Türkiye Moves to Track All Drone Flights Through Central System
By Bosphorus News Türkiye Desk
Türkiye is preparing to bring unmanned aerial vehicle traffic under a central digital monitoring system as drone use expands across civilian, commercial, agricultural, media and security-related fields.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, SHGM, has prepared a draft "Unmanned Aircraft Systems Instruction" and opened it for general consultation. The draft would reorganize safety, security and technical procedures for UAVs brought into Türkiye, placed on the market or operated inside Turkish airspace.
The core change is the creation of the İHA Tracking and Traffic Management System, known as İHATTYS. Through the system, SHGM would monitor the real-time location and flight status of registered UAVs, publish geographic zone data in machine-readable digital format, record flight permit applications and approvals online, and warn operators when multiple UAVs request the same airspace at the same time.
The draft divides UAV operations into three risk categories: open, specific and certified. Certified-category UAVs would be able to operate over crowded areas and could be used in missions involving people or dangerous goods, subject to stricter aviation oversight. SHGM would issue airworthiness certificates for certified-category UAVs.
The proposal also tightens rules for foreign-registered UAVs. Operators registered abroad would have to apply to SHGM at least 20 days before any flight in Turkish airspace and submit valid operational authorization from their home authority, along with risk assessments requested by the Turkish regulator. Emergency, public security, media and disaster-response flights could receive shorter approval timelines or temporary permission.
The security dimension is central to the draft. Operators and remote pilots would be responsible for taking measures against terrorist and unlawful use of UAVs. Privacy violations would fall under the Turkish Penal Code, while unauthorized flights or operations outside approved areas could trigger administrative sanctions and, when criminal conduct is suspected, complaints to public prosecutors.
The terrorism clause gives the draft a wider meaning than routine civil aviation regulation. Türkiye is not only trying to organize a growing drone market. It is also trying to close the legal and technical gaps created by cheap sensors, remote pilots, foreign-registered platforms and small aircraft that can move across sensitive urban, industrial or security zones.
Registration rules would also become more detailed. Operators in the specific or certified categories would have to register with SHGM. Open-category UAVs weighing 500 grams or more, or carrying sensors such as cameras and microphones capable of recording personal data, would also require registration. UAVs in the certified category and those with a maximum takeoff weight of 150 kilograms or more would be entered into the SHGM aircraft registry.
Agricultural use would receive a more flexible framework. UAV systems licensed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for approved crop-protection applications would not be treated as dangerous-goods transport. For some agricultural operations in green zones and outside residential areas, notification through İHATTYS would be sufficient rather than a separate operational authorization.
The draft reflects a broader shift in Türkiye's drone environment. The country has become a major military UAV producer, but the domestic airspace problem is increasingly civilian and regulatory: more drones, more operators, more sensors, more foreign platforms and more need for real-time control.
If adopted, the new instruction would move Türkiye toward a centralized drone governance model. UAVs would no longer be treated only as individual aircraft requiring permits. They would become part of a monitored traffic system in which location, permission, risk category, airspace conflict and security responsibility are tracked through one national architecture.
***Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation.