The National Cyber Incident Response Center, which will operate under the Information Technologies and Communication Authority, was inaugurated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Speaking at the program, Erdoğan stated that information and technology is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world. Drawing attention to the fact that the volume of this sector in Turkey has risen from 20 billion dollars to 132 billion dollars in 17 years, Erdoğan said, “Investments in the sector in our country have exceeded 100 billion liras. The number of subscribers using mobile services has reached 83 million. Broadband internet subscribers have surpassed 77 million, fixed broadband subscribers 14 million, and fiber subscribers 3.2 million. This picture has been greatly influenced by the decline in prices of mobile plans that enable internet access. Approximately 10 years ago, the average tariff package of our mobile operators, which was 11.7 kuruş per minute, has now dropped to 1.5 kuruş. In other words, our citizens can now receive much higher quality service for almost 10 times less cost. For this process to continue, infrastructure investments must be carried out in the most effective and efficient manner. I believe that we can achieve this by developing and continuing the works carried out within the electronic communications infrastructure information system. Our goal is to leave no inch of land in our country without coverage of communications infrastructure. We produced Turkey's first domestic and national base station ULAK for this purpose. Today, there are approximately 190,000 base stations in our country. The number of base stations using ULAK is still around 1,000. Although various operators of ours have an order of 3,400 ULAK units, it is clear that we still have a long way to go in this regard. I invite all our mobile operators to use our country's domestic and national base station ULAK more effectively,” he shared.
During the 4.5G tender in 2016, they introduced phased domestic content requirements of 30%, 40%, and 45%, but noted that they are still far from these rates at 23%, Erdoğan stated, “We have the 5G process ahead of us. In the critical area of mobile technology, we are obliged to achieve higher domestic content rates in 5G. 5G will form the basic infrastructure for many areas such as smart cities, smart transportation systems, smart hospitals, which will bring rapid transformation to industry. For this, we must conduct comprehensive studies with all sectors affected by 5G and quickly prepare for future technology. We cannot transition to 5G without establishing domestic 5G technology infrastructure. For this, all our institutions and companies must act effectively and swiftly. One of the gains we have obtained thanks to the mobile infrastructure we have developed and secured is that we have moved a significant portion of public services to the digital environment. The progress we have made in e-government services is the best proof that with this strong infrastructure, we can deliver services to our citizens very quickly and easily. In this area, in just 2 years, we rose from 68th to 53rd place in the world. Today, approximately 45 million of our citizens can benefit from more than 5,000 e-government services,” he said.
President Erdoğan: The Security Dimension of Digital Transformation is as Important as Countries' Physical Defense
Stating that they aim to transform Turkey into a country that not only consumes technology but primarily designs, develops, produces, and markets it to the world, Erdoğan said, “We launched the National Technology Initiative for this purpose. We are mobilizing all our resources for the development of domestic and national innovative technologies to embrace all institutions and individuals in our country, especially the public sector. Technology has a beneficial side for humanity, as well as a side that turns crime into an industry. Cyber attacks, which were previously carried out for simple purposes by individuals with high-level expertise, have now reached the state level. This situation enables cyber attacks to be conducted with very strong infrastructure and strong cadres, thus becoming more targeted and destructive. Turkey is one of the countries most targeted by cyber attacks in recent times. The number of cyber attacks against our country, which was below 9,000 in 2016, exceeded 136,000 last year. The security of our borders is as important as the security of our electronic systems and the data stored there. We have entered a period where all kinds of technological products, especially AI-supported unmanned aerial vehicles and robotic systems, will take an increasing place in our lives. We must now pay much more attention to the security dimension of this; otherwise, we will not be able to prevent our country from becoming a technology dump, and we will hand over all our critical systems to others,” he said.
President Erdoğan: Data is as Important as Oil
Drawing attention to the importance of data security in his speech, Erdoğan said, “Data is becoming as important as oil. Trying to ensure data security with foreign solutions is equivalent to entrusting border security to foreign soldiers. We are accelerating domestic and national solution efforts on data security. It is a fact that we have not yet reached the desired level in the works we started with the understanding that Turkey's data should stay in Turkey. For this, we must definitely put data centers belonging to the public and private sectors in order. I expect our relevant institutions to complete their work on this matter expeditiously. The way to repel attacks using smart systems, especially, is to develop and deploy even smarter systems. Trying to counter cyber attacks with conventional systems is like stopping a bullet with paper. We must not forget that we are entering a period where those who dominate technology can infiltrate every system and every element that produces, uses, and stores it. For this purpose, we have issued a general directive on information and communication security from the Presidency. We attach importance to the implementation of this directive, which is binding for our institutions and public officials, in all its elements,” he said.
