Tesla, SpaceX chief Elon Musk meets Erdogan in Turkey

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday to discuss cooperation between his companies and Turkish firms, including the launch of Turkish satellites, a senior official said.

Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told state-run Anadolu Agency that the two also talked about electric cars and sustainable energy.

The meeting took place at the presidential palace complex in Ankara.

It came days after a consortium of five Turkish businesses, including mobile phone operator Turkcell, launched a joint venture to design and produce a Turkish-made car.

The joint venture was launched under Erdogan's urging.

Elon Musk became a multimillionaire in his late 20s when he sold his startup company, Zip2, to a division of Compaq Computers.

He made headlines in May 2012, when SpaceX launched a rocket that would send the first commercial vehicle to the International Space Station. He bolstered his portfolio with the purchase of SolarCity in 2016.

Kalin said Musk would be present during a ceremony for the signing of a satellite agreement with Airbus on Thursday, adding that his SpaceX company was a subcontractor in the deal.

Turkey hopes to launch satellites Turksat 5A and Turksat 5B in 2020 and 2021.