Turkish Regulations Research Articles

Assessment of ground-level ozone pollution in Türkiye according to new WHO limits.

Ground-level ozone is a secondary pollutant and is attributable to respiratory diseases and mortality. For this reason, the World Health Organization (WHO) implemented a new long-term (peak season) limit value for ozone. The previous studies related to ozone in Türkiye were spatially limited to certain locations. In this study, annual mean and peak season ozone concentrations, and limit exceedances were investigated for Türkiye for the year 2021. Moreover, ozone peak seasons were determined for the first time for 126 air quality monitoring stations. The annual mean ozone concentration was determined as 44.3 ± 19.3 µg/m3 whereas the peak season average ozone level was 68.4 ± 27.2 µg/m3. April-September period was the most frequently observed ozone peak season. Among all stations, Erzurum Palandöken was by far the most polluted station in terms of annual mean and limit exceedances of ozone. Ankara Siteler stations have the highest rank in peak season mean. 87 and 83 stations exceeded the short-term and long-term recommendations of WHO, respectively. Four hotspot regions were revealed in terms of peak season exceedance: Adana and surrounding provinces, the surroundings of Burdur and Isparta provinces, and the northeastern and northwestern parts of Türkiye. To protect public health, WHO recommendations for 8-h and peak season limits should be immediately implemented in Turkish regulations.

Can Fintech Promote Sustainable Finance? Policy Lessons from the Case of Turkey

This study contributes to sustainable finance literature by exemplifying promotion of sustainable finance through fintech solutions for emerging market economies by presenting the case of Turkey. Turkey is one of the largest emerging market economies in the world with a strong banking system and high adoption of technology, so it has great potential to benefit from fintech solutions to boost sustainable finance. For the case analysis, the data used came from a research platform for a Turkish start-up ecosystem, Turkish regulations, and documents released on Turkey’s sustainable finance strategies by Turkish and international institutions. We found that Turkey has made remarkable progress in increasing financial inclusivity for underbanked individuals and SMEs via providing contactless payment and contract systems and microfinance by mobile carriers and other online platforms. Turkey was also able to promote the responsible consumption goal for sustainable development by improving fintech solutions on payment systems with educational content on this goal. With upcoming developments such as the sandbox environment in Istanbul Financial Center, fintech solutions using Big Data, AI, and blockchain could emerge much faster with collaboration between banking and fintech sectors and regulatory institutions to better assess climate-related financial risks and form a national carbon trading mechanism.

Natural Radionuclides in Bottled Mineral Waters Consumed in Turkey and Their Contribution to Radiation Dose.

Bottled natural mineral water (BMW) consumption in Turkey is increasing every year. Depending on the local geology from which the water is extracted, BMW could be enhanced with natural radionuclides. In this study, the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides in 58 BMW samples of 25 different brands marketed in Turkey were measured using a γ-ray spectrometer with high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The average activity concentrations of 226Ra, 228Ra, and 40K in BMW samples were found as 0.4, 0.5, and 4.3 Bq/L, respectively. The activity concentrations of 228Ra exceeded the WHO-recommended maximum permissible limit of 0.1 Bq/L for drinking water. The annual effective dose (AED) and excess lifetime cancer risk (LCR) caused by the ingestion of each BMW sample were estimated for adults to assess radiological risks using two different scenarios based on BMW consumption rates (150 and 13 L/y). All estimated total AEDs, except for two samples, were below the guidance dose level of 100 μSv/y recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Turkish regulations for drinking water. For all BMW brands, 228Ra was found as the main contributor to the AEDs. The LCR values were lower than the acceptable value of 10–3 for radiological risks.

Legal Responses to Plagiarist Academics: The Practicality of Regulations in Turkish Higher Education

This study follows a case study pattern of qualitative research while examining the practical manageability of Turkish regulations against plagiarism in academic platforms. The dataset comprises the Law of Intellectual and Artistic Works and four higher education regulations. This study analyses these documents according to descriptive content analysis technique. The analysis shows that the variety of legal regulations have led to a sophistication of procedures following during the investigation and decision-making of plagiarism cases in academic platforms. Therefore, higher education authorities should make an effort to constitute one unified, comprehensive and detailed law against unethical behaviours, mainly plagiarism, in academia.

Heavy Metal Concentrations and Health Risk Assessment in Sarda sarda (Bloch, 1793) Caught in the Turkish Black Sea Coasts

In this study, it was aimed to determine heavy metal levels in muscle tissues of Atlantic bonito samples caught in the Eastern Black Sea Region and to determine their potential to pose a risk to human health. The concentrations of Fe, Zn, Cu, Pb, Mn, and Al have been measured in the edible muscle of Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda Bloch, 1793) from the Trabzon and Rize coasts of the southern Black Sea from September 2020 to December 2020. Cd, Cr, Co, and Ni were not detected in the edible part of S. sarda in both coastal areas. These concentrations are lower than the maximum permissible values in European and Turkish regulations. The average weekly intake of heavy metals per body weight value not exceeded the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI) established. Therefore, it may be concluded that these ten metals should not pose any health threat to the consumers resulting from the consumption of S. sarda.