Adding that the opened national cyber incident response center will operate 365 days a year, 24 hours a day without interruption, Erdoğan said, “Here, using cyber security systems we have developed with domestic and national resources, we both prevent attacks and take precautions in advance. We have formed cyber incident response teams in critical institutions and organizations in all sectors from defense to communication, health to energy, finance to education. Currently, cyber security activities are being carried out by approximately 4,000 experts in 1,300 of our institutions. These teams work in solidarity in every area from intelligence sharing to joint efforts. Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are gaining increasing importance in cyber defense. Most of the cyber attacks against our country are neutralized by these teams and applications, often without anyone knowing. Thanks to all these efforts, Turkey has risen to 20th place in the world and 11th in Europe in the global cyber security index. We are determined to climb even higher in this ranking where we are ahead of countries like Germany, Italy, and Belgium,” he stated.
Stating that they have not neglected to train qualified experts with national sensitivities in the field of cyber security and that they have established BTK Academy in this direction, Erdoğan said, “In the academy, which is open to all our youth without any preconditions including education, we are conducting studies to meet the sector's need for qualified human resources, especially in cyber security and 5G technology. With the cyber star competitions we organize, we discover talented youth. InshaAllah, we will transform our country into a world-class brand in cyber security. One of the most important elements of the mobile transformation process is the regulation and supervision of frequency usage. We have launched the National Monitoring Center for this purpose. In this center, we detect and prevent all kinds of illegal and harmful signals that harm wireless communication systems at their source,” he said.
Noting that satellite activities in space have become the main source of activities in the communications field, Erdoğan said, “As Turkey, we are strengthening and deepening our space activities. For this purpose, we established the Turkish Space Agency. We closely follow the works regarding our satellite positions and frequency lines with international organizations. Currently, 3 communication satellites, TÜRKSAT 3A, 4A, and 4B, are operating in space. These satellites enable broadcasting services to 3 billion people in 118 countries. We are launching TÜRKSAT 5A, whose production is completed, into space by the end of this year. We are also sending TÜRKSAT 5B into space next year. The design of TÜRKSAT 6A, which will be our first domestic communication satellite, is completed, engineering works are ongoing, and we plan to send it into space in 2022. Thus, Turkey will become one of the 10 countries in the world that can produce communication satellites,” he said.
President Erdoğan: We Should Use the Internet Responsibly, Not Problematically
Drawing attention to the fact that the internet and technology, while facilitating people's lives, also harbor many threats, Erdoğan continued his speech as follows: “Responsible use of the internet, rather than problematic use, is becoming increasingly important. Technology addiction is just one of these threats. Today, we are faced with masses who have turned into modern slaves due to technology addiction. We are sadly following how technology addiction, which started in young people, now engulfs every segment of society. However, when we look around, we want to see free individuals who use technology consciously, not modern slaves. People's ties to real life are weakening as even those in the same room communicate via messages instead of talking. We need to support efforts that will strengthen people's bonds in real life. Another important problem is that cyberbullying is diversifying and increasing. Social media has turned into a complete dump, a completely unregulated platform in this regard. We will never surrender to such a virtual world where people are harassed, scammed, their honors broken, and all their rights violated. Everything that is a crime in real life must have the same consequence in the internet environment. We are determined to remove our country from this nightmare climate where fake news, slander, insults, scams, and provocations are pouring down on our society like an avalanche. While expressing our troubles, we must of course acknowledge some critical opportunities provided by technology. We benefited from these opportunities in the disasters we experienced recently. Cell phone connections and signal tracking established with our citizens under the rubble enabled the works to be carried out quickly and effectively. We have launched the Turkey National Mobile Warning System. With the national warning system, we have created an infrastructure that can send messages to all users in our country within one hour when needed. We can use this system limited to specific regions, provinces, and districts. In disasters and all kinds of emergency situations, we will be able to warn, inform, and guide our citizens with messages sent from this system. Soon, we are opening this system for use by relevant institutions in our country.”
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Mehmet Cahit Turhan also stated that electronic communications infrastructures are the most important factor determining the development levels of countries. Expressing that great progress has been made in this sense, Turhan said, “We are aware that we have a lot of work to do and a long way to go. For this purpose, we are making intensive efforts,” he added.
Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan touched upon the importance of the “National Technology Initiative,” saying, “In line with this vision, we continue to develop our sector. With the tender we held, we realized the 4.5G authorization and enabled the provision of high value-added next-generation services to our citizens, while obtaining 4 billion Euros in revenue as a result of the tender,” he shared.
Information Technologies and Communication Authority President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu also provided information about the institution and the units to be opened.
After the opening speeches, the opening ceremony was held accompanied by prayers.