.istanbul

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Status:	Delegated
country:	Istanbul, Turkey
Registry Provider:	Afilias
Type:	GeoTLD
Priority #:	866

.istanbul is a geographical TLD proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program. Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality manages the TLD and is its Registry. The proposed application succeeded and was delegated to the Root Zone on 11 July, 2015.. The applicant also applied for .ist.

Application Details

The following is excerpted from the applicant's reply to question #18:

"Istanbul, being one of the oldest and magnificent cities of the world, is now excited to add one more gem to its unique richness. Istanbul assumes the title of a prestigious TLD Registry, in addition to its numerous titles as a precious center of arts, science, culture, history and tolerance in the world.

The .istanbul TLDʹs mission is to encourage innovation, improve service levels of government institutes and enterprises, assist residents in locating City government services, help local businesses to thrive, market and promote tourism in the Istanbul, and spread the dynamic image and the brand value of Istanbul around the world. Through the introduction of a new unrestricted top-level domain name, serving as new resources for local and global enterprises and entrepreneurs, will provide the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (the ʺIMMʺ) and portfolio owners with new opportunities to generate new income and will support the development of the City and economy as well as introducing the cultural and historical heritage of Istanbul to the world.

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As an unrestricted TLD, the proposed TLDs will serve businesses and individuals of all countries and classes.

The proposed TLDs will allow registrants the opportunity to establish an international-regional web presence, and reduce the need to register multiple domain names in other TLD spaces. Domain name registrants may then focus their resources on expanding the reach of their offerings and content, as well as their brand identity. Finally, the proposed TLDs will enable new registrants to enter the market and register domain names.

In addition, the TLDs will also unite people across the world under a city brand. People who lives, or formerly lived, visited or wants to visit, and do business or looking for business opportunities in Istanbul will be able to associate themselves as they are somehow connected to the Istanbul. Other locations worldwide with the same name, even if small villages or towns, shall also be part of the community. They will profit from the increased visibility of the city name and will have equal rights to register domain names under the TLD.

Through .istanbul and .ist TLDs, we hope to make the search for Istanbul City-related content easier than ever by providing individuals, entrepreneurs, organizations, non-profits and others a chance to own a virtual piece of the greatest city in the world."