Presidential Decrees Regarding the Institutional Distribution of Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence
On December 25, 2025, Presidential Decrees No. 191 and 192 were published in the Official Gazette, introducing new regulations and developments in the fields of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. With these updates, the distribution of institutional responsibilities and authorities related to artificial intelligence has become more clearly defined.
- With the regulations introduced by Presidential Decree No. 191, the name of the National Technology Directorate operating within the Ministry of Industry and Technology was changed to the National Technology and Artificial Intelligence Directorate. The duties of the Directorate General were defined as follows:
-Preparing policies and strategies for the reliable, ethical, and responsible development and use of artificial intelligence technologies and coordinating their implementation.
-Conducting studies to increase data, infrastructure, and human resource capacity in the field of artificial intelligence, contributing to programs and mechanisms that support initiatives and R&D activities.
- To carry out work on the preparation and development of necessary legislation in the field of artificial intelligence, to develop international cooperation, and to ensure the coordination of the artificial intelligence ecosystem at the national level,
- To establish policies and strategies for the development of data center and cloud computing infrastructure in Turkey, to determine criteria and standards for data centers, and to prepare and implement regulations for certification and authorization.
- With the regulations made in conjunction with Presidential Decree No. 192, the General Directorate of Public Artificial Intelligence was established within the Presidency of Cyber Security, clearly defining a comprehensive and centralized area of authority for artificial intelligence applications in the public sector. Accordingly, the Presidency's duties are as follows:
-To carry out legislative work on artificial intelligence applications in the public sector,
-To contribute to the preparation of national policies, strategies, and action plans in the field of artificial intelligence, as well as to the harmonization of national legislation with international regulations, and to participate in ecosystem development activities,
-Establishing principles, procedures, and standards for data governance, covering the management of processes from data creation to destruction within the scope of digital government and the use of artificial intelligence technologies in the public sector,
-Leading the way in artificial intelligence applications in the public sector, identifying the relevant requirements together with the relevant institutions, implementing a common data area infrastructure, determining the quality criteria and standards for data to be used in applications, and granting compliance.
- When Presidential Decrees No. 191 and 192 are considered together:
It is seen that the authorities and responsibilities related to artificial intelligence are structured through two separate administrative actors, in a dual structure. However, at the current stage, it is seen that no preference has been made towards establishing an independent administrative authority in the field of artificial intelligence. Instead, an approach has been adopted whereby the existing administrative structures are strengthened, and governance functions related to artificial intelligence are structured through a distributed and dual administrative model.