What is BTK?
The Bilgi Teknolojileri ve İletişim Kurumu (BTK), the Information and Communication Technologies Authority, is Türkiye’s independent regulator for the electronic communications sector. Its duties and powers rest on Law No. 5809 on Electronic Communications; its establishment and organisation on Law No. 2813, now titled the Law on the Establishment of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority. In 2026 a large part of its internet powers under Law No. 5651 moved to the Cybersecurity Presidency (see below).
What does BTK stand for, and which ministry is it attached to?
BTK stands for Bilgi Teknolojileri ve İletişim Kurumu. The Authority has public legal personality and administrative and financial autonomy, and it is independent in performing its duties: no organ, office or person may give it orders or instructions (Law 2813, Art. 5). It is therefore not a body “within” a ministry but one “related” to it; the statute names the Ministry of Transport as the related ministry (today the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure).
History and structure
The Authority was created in 2000 by Law No. 4502 as the Telecommunications Authority (Telekomünikasyon Kurumu); Law No. 5809 renamed it in 2008, and references to the Telecommunications Authority in other legislation are read as references to BTK (Law 5809, Art. 65). BTK consists of its decision-making body, the Information and Communication Technologies Board, and the Presidency organisation. The Board has seven members including its chair, who is also the President of the Authority; the chair, deputy chair and members are appointed by the President of the Republic (Law 2813, Arts. 5 and 8).
Core competencies
- Authorisation: notification and rights-of-use authorisations for operators providing electronic communications services or networks.
- Scarce resources: spectrum, numbering and satellite positions.
- Market regulation: tariffs, access and interconnection, and disputes between operators.
- Consumer protection: number portability, billing and service quality rules.
- Supervision and sanctions: inspections and administrative fines of up to 3% of an operator’s net sales in the previous calendar year (Law 5809, Art. 60).
The 2026 change: the Cybersecurity Presidency
Law No. 7590 of 24 July 2026 moved a significant part of BTK’s internet powers to the Cybersecurity Presidency (Siber Güvenlik Başkanlığı). In Law No. 5651, “President” now means the President of the Cybersecurity Presidency, and in the provisions on access blocking and on foreign social network providers (Additional Article 4, introduced by Law No. 7253 in 2020) “Authority” was replaced by “Presidency”; in Law No. 5809, “internet domain names” was removed from the Ministry’s duties, item (v) of Article 6 listing BTK’s duties was repealed, and powers of the Presidency were added to the supervision part. The same law made the Presidency the supervisor of the gaming platform regime that applies from 1 November 2026. Regulation of the electronic communications market (authorisation, spectrum, numbering, tariffs, consumers) stays with BTK. What this means for startups, including the two-hour emergency measure rule: from BTK to the Cybersecurity Presidency.
For startups and platforms
A product enters BTK’s perimeter as soon as it carries voice, messaging or connectivity: internet-based communication services, eSIM/IoT connectivity, bulk SMS and call-centre infrastructure may require an authorisation or a contract structure with authorised operators. Equipment with radio components is subject to conformity and market surveillance rules. Hosting, access and social network provider obligations under Law 5651 are now supervised mainly by the Cybersecurity Presidency; foreign social network providers with more than one million daily accesses from Türkiye must appoint a representative in Türkiye, answer individuals’ applications within 48 hours and take the necessary measures to host Turkish users’ data in Türkiye (Law 5651, Additional Art. 4). During the transition, follow the secondary rules of both bodies.
Do: map which regime touches the product before launch: BTK for communications services, the Cybersecurity Presidency for 5651 platform obligations.
Don’t: rely on offshore hosting: 5651 obligations attach to the Turkish user nexus, not server location.
Sources. Law No. 2813 (Arts. 5, 8); Law No. 5809 on Electronic Communications (Arts. 3, 6, 60, 65); Law No. 5651 (Art. 2, Additional Art. 4); Law No. 7590 (adopted 24 July 2026, Official Gazette 31 July 2026, No. 33326), Art. 27. Official Turkish texts.