Safer Internet Day 2022

Safe Internet Day was held in Ankara, hosted by the Information Technologies and Communications Authority (BTK).
The Safe Internet Day, which was held online the previous year, was hosted by the Information Technologies and Communications Authority (BTK) on Tuesday, February 8, 2022 this year. Primary and secondary school students from various regions of Ankara participated in the program, which was also supported by the Access Providers Association (ESB) and the Information Technologies and Internet Security Association (BTİDER).

Safe Internet Day is celebrated every year to raise awareness of emerging online problems and to make the Internet a safer and better place for children and young people.

Safer Internet Day encourages millions of supporters from around the world to do their part by uniting for a “better internet”. The celebration of this special day by various stakeholders, including teachers and educators, not only shows the importance given to the event, but also tries to raise the awareness of other stakeholders and students to the highest level.

The Access Providers Association is among the leading institutions with its work on safe internet use. In this context, the Access Providers Association, which started its activities by establishing the website www.guvendekal.org.tr, also carries out its activities in coordination with the leading institutions in this field such as the Information Technologies and Communication Authority, Information Technologies and Internet Security Association.

The Access Providers Association, which is actively involved in the Safer Internet Day events this year, participated in the event at the executive level, and also came together with the students by setting up a booth. The stand, where students showed great interest, was hosted by Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan and the managers of Information Technologies and Communication Institution also visited. During the stand visits, ESB Secretary General Ömer Faruk SORGUN gave information to Deputy Minister Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan and the directors of the Information Technologies and Communications Authority about the work done and the projects to be carried out. With the students leaving the institution, this year’s Safe Internet Day came to an end.

Read more

Access Providers Association General Assembly held in Ankara

Access Providers Union General Assembly was held on 29.03.2022 in the conference hall of Information Technologies and Communications Authority (BTK).

Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, Information Technologies and Communications Authority President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, BTK executives, Access Providers Association (ESB) executives and members.

The opening speech of the general assembly was made by the Chairman of the ESB Board of Directors, Mr. Mehmet Cerikci made it. Stating that internet and mobile communication technologies are now at the center of our lives, Çerikçi said, “We do our legal and administrative transactions in our social and business life with information technologies, personal, corporate and social memory is now dependent on the virtual environment. From this point of view, information and communication technologies have become an indispensable part of human and social life, and we consider these developments as important milestones on the way to becoming an information society. However, it is a fact that the developments experienced together with it bring with it various threats. Likewise, the increase in digital and unclaimed information in addition to information security has made it difficult to reach the right information.” said. Referring to the problem of not being able to reach the correct information arising from information pollution, Çerikçi said, “Information pollution has negatively affected many countries, businessmen and their relations. Even in this process, we have encountered cases blaming 5G base stations for allegedly spreading the disease or blaming institutions that allegedly spread the virus in order to sell vaccines. By looking at all these examples, it is clear that not being able to access the right information in this process poses a social and health hazard for the society and the best solution to avoid such situations is to protect the public from misinformation. At this point, our union has fulfilled its duty without interruption during the working period in the pandemic process we are in, and each of our friends has successfully managed this process with their sense of duty and hard work. Thanks to the work done, access to the sources that cause information pollution on the internet has been stopped and the sources that provide us with the right information have gained more space.” used the phrases. At the end of his speech, Çerikçi wished that the general assembly would be beneficial and said, “I also hope that the fast that will start next week will bring peace to our souls, health to our bodies and add meaning to our tables.” He ended his speech with his words.

After Mr. Çerikçi, the President of Information Technologies and Communications Authority, Mr. Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu addressed the participants at the general assembly. In his speech, Karagözoğlu touched upon cyber security, Turkey’s digital transformation and his work with public institutions in this field. He also emphasized the importance of Turkey’s cyber defense. In addition, he stated that they work in coordination with the Access Providers Association in all areas in the digital sense. In his speech, Karagözoğlu lastly said, “As BTK, we follow the activities of the access providers sector closely, and we continue our regulations together with the ESB within this framework. I wish the meeting to be productive in this sense and achieve good results, and I would like to express my gratitude to the management and members of the union.”

