Information Technologies and Communication Authority Celebrated Its 18th Founding Anniversary.
BTK, Turkey's institution that supervises and regulates the telecommunications sector, celebrated its 18th year. The program was attended by Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Institution President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, RTÜK President İlhan Yerlikaya, Board Members, sector representatives, BTK employees, and press members.
President Karagözoğlu: We Will Raise the Bar Even Higher
Institution President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu, who delivered the opening speech of the program, began his remarks by thanking President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for entrusting him with the presidency of the Institution.
Emphasizing that they will take the rising bar of the Information and Communication Technologies Authority even further, Karagözoğlu stated, “Today, as we celebrate the 18th anniversary of our Institution's establishment, from 2000 to the present day, our Institution has been guiding our country's journey in information technologies and communications, providing significant contributions. Our Institution fulfills many critical duties, ranging from creating an effective competitive environment, to the formation of policies and strategies related to the sector, to taking necessary measures for the processing of personal data and its privacy protection, to cybersecurity, management of internet domain names, and safe use of the internet. We are aware that just as much as what we have done so far, there are things we need to do to shape our future for our country's technological empowerment.”
Stating that works with sectoral unions continue in the fields of domestic and national production, Karagözoğlu said, “Our goal is to advance in technology with our country's intellect, design, and production. We will work for domestic and national production to become a way of life and for this understanding to take root in all production areas of our country alongside high technology. What falls to us is to work to provide services that will carry our Institution to much higher levels.”
Deputy Minister Sayan: We Have Rolled Up Our Sleeves to Be Developers of Technology
In the speech of Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, there was an emphasis on domestic and national production. Drawing attention to the fact that Turkey has rolled up its sleeves to be a developer rather than just a user of many technologies, Sayan said, “In this context, despite the economic siege and attacks that our country has been subjected to for a long time and which have intensified recently, the success achieved in economic growth in the past period is evident. I am pleased to state that this growth has also permeated the electronic communications sector, which is one of the most important dynamics of our economic development. In this vein, despite all the negativities, this period in which we have made breakthroughs and rapid growth in many areas for our country has been an active period for our Institution and our electronic communications sector, during which many new initiatives have been implemented.”
Drawing attention to the fact that U.S.-origin companies, which are at the center of speculations, do not have any representation in Turkey despite providing services to Turkey, Sayan said, “The fact that they do not host Turkish citizens' data in Turkey constitutes a major problem. The Information Technologies and Communication Authority has taken action regarding individuals who disrupt public order by publishing manipulative content in the internet environment and endanger our country's economic security. Just as before, necessary procedures regarding those who speculate through exchange rates as well as those who share content threatening public order and national security especially on social media will continue to be carried out in coordination with relevant authorities. We will also initiate procedures regarding boycott products, which our President has sensitively emphasized. As our President also mentioned, there are products like Samsung, Huawei, and Vestel Venus produced in our own country instead of iPhone. We will produce better versions of every job we import from abroad and serve our domestic and national products to the world.” With these words, he reacted to the operations carried out through the Dollar.
Deputy Minister Sayan also underlined the importance of producing qualified products and exporting them to the whole world for our country to achieve its 2023, 2053, and 2071 targets and to enter among the world's largest economies.