Is the ban on Roblox and Discord being lifted? Minister of Transport Uraloğlu explains: Court decision details

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu answered questions from Erdoğan Aktaş on the tv100 broadcast.

Explaining the stages of the legal regulation regarding children's access to social media, Minister Uraloğlu said, "We are working together with our Ministry of Family and Social Services, our Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Interior. We are also working in coordination with our Parliament and the commission. We have reached a certain stage. We will have made a regulation regarding this in the first months of next year." 

“WE ARE IN COMMUNICATION WITH ROBLOX AND DISCORD”

Upon the question of 'Is the ban on Roblox and Discord being lifted?', Minister Uraloğlu stated, "In fact, both are in communication with us. They were closed by court orders. These are not issues under the authority of our BTK (Information and Communication Technologies Authority). Apart from that, since they were closed by a court order, a court decision is required for them to be reopened. They are in communication with us, even though they do not have representative offices in Turkey, because there is no such legal obligation for us. They are making efforts to rectify the grounds for which the court closed them; when that is finished, it will be possible for them to be reopened once they apply to the court again." 

"IT IS NOT A DECISION TAKEN BY GOOGLE TURKEY"

Responding to the question, 'Google made a new update. There was a problem with many websites appearing in sections like Discover. Some called this censorship. Is there any sanction regarding Google here?', Uraloğlu said,

“It is a decision taken by Google global. It is not a decision taken by Google Turkey. We followed it closely, but since it is the duty of the Competition Authority, they did what was necessary. We are also following it; frankly, we do not think there is anything we need to do at the moment" he added.

"WE ARE RANKED 10TH IN THE WORLD IN CYBERSECURITY"

Explaining the work carried out regarding cybersecurity, Uraloğlu said, "We currently have our National Cyber Incident Response Center (USOM). It is structured under the BTK (Information and Communication Technologies Authority). Here, we block hundreds of major attacks and thousands of malicious access requests. We are working with around 7,200 experts in the field and ensuring our country's cybersecurity. We are above the security index in Europe. I can say that Germany, France, and Turkey are the best. We are also ranked 10th in the world in terms of cybersecurity." 

'WE SENT A 6-PERSON TEAM TO REVITALIZE THE ALEPPO AND DAMASCUS AIRPORTS'

Speaking on the question, 'Turkey, what are your plans regarding Syria, which is also in your area of responsibility?', Uraloğlu said, "In our area of responsibility, there are 4 modes of transport: airway, highway, railway, and seaway. We also handle communications. No matter how you look at it, there is a very dire situation in this regard, as in all other matters. There are assessments we were able to make in the first stage, and there are assessments we need to make in the following stages. In the first stage, we sent a 6-person team regarding the revitalization of the Aleppo and Damascus airports to ensure international connectivity. Our colleagues conducted their inspections there. During that inspection, we saw that there was no radar system."

WILL THE HISTORIC HEJAZ RAILWAY BE REPAIRED?

Providing information about the current status of the Hejaz Railway, Uraloğlu said, "We do not have very up-to-date information or assessments regarding that. We have operated both passenger and freight trains there in the past. In the coming days, we will determine its final status and be in a position to provide the necessary support there." 

"SYRIA HAS BEEN NEGLECTED IN EVERY SENSE"

Regarding the latest situation in Syria, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said, "When our colleagues went to the field in the area of communications, we had great difficulty establishing contact. Syria has been neglected in every sense." 

FIRST PHASE: DAMASCUS-ISTANBUL FLIGHTS

 Responding to the question, 'Do you foresee a timeline regarding your area of responsibility in Syria?', Minister Uraloğlu said, "We can say days. In the coming weeks, we will likely send our assigned colleagues to the Aleppo and Damascus airports. Following that, we will continue with railways, highways, and communications. The airport is very, very important. In the first phase, once we launch flights between Damascus and Istanbul airports, we will connect them to the rest of the world via Istanbul. We have given top priority to air travel. Depending on developments, such a visit could take place in the coming weeks." 

"SYRIA SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE DEVELOPMENT ROAD"

Answering questions about the Development Road project, Minister Uraloğlu said, "The starting point of the Development Road is Iraq's Al-Faw Port in the Persian Gulf, the first phase of which will be commissioned next year. It will be one of the few major ports in the world. A railway line starting from here will connect to Ovaköy via a 1,200 km line, and from there, it will connect to Kapıkule via a 2,092 km line within Turkey. The project for the 1,200 km section is largely finished. We have a memorandum of understanding here with Turkey, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. We are striving to see if we can start construction work within 2025. As I mentioned in response to your previous questions, we have counterparts in Syria with whom we can sit and talk. It would not be accurate to talk about such a possibility right now, but integrating Syria into the Development Road could be considered, though we need time to think about it. Syria is an important geography here. We believe we must definitely integrate it into such a project, but it would be premature to say that changes will be made to the main project." 

"RAIL SYSTEM WILL REACH 17,500 KM IN 2028 AND 28,590 KM IN 2053"

Speaking about Turkey's railway network, Uraloğlu said, "We currently have 13,919 kilometers of rail system lines, 2,251 kilometers of which are high-speed rail. This will reach 17,500 kilometers in 2028 and 28,590 kilometers in 2053." 

ANKARA-ISTANBUL SUPER HIGH-SPEED TRAIN LINE

Responding to the question, 'What is the status of the super high-speed train project? When will it start? If it starts, when will it finish?', Minister Uraloğlu said, "First of all, why should we build a super high-speed train? We are talking about Ankara, Istanbul, Kocaeli, Sakarya, Yalova, and even part of Bursa. We are talking about 30 million people. There is a travel demand here. We have started working on a super high-speed train project that is 344 km long and capable of speeds of 350 km per hour from Ankara to Istanbul. When it is finished, travel between the two cities will take only 80 minutes." 

WE WILL NO LONGER HAVE TICKET PROBLEMS WITH HIGH-SPEED TRAINS

In response to the question, 'How will we solve the ticket problem on high-speed trains?', Uraloğlu replied, "We need 12 more high-speed train sets. We have more or less completed the connections for them; once we acquire these 12 sets, we will no longer have any ticket problems regarding high-speed trains."

"WE HAVE RESTORED COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS IN EARTHQUAKE ZONES"

 Speaking on the question, 'What is the latest stage regarding communication and infrastructure in the earthquake zones?', Uraloğlu said,

"We have restored the communication systems in the earthquake zone. I can say that there are no problems. However, in the event of a possible earthquake, we want to build towers as much as possible, starting with Istanbul, which we have already begun. We want to build towers in open areas rather than on top of buildings. We have started this, and when we finish it, we will have eliminated the risks in this regard." 

WILL THERE BE PRICE HIKES FOR BRIDGE CROSSINGS AND HIGHWAYS?

Regarding the question of whether there will be price hikes for bridge crossings and highways, Minister Uraloğlu responded with the statement, "We have certain operating costs there. We review these operating costs from time to time according to the changing and evolving economic conditions in Turkey."

News Source: 12punto