EMF related country-specific information for Turkey
| National Regulatory Authority (NRA) | NRA responsible for setting exposure limits on Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) | NRA responsible for monitoring EMF | EMF material published by NRA | NRA publishes EMF measurements | Cooperation between NRA and other competent authorities responsible for EMF | Other noteworthy country specific practices | ICNIRP exposure level used Y/N? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BTK, TR | BTK | BTK | Yes | Yes | Yes |
5G networks are not licensed yet in Turkey. Since there is no licensing procedure ongoing, there is no social resistance to the deployment of 5G networks, in particular, due to alleged health issues due to EMF emissions. ICTA has a special division on EMF and follows the most recent guidelines released by the International Committee on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNRP). In 2011, ICTA prepared “Limiting, controlling and directing Electromagnetic field intensity caused by the electronic communication devices by taking the international limits” regulations, which mandate five times stricter limits than those indicated by ICNIRP per electronic communication device. After some amendments to this regulation, as of April 2018, the name was changed to “Electronic Communication Devices Safety Certificate Regulation”. When licensed, 5G systems will also be subject to the aforementioned regulation. In addition to this, ICTA is working in close cooperation and collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation.
In terms of potential measures that could be taken by operators, competent authorities, or NRAs to address and mitigate such concerns and that could constitute best practices contributing to the timely deployment of 5G networks in line with the objectives of the Recommendation, we completely agree with the proposed actions stated in the “Summary Report of Best Practices Outcome of phase 1 of the work of the Special Group for developing a common Union Toolbox for connectivity.