Speaking at the general assembly after Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan emphasized the importance of Law No. 5651 and said, “Access providers; plays an important role in combating the violations of rights on the internet. At this point, we made important changes in Law No. 5651. Content that violates personal rights can now be removed, in addition to blocking access. With the regulation made, it is ensured that the name of the applicant is not associated with the content and links that constitute a violation of personal rights. It is of great importance to eliminate violations on social networks and to do this quickly. At this point, we have made important arrangements for social networks. 10 social network providers fulfilled their obligation to designate and notify representatives in Turkey. Many of the obligated social networks establish artificial interlocutor relationships through virtual legal entities. We do not accept figurative relationships with certain virtual offices. We need new regulations in the Law No. 5651 for the establishment of the real addressee relationship. Our work on these issues continues.” in his remarks. Before concluding his speech, Sayan wished the general assembly to be beneficial.

After the opening speeches, ESB chairman of the board, Mr. Mehmet Çerikçi put the members of the council to vote. As a result of the voting, Ahmet Savaş was elected as the chairman of the meeting council, and Halil Dinç and Volkan Erdem were elected as the council clerks. In line with the agenda, the annual report of the board of directors and the reports of the supervisory board were read. The General Assembly read and approved the balance sheet and profit and loss accounts for the year 2021, the Board of Directors was acquitted. After the presentation of the 2022 budget and its approval by the General Assembly, the meeting ended.

Read more

II. National Access Providers Symposium Held in Antalya

Access Providers Association (ESB) the II. National Access Providers Symposium was completed.

The symposium, which could not be held the previous year due to the pandemic, is of great importance as an event that brings together the companies operating in the access sector in Turkey and the managers of the Information Technologies and Communications Authority.,

In addition to the sector representatives from various regions of our country, the Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Mr. Dr. Ömer Fatih SAYAN, Chairman of the Information Technologies and Communications Authority, Mr. Ömer Abdullah KARAGÖZOĞLU, members of the Board of Access Providers Association, and representatives of institutions attended the symposium.

The opening speech of the symposium was made by the Secretary-General of the Access Providers Union, Mr. Ömer Faruk SORGUN. Talking about the activities of the ESB, SORGUN stated that they attach great importance to this symposium as they saw that the contribution of the symposium to the sector was reflected on the field in a very short time. Stating that the feedbacks from both the representatives of institutions representing the state and companies are very positive, SORGUN said, “We already act as a bridge between these two structures in a sense.” said. Indicating that one of their goals is to optimize and develop the existing system, SORGUN said, “In fact, we are here in the background, in order to provide the best possible service to the citizens using communication services, with this symposium, we are removing bureaucratic obstacles and speeding up the solution of problems, and this returns to our citizens as a fast service.”  SORGUN also conveyed the expectations of the representatives of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and the Information Technologies and Communication Authority with presentations in the program in detail, and said that the interactive participation of their companies in a sense resembles a brainstorming. For these reasons, SORGUN stated that the improvement and progress in communication services gained momentum thanks to the symposium, and stated that this symposium will be held regularly due to its contributions to the sector.

Following Mr. SORGUN, Mr. Mehmet ÇERİKÇİ, the Chairman of the Board of the Access Providers Union addressed the participants. In his speech, ÇERİKÇİ said, “Just like you, I witnessed the satisfactory contributions of the first symposium we organized to our work throughout the working process. Hopefully, I would like to say that I am confident that the second program that we have started today will also accelerate us in the coming period with its positive contributions both for our personal and teamwork. As you all know, both our country and the world are going through very difficult days. In this pandemic process we are in, we are both psychologically and socially overwhelmed. We see the reflections of this in different areas of our lives. Despite all these difficulties, during the working period in this pandemic process we are in, no work has been carried out without interruption and each of our friends has successfully managed this process with their sense of duty and hard work. Communication infrastructures, which are vital for our country, were able to provide service without any interruptions or slowdowns, and communication services were able to carry themselves to a higher point despite being under too much risk and limited working opportunities during the closure processes,” in his remarks.

