The Regulation on Procedures and Principles to be Applied in Official Correspondence (the “Regulation”) was published in the Official Gazette dated 10 June 2020 and numbered 31151, to be entered into force on the first day of the following month after the date of publication. The Regulation was prepared based on Articles 6 and 7 of the Presidential Decree on Presidential Organization No. 1. This Regulation covers all public institutions and organizations.

Background

The Regulation consists of: 

• general provisions,
• qualities of the document,
• parts of the document,
• copying, sending, receiving and return of the document, and
• miscellaneous and final provisions.

The annexes of the Regulation includes examples of the documents to be prepared within the scope of the relevant provisions.
The purpose of the Regulation is to determine the rules regarding the official correspondence made in the electronic environment by using the secure electronic signature or in the physical environment by using handwritten signature, to carry out the exchange of information or documents quickly and safely and to ensure the unity of implementation. 
In terms of this Regulation, “official correspondence” refers to the process that administrations carry out in electronic environment using secure electronic signatures in order to communicate with each other or with real or legal persons, and in physical situations with handwritten signatures when necessary or in extraordinary situations.

Qualities of the Documents

Official correspondence by public institutions and organizations shall be made with documents prepared electronically in accordance with the e-Correspondence Technical Guide and signed with a secure electronic signature. These documents will be shared with the addressees and stored electronically. The documents that are signed with secure electronic signature shall not be signed with a handwritten signature and shall not be stored in a physical environment. In mandatory or extraordinary situations, official correspondence shall be made with documents signed by handwriting. Sending and storing these documents shall be done according to the physical environment conditions. 

The documents to be prepared in accordance with this regulation shall be issued,

• in one copy if signed by secure electronic signature in an electronic environment, at least in two copies in mandatory or extraordinary situations;
• by using A4 paper;
• by using “Times New Roman” 12 point or “Arial” 11 point as the font. 

Parts of the Documents

• There are detailed regulations as per the writing space, title, addressee, text, page number of the documentation to be prepared in accordance with this Regulation, institutional logos to be used in the documents, numbers to be found, date to be indicated, relevancy to be specified, attachments of the document, signing and initialing the document, distribution, feasibility, coordination of the documents, verification and contact information, confidential degree documents, periodical and personal correspondences and metadata elements. 

Copying, Sending, Receiving and Return of the Document

• Copying of the documents signed with secure electronic signature shall be performed by authorized offices by printing out the document. For the reproduction of the documents prepared in the physical environment in mandatory or extraordinary situations or prepared prior to the effective date of the Regulation, the phrase “as original” shall be placed in a suitable place of the reproduced document. 
• It is essential that the sending and receiving of the documents signed with secure electronic signature be recorded in electronic environment through a third party authorized by the relevant legislation. 
• In cases where the electronic transmission to the addressee is not possible, the secure electronic signed document, which is printed out by the authorized offices, shall be sent in the physical environment for the purpose of accessing the original in the electronic environment. 
• In the event that a document with electronic signature is received electronically although it is not addressed to the administration, the information stating that it is not the addressee of the documents and the descriptive information related to the relevant document shall be transmitted to the sender electronically. If the original addressee of a document that is sent to the administration in the physical environment even though it is not the addressee is not clear, the document shall be returned to the sender. 

Miscellaneous and Final Provisions

• The miscellaneous and final provisions section includes provisions regarding the period for opinion, information and documentation requests, reiteration letter, inappropriately written documents, authority to issue and manual preparation and repealed legislative.

Implementation and Sanction

• As per the Article 35 of the Regulation, the addressee may be warned by stating the relevant articles of this Regulation in response letters to be given to the documents that were not prepared in accordance with this Regulation. If the said situation continues, the subsequent documents, except for the periodical documents may be returned by specifying the justification.
• As per the Article 36 of the Regulation,
• Regulation Guide on the Procedures and Principles to be Applied in Official Correspondence shall be prepared and announced by the Administrative Affairs Directorate of the Presidency in order to ensure the unity of the implementation of this Regulation and to carry put the administrative functioning efficiently.
• The administration will be able to make additional arrangements regarding official correspondences provided that they are not in violation of this Regulation.
• The Administrative Affairs Directorate of the Presidency is authorized to determine the training strategies related to the Regulation and to ensure coordination, to eliminate any hesitations that may arise and to regulate the principles for implementation when necessary.

Repealed Legislation and References

The Regulation on the Procedures and Principles to be Applied in Official Correspondences brought into force with the Decision of the Council of Ministers dated 15/12/2014 and numbered 2014/7074 has been repealed. The references to be made to the repealed regulation shall be deemed to have been made to this Regulation. 

Provisional Article 1 regarding the harmonization of the Electronic Document Management System (“EDMS”):

(1) The EDMSs established before the effective date of this Regulation shall be made compatible with the provisions of this Regulation by the administrations within six months. The EDMSs to be established after the effective date of this Regulation shall be established in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation. 
(2) The Administrations that do not provide user accounts to be created through the authorized third party to provide the electronic sending and receiving of the documents signed with the secured electronic signature specified in the first paragraph of Article 30 shall obtain the user accounts within 3 months following the effective date of this Regulation, register them to the State Organization Central Registration System (« SOCRS ») and shall ensure the its active use.