Tim Cook to visit Turkish president this week, may discuss $4B iPad deal

Continuing a mini world tour that has seen meetings with two heads of state in as many days, Cook and an accompanying delegation will next visit Turkish President Abdullah Gül on Tuesday, Feb. 4. The announcement was made on Monday via the president's official webpage.

While topics up for discussion remain unknown, some believe Cook and Gül will talk about Turkey's "FATIH Project," which looks to replace traditional classroom teaching tools with advanced equipment like Apple's iPad. A report from December claimed the two would meet in February.

Cook's meeting comes almost one year to the day after Apple's VP of Education John Couch met with Gül to discuss the country's education program. That meeting was followed by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Apple's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters to get a better understanding of the company's iPad in education technology before putting out a call for bids for his FATIH Project.

According to reports, the initial phase of the high-tech education initiative includes the purchase of 10.6 million tablets, with an add-on option to acquire another 2 to 2.5 million units over a four-year period. Total cost of the plan comes in at between $2 billion and $4 billion.

Cook's visit coincides with the opening of Turkey's first Apple Store, a 21,500-square-foot outlet located in Instanbul's Zorlu Center. Apple is growing its presence in the region and in October opened the doors to its Online Apple Store.