Turkey SMS Guide - sms-compliance -

Frequently Asked Questions

Use a registered alphanumeric sender ID and send messages between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM local time. Ensure your content complies with regulations and includes opt-out instructions in Turkish like 'IPTAL', 'DUR', or 'YARDIM'. You'll need to integrate with an SMS API like Twilio, Sinch, MessageBird, or Plivo, providing clear opt-out instructions.
Alphanumeric sender IDs are recommended. They preserve your brand identity and are supported in Turkey, but require pre-registration which takes about two weeks. Avoid long codes and short codes as they aren't fully supported for commercial messaging.
Two-way SMS for business messaging (A2P) is not supported in Turkey due to regulatory restrictions. Businesses cannot receive replies to their SMS messages through standard channels.
Send messages between 08:00 and 21:00 local time (UTC+3), avoiding national holidays. Respect religious observances, particularly during Ramadan, and space out bulk campaigns to prevent network congestion.
No, promotional SMS messages are strictly prohibited in Turkey as of February 15, 2021. Focus on transactional messages and ensure explicit consent (opt-in) for all commercial communications.
Standard SMS messages are limited to 160 characters with GSM-7 encoding. Using UCS-2 for Turkish characters reduces the limit to 70 characters per segment. Concatenated messages are supported for longer content.
Explicit consent (opt-in), registration with the ??YS system, and adherence to strict content regulations are mandatory. Messages must include opt-out keywords ('IPTAL', 'DUR', 'YARDIM'), respect permitted sending hours, and avoid prohibited content.
Provide clear opt-out instructions in every message using keywords like 'IPTAL', 'DUR', or 'YARDIM'. Process opt-outs within 24 hours and maintain detailed records for at least three years. Regular audits of your opt-out lists are recommended.
Non-compliant SMS can lead to message blocking and financial penalties enforced by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK). This includes sending promotional messages, violating opt-out regulations, or sending outside permitted hours.
Use batch APIs, queue systems like Redis/RabbitMQ, and implement exponential backoff for retries. Monitor throughput and adjust sending rates dynamically to comply with API rate limits.
The ??YS (Message Management System) is a national database for managing commercial electronic messages. Businesses must register with ??YS before sending commercial SMS, check recipient numbers against it, and remove opted-out numbers promptly.
Popular options include Twilio, Sinch, MessageBird, and Plivo. These platforms provide REST APIs for integrating SMS functionality into your applications, offering varying features and pricing.
Implement robust error handling and logging. Monitor delivery receipts through webhooks and track common error codes like 21614 (invalid number), 30007 (carrier rejection), and 30008 (blocked content). Store message status updates in a database.
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