Emphasizing the importance of the communication services provided at the end of his speech, ÇERİKÇİ said, “It is known by everyone that the public and private sector held their work and meetings via internet technologies as a result of the closures and measures. In addition, the rapid growth of e-commerce as a result of these closures and measures, as well as the increase in the use of platforms such as social media, actually put a great pressure on the infrastructure and communication services we offer. However, as a result of the correct guidance of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority since its establishment, and the correct work and investments of the companies serving in the sector, we are proud of being able to serve our country, especially the business world and the public, in the best way, without the slightest disruption since the first day of the pandemic. Considering that this situation, which has affected the whole world, has now become a business model, it is obvious that these needs will increase day by day. For this reason, all public and private sectors must be ready in terms of all kinds of infrastructure and trained manpower to meet the increasing needs and demands. As the stakeholders of the sector, we should support each other with stronger communication and sharing and realize more effective process management. I think that our symposium will contribute to this goal.”

Another name, addressing the participants and sector representatives at the opening of the symposium, was the President of the Information Technologies and Communications Authority, Mr. Ömer Abdullah KARAGÖZOĞLU. In his speech, KARAGÖZOĞLU, presenting a general panorama of Turkey’s communication and infrastructure network, mentioned that IPv6 will be inevitable in Turkey’s future and infrastructure studies. Saying that most of us cannot even imagine what our lives would be like without the Internet, KARAGÖZOĞLU said, “If we consider that neither social media platforms nor smartphones were a part of our lives until 20 years ago, it may be difficult to predict what the next 20 years will bring. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud, big data, 5G and others… All these technologies are deep and valuable technologies that can be talked about for hours. At the same time, they are technologies that are so interconnected and inseparable from each other. The Internet has become the backbone of critical services and infrastructure, social networks and the global economy as a whole.” 

In the continuation of his speech, KARAGÖZOĞLU stated that, in addition to strengthening competition and increasing the welfare of the consumers, one of the most important issues for our country is to ensure the production of systems and devices used in the networks with domestic and national means, and “Unfortunately, a significant part of the network investments are currently provided from abroad. If we want to achieve our goals, we must intervene and say stop this situation. Together, we have to build a technology production-based economy by cooperating and collaborating. Only in this way will it be possible for us to reach our goal of being among the top 10 economies of the world in 2023. In order to achieve this goal, we need to reach a position that exports high value-added products by producing technology. The most important added value created by the information and communication sector is the contribution of high-speed communication infrastructures with high technology to our country’s competitiveness and innovation power and the multiplier effect it brings to economic growth,” he added.

In the last part of his speech, KARAGÖZOĞLU touched upon the security issue, which moves in parallel with the increasing information traffic and the expanding access network with the developing communication tools and environments, and drew attention to the importance of the ESB at this point and said, “In this context, Access Providers and Internet Service Providers are undoubtedly one of the most important parts of our electronic communication sector. is one. As it is known, with the Access Providers Association (ESB), which was established in 2014 to ensure the implementation of the decisions to block access outside the scope of Article 8 of the Law No. 5651, the decisions of the courts and institutions regarding the blocking of access given by the courts and institutions regarding the illegal broadcasts made via the Internet, are communicated to the access providers quickly and effectively. We have carried out fruitful and beneficial efforts to ensure that content and hosting providers are informed of the decision to block access in accordance with the coordination task arising from the legislation, and I believe that this cooperation will continue to strengthen in the future.” At the end of his speech, KARAGÖZOĞLU thanked the Access Providers Association, who organized the symposium, and wished the program to may it bode well for the future.

