The granting of an “honorary identity card” to a robot named Festman in Turkey’s Samsun province has dominated the national agenda. The news, first shared by the “RoboHub” account on the X platform, quickly sparked widespread debate on social media.
According to reports, the honorary card was issued to Festman by the Civil Registry Office of the Canik district. However, the legal aspect of the matter remains uncertain. No official state documents or legal records confirm that the robot has been granted full and lawful citizenship status. Therefore, the event is regarded more as a symbolic and honorary gesture.
This is not the first case of symbolic citizenship being given to a robot. It is worth recalling that in 2017, the famous robot Sophia in Saudi Arabia was also granted a similar—but unofficial—status.
Experts point out that granting robots full citizenship rights such as voting or paying taxes contradicts the principles of current legal systems. Such gestures are mainly intended to highlight technological progress and to increase public interest in artificial intelligence.
