Turkey announces new steps to cut down on spam calls and messages

Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Uraloğlu, has announced new measures aimed at reducing annoying calls and messages—especially those coming from unknown numbers or ones starting with “850.”

The minister said the new rules will limit calls and messages so that telecom companies can only contact their own subscribers. It will also ban the use of public or unknown numbers for sending messages.

Senders will also be required to use a secure electronic signature to prove who they are.

He explained that these steps are mainly meant to reduce scam and misleading messages—like those related to betting, fake prizes, or messages designed to scare or mislead people.

Uraloğlu added that companies that don’t follow these rules could face strict penalties, including having their services restricted or even completely shut down. Unused landline numbers will also be deactivated, and number-based message IDs will no longer be allowed.

These measures are set to take effect at the beginning of April 2026, as part of official efforts to eliminate anonymous communications and better protect users from scams and spam.