In the last part of the program, Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Mr. Dr. Ömer Fatih SAYAN met with access providers and industry representatives. The last part of the symposium, which was in the form of mutual questions and answers, lasted about three hours. In this episode, SAYAN talked to sector representatives one-on-one, listening to the expectations of the representatives, and expressed that they, as a ministry, also have expectations from the representatives. The last part of the symposium came to the fore as it was a meeting where the highest units of the state and sector representatives came together by removing bureaucratic obstacles and problems were identified quickly. The symposium was concluded with a large family photo with the participation of all stakeholders participating in the program.

Read more

“IPv6 Access Providers Event in Turkey” hosted by the Information Technologies and Communications Authority

“IPv6 Access Providers Event in Turkey” was hosted by the Information Technologies and Communications Authority by the Access Providers Association.

The panel which was moderated by Bülent Arsal, The Head of Information Technologies Department of BTK, took place with the attendance of Network Operations Director Mehmet Erkul on behalf of Turkcell, Network Architecture and Quality Director Emel Uzun Subaş on behalf of Türk Telekom, Network Operations Director Serkan Çebi on behalf of Vodafone, Director of Internet and Interactive Services Burak Başer on behalf of Türksat, and Assistant General Manager for Technical Operations Mustafa Uçar on behalf of Türknet.

In the panel, the current works of the Access Provider companies and the planned works were discussed. The panel was broadcast live on the Access Providers Association Youtube channel. Representatives of other access provider companies serving in Turkey also participated in the program, and representatives of other participating companies contributed to the panel with their questions.

In the opening speech of the program, Ömer Faruk Sorgun, Secretary-General of the Access Providers Union, stated that the transition from the digitalized world to the digital world is accelerating. Sorgun, “We are now moving from the digitalized world to the digital world. Our transition to this digital world, which promises more comfort and convenience, has accelerated with the pandemic. From this day forward, it is unthinkable to think of an area where digitalization does not come into contact,” said in his remarks, and also mentioned the acceleration gained by the speed of digitalization and the contribution of the current pandemic process to this acceleration during his speech. Stressing that the work they have done and will do in the future as the Union is for Turkey and Turkish people, Sorgun said, “Our most important source of motivation is our people, to fulfill our responsibility properly.” Touching also to Turkey’s 2023 vision, Sorgun stated that we are very lucky now, because we have a president who values ​​both modern technologies and young people, making it easier to work in this field, and thus we are able to produce these technologies at a level that very few countries in the world have. Mentioning that we were able to make important developments such as the “National Technology Move” in this context, Sorgun, also offered special thanks to Ömer Fatih Sayan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport, and Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, President of the Information Technologies and Communications Authority, who were among the participants for their working opportunities, cooperation, and support.

Ömer Fatih Sayan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, and Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, President of the Information Technologies and Communications Authority (BTK), contributed to the event as speakers. At the opening of the program, where IPv6 should be used and its future, Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan stated that IP has become a scarce resource today. Pointing out the reason for this as the development of technology, Sayan said, “The ability to access the Internet from anywhere at any time, the rapid development of IoT technology, the spread of internet-based services to the same extent as the use of mobile devices; It has also led to an increase in the provision of IP-based services and the demand for these services. Therefore, this increase has led to the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses.” Sayan emphasized that in order to adapt to these developments in the internet field and not to lag behind technology, the necessary measures should be taken as soon as possible for the transition of the existing telecommunication networks in our country to IPv6 and he added, “The transition to IPv6 is a necessity for our country to be a strong and leading country in its region, which has the world’s leading digital economy, can perform digital exports, and to ensure the development of domestic and national digital technologies. IPv6 transition studies should be carried out for non-governmental organizations to take a more active role in digital transformation, to make the internet ecosystem in our country more secure, to support the development of digital innovation culture, and to make our country a global player in line with the 2023 information society goals. In this direction; In recent years, our Information Technologies and Communication Institution has accelerated its efforts to increase the importance of IPv6, raise awareness about IPv6 and complete the transition of IPv6 in our country.”