Legal gender recognition in Turkey

Despite recent advances in transgender rights in European countries, some legal systems still have barriers such as obligatory diagnosis, sterilization, and medical interventions and incorporating societal acceptance and public order into their discourse. This study dealing with the regime of legal gender recognition in Turkey first reveals critical reciprocating historical developments in national legal regulations for affirming trans identities. Then, the recent conditions laid down by the 2017 Constitutional Court judgments stating that transgender people do not require permanent sterilization any more but require sex reassignment surgery for legal gender change are evaluated. Moreover, this paper explains that while the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights partly reflects the current Turkish legislation, it is not a big step for transgender rights. The findings also underline that the new Turkish regulations appear reformist but are indeed strong measures for legal consistency to solve the dilemma in the previous period in order to maintain the status quo.

An overview of non-clinical safety studies in current Turkish regulations for the development of COVID-19 vaccines

• Turkish regulatory authority TITCK has published new guidance documents for non-clinical evaluation of human vaccines. • In contrary to WHO guideline, they recommend conduct of the repeated dose toxicity studies in two mammalian species. • Such an obligation may delay timely conduct of clinical trials together with increment in overall development costs. • It may also pose additional problems since it is inconsistent with 3R principles. • Therefore, it should be removed from the current TITCK guidelines for non-clinical evaluation of vaccines.

Incidence of multiple births in relation to current regulations in Turkey regarding embryo transfer

BackgroundBefore 2010, there were no regulations in Turkey regarding the number of embryos to be transferred in one cycle. In March 2010, regulations restricting this number were implemented by the Turkish Ministry of Health. These specify the transfer of a maximum of one embryo in the first and second cycles and a maximum of two embryos in subsequent cycles in women aged < 35, and a maximum of two embryos in women aged ≥35 in any one cycle. Our study evaluates the effect of these regulations.MethodsThis large retrospective single center study first evaluates the incidence of multiple pregnancies before and after the implementation of the 2010 regulations. Secondly, it compares the clinical outcomes of double blastocyst transfer (DBT) and single blastocyst transfer (SBT) performed in compliance with these regulations from 2014 onwards.ResultsAfter the introduction of the 2010 regulations, the multiple pregnancy rate decreased significantly from 37.9 to 15.7%. The singleton live birth rate increased significantly, whereas multıiple live birth rates significantly decreased (p = < 0.001).When the clinical outcomes of SBT and DBT performed in compliance with regulations from 2014 onwards were evaluated, in patients < 35 years, the multiple pregnancy rate decreased from 47.2% in the DBT group to 1.7% in the SBT group (p = < 0.001). In patients ≥35 years, in the DBT group, the twin birth rate was again high at 28.4%, whereas in the SBT group, it was only 1.8% (p = < 0.001). Importantly, there was no statistically significant difference in clinical pregnancy rates between these two groups.ConclusionTurkish regulations have led to an encouragement of double embryo transfer (DET) as a routine practice, with many patients understanding it as an absolute right to have two embryos transferred. The results of our study suggest that, especially in the light of the success of blastocyst transfer, the Turkish regulations should be amended to limit the use of DET and encourage the use of single embryo transfer except in exceptional cases and particularly in women under 35 years old.

A Comparative Study of ISO/IEC 17065:2012 Standards, Accreditation Processes Implemented in Turkey Regarding Turkish Organic Agriculture Legislations

In this study, the ISO 17065:2012 Conformity Assessment—through comparisons between the required standards for organizations that provide certifications towards products, processes, and services, and the programs regarding the certification of organic agricultural practices in Turkey that are regulated by Turkish Regulations on Principles and Implementation of Organic Agriculture, some recommendations are developed for applications in similar countries, by investigating the similar or contradictory issues surrounding the conformity assessment activities with the regulations published in this field. To contribute to the management and improvement of the certification and accreditation processes of the conformity assessment bodies carrying out the certification activities of the agricultural certification programs within the scope of the ISO 17065:2012 standard, the degree of compliance has been identified by comparing the requirements of the Regulations on the Principles and Implementation of Organic Agriculture. The compatibility of these documents and the absence of conflict in these practices will provide a sense of confidence for all relevant parties, including consumers benefiting from the organic market. According to the conclusions of this evaluation, comparison results were interpreted, taking into account the degrees of compliance from the perspectives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Turkey that carries out the provisions of the Regulation on the Principles and Implementation of Organic Agriculture, the Turkish Accreditation Agency (TURKAK) that carries out accreditation activities according to the Regulation, and the certification bodies that are the implementers of the standards mentioned above and regulations, the problem areas were determined, and recommendations have been developed. The national problems in this context have been specified, and recommendations were developed based on observations and examinations of ISO 17065:2012 international standard.

