Since 1990, Middle East Technical University ("METU") managed the administration and registration of ".tr". domain names through its Nic.tr system, pursuant to the protocol signed with ICANN.
Pursuant to Regulation numbered 27752 on Internet Domain Names ("Regulation") published in Official Gazette on 7 November 2010, these registrar functions have been transferred to the new centralized database system ("TRABİS") under the control of Information Technologies and Communication Authority ("ICTA").
As per the protocol signed between two bodies on 21 December 2018, METÜ transferred its ".tr" registry delegation to ICTA. Nick.tr Administration announced that ("Announcement") TRABİS will come into action in August 2020.
According to the Announcement and provisional article 1 of the Regulation, following TRABİS' activation, ".tr" extension domain name owners should transfer their domain names to an accredited registrar; and if there are no registrars, they are required to make transactions directly on TRABİS. Please see this link for the full list of authorized registrars.
Beginning from 23 December 2019, ".tr" domain names administered by Nic.tr can be easily transferred to the available registrars without any transfer fees.
Domain owners should open new accounts with the registrars, share their contact information and verify their phone numbers. The phone verification can only be done via a Turkish GSM number. Those who do not have a phone number registered in Turkey need to submit the "Contact Change Approval Form".
To transfer recently approved yet not registered domain names to new registrars, payment should be done first.
The Announcement also underlined that new domain name registrations and domain name renewals will be unavailable on Nic.tr within three months at the latest. Therefore, it is recommended to transfer the domain names with an upcoming renewal date as soon as possible.
Please see this link for the full text of the Announcement.Please see this link for the full text of the Amendment Law (only available in Turkish).Information first published in the MA | Gazette, a fortnightly legal update newsletter produced by Moroğlu Arseven.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