Noting that a certain level of work was carried out within the scope of the Prime Ministry Circular published in 2010 to popularize the use of IPv6 in our country’s internet infrastructures, Sayan said, “It has emerged that our operators providing internet access services also need to start working on transitioning to IPv6. For this reason, we continue to work on determining the IPv6 transition strategy through meetings with our industry players. In this context; While studies are carried out to determine the state of the IPv6 infrastructures of the operators, to evaluate the plans for the transition to IPv6, to complete the necessary test studies before providing commercial services, our research on whether there is a need for additional legislation in this regard continues.” in his speech.

Sayan said that with the transition to the IPv6 protocol, new and much more different opportunities will emerge on the internet. “The sooner we complete the IPv6 transition as a country, the sooner we will discover these opportunities and start to benefit from them. On the other hand; Expanding the use of IPv6 is also important in terms of expanding the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, and cloud computing services in our country. All stakeholders, especially public institutions, universities, internet service providers, the private sector, and R&D units, have a big role in the transition to IPv6 and the creation of new value-added services and products focused on IPv6 in our country. In this direction; First of all, we expect our internet access providers to plan their IPv6 transition work as soon as possible and to share their experiences and work in the IPv6 transition process with the industry regularly,” he added.

Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, President of the Information Technologies and Communications Authority, also discussed the increase in internet use in the context of the pandemic. Emphasizing that there cannot be a life without the internet, Karagözoğlu said, “If we take a look at the ‘connection’ data in our country in terms of subscription and usage amount, we see that the number of broadband internet subscribers, which was around 6 million in 2008, has increased by nearly fourteen times and reached 82.4 million at the end of 2020. The rate of increase in the total number of internet subscribers in 2020 was 7.5% compared to the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the average monthly usage of fixed broadband internet subscribers was 178 GByte, the average monthly usage of mobile broadband internet subscribers was 9.9 GByte, and the data usage of 4.5G subscribers whose device and SIM card are suitable for 4.5G service was 11.6 GByte. In the last quarter of 2020, while the fixed broadband prevalence rate by population was 20%, the mobile broadband prevalence rate was 78.5%. All these indicators reveal that our country is more ‘connected’ in harmony with the world in general.”

Expressing that it is very important to ensure the continuity of the Internet, Karagözoğlu said, “The RIPE Network Coordination Center (RIPE NCC), which serves as the Regional Internet Registry Agency in the regions of Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East, including our country, is responsible for the allocation of IPv4 and IPv6 and the distribution of internet resources. In 2012, he announced that the last /8 IPv4 block had been exhausted. RIPE NCC announced in November 2019 that /22 IPv4 blocks are also exhausted, and IPv4 address blocks that can be returned by various organizations in the future can only be allocated according to waiting lists,” in his remarks.

Reminding that ISPs are carrying out studies at various levels for the transition to IPv6 all over the world as the acquisition of IPv4 becomes increasingly difficult, Karagözoğlu ended his speech saying, “Considering the problems to be experienced during the transition to IPv6, the work done so far for the transition to IPV6 will be increased and more time and resources will be needed. important steps must be taken in the transition process. In this context, we notified the ISPs about the transition calendar we prepared as the Institution. Compliance with this calendar is of great importance for IPv6 transition studies. Another issue that has come to the fore with the initiation of the transition to IPv6 is cyber security. Organizations, large or small, around the world are constantly exposed to cyberattacks and data breaches. Being aware of this, we strive to ensure that cyber security risks are kept at a manageable and controllable level in our country. The basis of our work is to be prepared for cyber incidents by managing the risks brought by the Internet with a holistic approach involving all stakeholders and to ensure continuity by getting out of these incidents with the least damage. In this sense, Turkey has come a long way with the work of our Ministry and Institution. While our institution fulfills its duties in a regulatory sense for the electronic communication sector in our country, on the other hand, it continues its activities to ensure national cyber security in accordance with the duties and responsibilities assigned to it.”

Read more

Access Providers Association General Assembly held in Ankara

The Access Providers Association Ordinary General Assembly was held on 30.03.2021 in the conference hall of the Information Technologies and Communications Authority.