OPTIMAL ENERGY DESIGN AND RETROFIT RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE TURKISH BUILDING SECTOR

ABSTRACT This paper introduces methodologies and optimal strategies to reduce the energy consumption of the building sector with the aim to reduce global energy usage of a given .region or country. Many efforts are underway to develop investment strategies for large-scale energy retrofits and stricter energy design standards for existing and future buildings. This paper presents a study that informs these strategies in a novel way. It introduces support for the cost-optimized retrofits of existing, and design improvements of new buildings in Turkey with the aim to offer recommendations to individual building owners as well as guidance to the market. Three building types, apartment, single-family house and office are analyzed with a novel optimization approach. The energy performance of each type is simulated in five different climate regions of Turkey and four different vintages. For each vintage, the building is modelled corresponding to local Turkish regulations that applied at the time of construction. Optimum results are produced for different goals in terms of energy saving targets. The optimization results reveal that a 50% energy saving target is attainable for the retrofit and a 40% energy saving target is attainable for new design improvements for each building type in all climate regions.

INCIDENCE OF MULTIPLE BIRTHS IN RELATION TO CURRENT REGULATIONS IN TURKEY REGARDING EMBRYO TRANSFER

The aim of our study is to evaluate the 2010 regulations in Turkey regarding the number of embryos which can be transferred. This retrospective single center study evaluated single versus multiple births before and after the introduction of 2010 Turkish regulations. The study is based on data from Istanbul Memorial Hospital, ART and Genetics Center used to evaluate the 2010 regulations, which restricts the number of embryos to be transferred. According to the regulation; double embryo transfer (DET) is allowable after two unsuccessful attempts in cases up to maternal age of 35 and in any one cycle in cases ≥35. For the period from March 2003 to June 2019, a total of 31,459 cycles were analyzed to evaluate the overall effect of 2010 regulations. For the period from January 2014 to July 2019, a total of 4450 cycles were evaluated according to two different ages groups, patients <35 and patients from 35-42 years of age with single or double blastocyst transfer performed in compliance with current regulations. First the overall effect of the introduction of the regulations on multiple births was evaluated regardless of previous ART attempts and maternal age. Secondly, the clinical results of fresh and frozen-thawed single or double blastocyst transfer in patients <35 years with a history of 2 or 3 previous unsuccessful ART attempts and in patients ≥ 35 (35-42) years with a history of either no previous attempts or 1,2 or 3 attempts were evaluated. In the first study groups (March 2003 to July 2019), the parameter most significantly affected by the introduction of the regulations was the number of the embryos transferred. The percentage of single embryo transfer (SET ) cycle increased dramatically from 14% to 56.6%. However, despite a fall from 32.4%, the incidence of twin births remained high at 15.5%. In the second study groups from January 2014 to July 2019, in young patients <35 years with 2 or 3 previous cycles, the twin birth rate was very high at 47.26 % in the double blastocyst group whereas it was only 1.75% when a single blastocyst was transferred (p=0.0001). In patients ≥ 35 years (35-42) with zero,1,2 and 3 previous cycles, in the double blastocyst transfer group, the twin birth rate was again high at 28.4% whereas in the single blastocyst transfer group it was only 1.8% (p=0.0001). Importantly, there was no statistically significant difference in clinical pregnancy rates between these two groups (67.4% vs 67.5% in the <35 group, and 59.1% vs 54.1% in the ≥ 35 year group) (p=0.846 and p=0.055). Thus, in DET, there was a high risk of twin births and no advantage in terms of pregnancy rates. As a result of the wording of the current regulations, there has been a high demand for DET in both young and older patients. Our study strongly suggests that, especially in the light of the success of blastocyst transfer, the Turkish regulations should be amended to limit the use of DET and encourage the use of SET apart from in exceptional cases and particularly in women under 35 years old.

