Ten schoolchildren from Turkmenistan will represent their country at the regional stage of the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) international robotics championship, which will be held in Astana from 10 to 13 February 2026. This was reported by the publication ‘Turkmenistan: Golden age’.

The Astana regional stage will feature 60 of the strongest teams selected from more than 400 applicants from across the region. Turkmenistan will be represented at the competition by two teams, whose goal is to finish in the top three and earn the right to compete in the world finals in Houston (USA).

The ‘Oguzrobot’ team includes Aynagozel Keymirova, Orazniyaz Rejepov, Nepesaly Tachmyradov and Nuraly Kerimov, students of Specialised School No. 97 in Ashgabat, as well as Nazar Jumamyradov from School No. 86.

The ‘Erjeller’ team will be represented by Durdane Kurbanova, Arslan Babajiyev and Pirnazar Atayev from School No. 97, as well as Orazmuhammet Merdanov and Meylis Bayryev from School No. 86.

Last year, Turkmen schoolchildren competed in the tournament in Astana for the first time and were awarded the ‘International Success’ prize. This year, the participation of two teams confirms the growing interest of the country's youth in engineering and digital technologies.

FTC is one of the world's largest robotics competitions, organised by the international organisation First Global. Every year, more than 70,000 schoolchildren from over 100 countries take part. Teams create and program autonomous robots to perform complex technical tasks.