The program was attended by Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, Information Technologies and Communications Authority President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, Access Providers Union executives and members.

Speaking at the program, Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan talked about the latest technological developments. Sayan stated that countries have started to establish cyber armies in the face of cyber threats and that strategic alliances have gained importance. In addition, during his speech, Sayan expressed that he closely followed the works carried out by the Access Providers Association, expressing his satisfaction with the works carried out, and especially emphasized that they would give all kinds of support.

Pointing out that the lack of development of international regulations in internet governance with a common perception and decision-making method increases the vulnerabilities, Sayan said, “This weakness offers malicious content producers different opportunities against cyber attacks, and provides a suitable ground for the development of propaganda of criminal organizations and terrorists. The presence of threats, especially terrorist propaganda, is increasing. Terrorist attacks with social media broadcasting also reveal how weak the self-control mechanisms of social network providers actually are. Those who manage social networks have to reconsider their corporate policies, develop stronger mechanisms, and have a distinct sensitivity to the shared values of humanity.”

Referring to the importance that cyber security should be ensured while the technology is in the design stage, Sayan said, “The issue should be looked at not only on the basis of technology, but also within the framework of increasing social responsibility projects that will increase the quality and quality of positive content produced with that technology. It is our duty to provide our youth and children with better content against harmful content on the Internet. In addition, we have to accept it as our debt to ensure the continuity of awareness trainings that will use the internet consciously, not as a duty but voluntarily,” in his remarks.

Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, President of the Information Technologies and Communications Authority, also talked about the change in the dimension of technology with the effect of the pandemic. Expressing that they follow the developments closely as an institution, Karagözoğlu stated that, “With the contributions of you, our esteemed stakeholders, together with our Ministry, we follow the developments related to the internet closely and work to protect users, especially children, from the harms of the internet. Taking precautions against the risks and dangers posed by the internet environment and ensuring that our people can use technology safely are among the duties of all our institutions, especially you internet service providers. We need to work together as hard as we can to make the internet a better environment.”

 “The Access Providers Association has important duties to effectively fight crimes committed through broadcasts on the internet and to ensure that court decisions are enforced without delay, especially when it comes to violations of the personal rights of our citizens. Significant steps were taken to eliminate the grievances experienced in the internet environment. In coordination with our institution, these studies continue without slowing down,” he added.

In the later part of the program, the Board of Directors was formed. At the invitation of the Council Board, the current Access Providers Association Chairman of the Board Mehmet Çerikçi presented the activity report for the years 2019-2020 and the activities of the association during this period. Explaining the structure of the institution, Çerikçi also introduced the units that carry out the activities of the association with their work. Chairman of the Board of Auditors, Mustafa Çavuşoğlu, who took the floor after Çerikçi, Chairman of the Board of Directors, presented the audit report to the members. Later, an independent auditor presented the independent audit report to the members of the association. After the presentation of the independent audit report, the existing board of directors in 2019-2020 was acquitted. After the acquittal of the current board of directors, the election of the board of directors was started. As a result of the election, the new board of directors of the Access Providers Association was formed. According to the new election results, the members of the board of directors were formed as follows; Mutlu Korkmazer on behalf of Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş., Yusuf Kıraç on behalf of Türk Telekomünikasyon A.Ş., Tevfik Özhan on behalf of Vodafone Telekomünikasyon A.Ş., Çağrı Yalçın on behalf of TT Mobil İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş., Serhat Erkoç on behalf of TT Net A.Ş., Mehmet Yılmaz Küçük on behalf of Superonline İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş, Hilal Keskiner on behalf of Vodafone Net İletişim Hizmetleri, Mehmet Çerikçi on behalf of Türksat A.Ş, Erkal Filiz on behalf of Demirören A.Ş., Türk Telekom International A.Ş adına Mustafa Eser, NetGSM İletişim ve Bilgi Teknolojileri adına Adem Öcal.

Read more