 8.6 and 9.9 percent. The expansion has been supported by digital transformation, cloud services, data centers, artificial intelligence and major investments related to 5G.

That growth is important for Turkiye itself, but its significance goes beyond the country’s borders. For Azerbaijan and the wider South Caucasus, Turkiye’s expanding digital economy could become another channel of economic integration, alongside energy, transport and trade.

This matters because digital infrastructure increasingly determines how efficiently other parts of the economy operate.

Consider the Middle Corridor. Azerbaijan has spent years positioning itself as a transit country connecting........

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