Enter Türkiye market with a .ISTANBUL Domain

Both are operated by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and both fall under the same registration policy; the rule text governs the two extensions together. The difference is form: .ist carries the short label of the city and .istanbul carries the full name. The registry presents Istanbul as one of the few cities that hold two domain extensions of their own.

No. The registration policy sets no local presence, residence or commercial-link condition; clause 3.2.1 gives every applicant the right to request a name that meets the technical requirements, apart from reserved, blocked and locked strings. The registry's own presentation lists its audience as users, businesses, public bodies, associations and entrepreneurs from anywhere in the world.

No. Clause 3.1.1 of the registration policy states that a label may consist only of letters (a-z, A-Z), digits (0-9) and the hyphen; it must begin and end with a letter or digit, may not begin or end with a hyphen, and may not carry hyphens in the third and fourth positions together. A name containing ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş or ü is therefore not defined in this extension.

On top of the list ICANN requires, the reserved names policy covers terms tied to the duties and offices of Turkish public bodies and their abbreviations, the names of senior officials and of figures of historical, religious or cultural importance, the names of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, the district municipalities and their subsidiaries, and the city's historic and cultural sites, parks, squares and neighbourhoods. The registry may also hold unallocated names back as premium.

Clause 3.4 of the registration policy is explicit: the registry is not obliged to notify the holder in advance that the registration is about to expire or has expired. In practice the renewal reminder comes from the registrar serving you. Putting the renewal date in your own calendar is the simplest way to avoid leaving your address hostage to one e-mail going unread.

No. Clause 3.7 of the registration policy bars the holder from marketing, selling, licensing or sub-licensing to third parties any third-level domains or other subdomains derived from the registered name; subdomains may only be used in connection with operating the registered name itself. If you are planning a business model built on reselling subdomains, this clause is decisive.

Clause 2.1 of the general dispute resolution policy states that the registry complies with ICANN's Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) and the Uniform Rapid Suspension system (URS). Under clause 3.1 the decisions of Turkish courts and competent administrative authorities are applied; foreign judgments are followed only once recognised and enforced in Türkiye. Separately, under Law No. 5651 the BTK may restrict access.