Abstract: Turkey, situated between Europe and Asia, has been developing rapidly in the last decade. Especially, technological advances have strongly affected the social and economic structure of Turkish society. Turkey’s European Union harmonization process, as catalysis for the rapid developments, and digital transformation in any sector has been assisting Turkish citizens with having better lives. This paper summarizes the history of technological developments in Turkey by providing demographics on different ICT innovations. With a population of 73.7 million, Turkey has a great potential for technological infusion. Moreover, a quarter of the entire population ranges between the ages of 0 and 14. In that sense, Turkey invests so much in different ICTs for educational and economical requirements. The paper shows that although many ICTs are quite new for the country, they are highly integrated within the society; especially mobile and Internet technologies. In parallel with these advancements, the state offers many e-solutions for the citizens; such as e-government, e-tax and e-accounting applications.

As the ICTs are accepted by the society, Turkish citizens have started to take advantage of many different social media found on the Internet. Especially the worldwide appreciated social networking website, Facebook, has quickly taken its part in daily lives of many Turkish people. Turkey has been announced on the top-ten list of mostly Facebook-using countries in the world. The paper provides data from well-established institutes; Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council (TUBITAK) and State Planning Organization (SPO). To sum up, the paper recaps the technological development history of modern Turkish Republic with a holistic approach to social changes.

Keywords: Turkey, E-government, Information and Communication Technologies, Internet Technologies, Digital Transformation, Social Media.

Biography authors: Hasan Tınmaz received his bachelor degree from the Department of Computer Education, Faculty of Education at Middle East Technical University (2001). Then, he completed his M. Sc. degree in Curriculum and Instruction Program, Department of Educational Sciences at Middle East Technical University (2004). He recently received his Ph.D. degree from Computer Education and Instructional Technology at Middle East Technical University (2011). Now, he is an instructor at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at İstanbul Kültür University in Istanbul, Turkey. His research focuses on Web 2.0/Web 3.0 technologies, instructional design and human & computer interaction.

İlker Yakın received his bachelor degree from the Faculty of Education, Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education at Gazi University (2003). He is currently a Ph.D. candidate as well as a research assistant at the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology at Middle East Technical University. His research focuses on human performance technology, technology integration, design, development, and implementation of learning and performance technology tools and pre-service teacher education.

Affiliations: Dr. Hasan Tınmaz, instructor, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, İstanbul Kültür University, İstanbul - Turkey.

İlker Yakın, Ph.D.-candidate, Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara - Turkey.

Tınmaz, Hasan & Yakın, İlker (2011), 'An Extended Overview of Information and Communication Technologies in Turkey', in: International Review of Turkish Studies, Fall 2011, Volume: 1, Issue: 3, pages: 74-89.