Determination of physicochemical and microbiological properties and fatty acid composition of butter produced in Trabzon, Turkey

In this study, the some physicochemical properties, fatty acid compositions and microbiological properties of butter samples were studied. Butter samples (n = 30) were randomly collected from different local markets. Thus, butter samples were evaluated in terms of Turkish regulations, food safety and quality. The mean values of the butter samples for peroxide value (PV), iodine value (IV), saponification value (SV), Polenske value, Reichert-Meissl (RM) and Refractive index (RI) values were determined as 0.85 mEqO2 kg-1, 30.03, 220.09, 1.30, 25.60 and 1.4611, respectively. The moisture and fat values were not in harmony with Turkish Food Codex Butter, Other Milk Fat Based Spreadable Products and Anhydrous Milkfat Notification (the highest moisture content 16%, the lowest fat content 80%) in 23 and 13 butter samples, respectively. The salt values were coherent with Turkish Food Codex in all butter samples. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) rate of the butter samples was ranged from 0.15 to 1.32%. The average values of coliforms, total aerobic mesophilic bacteria (TAMB) and mould and yeasts counts were determined as 1.67, 6.33 and 5.22 log CFU g-1, respectively.

Boron concentrations in tap water in many cities of Turkey

Boron concentrations in 335 tap water samples collected from 75 cities in Turkey have been determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Boron levels ranged between 0.001 and 5.5 mg/L. The lowest boron levels were in Trabzon, the highest in Kayseri. Boron levels in tap water from cities of the Aegean, Eastern, and Central Anatolian Regions were higher than those from cities of the Marmara, Black Sea, South East, and Mediterranean Regions. The overall mean value was around 0.2 mg/L, lower than the limit levels given by the WHO and the European Union, and also the limit level established by Turkish regulations. In some cities, these limit values were exceeded, generally in the tap water of cities where the drinking water based on groundwater or of those located in the vicinity of hot springs, volcanic areas, or boron production regions. This is the most detailed study evaluating boron levels in the drinking water of Turkey. To conclusion, since the boron intake is being mainly with nutrients and drinking water it may effect public health. To know boron levels in drinking waters is also very important for epidemiologic studies and for establishment of database of boron level in drinking waters in Turkey.

Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research: A Comparison Between Turkey and Iran

: The human embryo has a special character, with its ability to hold the personal data of both ova and sperm donors and its own, in addition to its potential to become a human being. For this reason, states should give the human embryo proper protection, which should be more rigorous than any somatic or germ cells of a human being. Legal protection provided by states reflects their view on the moral status of the human embryo. The moral status of the human embryo is gradual, but it is difficult to measure the stages of the human embryo’s development since its development is a continuous process. It is possible to say that the 14-day rule, the early embryonic stage, transfer to the women’s body, and ensoulment are accepted as important stages for human Embryonic Stem Cell Research (hESCR). According to Turkish regulations, it is not possible to do hESCR in Turkey. Iran gives permission to use spare/surplus embryos in hESCR based on fatwas, and regulates the conditions clearly in guidelines. Iran’s regulations and practices are a reflection of the view that the human embryo has a gradual independent moral status. Graduality is provided by the stages of the 14-day rule, implantation into the womb, and ensoulment. However, in Turkey, although the gradual independent moral status view is seen in the regulations on abortion and assisted reproductive techniques, it is seen that regulations on hESCR are incompatible with other regulations on the practices concerning the human embryo. We believe that Turkey should permit hESCR, at least, on spare/surplus human embryos.

Türkiye'deki Yahudi Kökenli Alman Bilim Adamları (1933-1939)

This research provides an introduction to the conditions of Jews in the Ottoman Empire and after the declaration of the Turkish Republic in 1923 AD. It also discusses their condition in Germany up until the ascendance of the Adolf Hitler-led Nazi Party in 1933, which enacted many laws that stripped Jewish scholars in Germany of their jobs. These measures against the Jewish scholars in Germany coincided with the University revolution spearheaded by Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk), which led the Turkish government to invite Jewish Professor Albert Malche to study the educational system in Turkey and prepare a report recommending the necessary changes. According to the Malche report, many German Jewish scholars immigrated to Turkey. This research also discusses the reasons behind Turkey's use of Jewish scholars, its measures to organize their presence in it, and the message from famous scientist Albert Einstein to the Prime Minister of Turkey, Mustafa İsmet (İnönü), dated September 17, 1933, imploring him to employ 40 Jewish scholars and doctors. The research also discusses the emergence of anti-Semitism in Turkey, its causes and impact on the Jewish scholars in Turkey, the position taken by the Turkish government, and Turkish regulations and laws that prohibited Jews from entering and staying in Turkey.

A STUDY OF SOURCES OF LAW OF SPORTS ORGANIZATION AUTONOMY - A CROSS COUNTRY COMPARISON BETWEEN TAIWAN AND TURKEY

The concept of sports governance has become more and more popular in recent years and has received considerable attention in practice and academia. From institutional theory to environmental dynamics, it is considered that the governance structure of the organization is to coordinate external pressures and interact with other organizations, regulatory environments, and systems, especially laws and regulations. The purpose of this study is to analyze the sources of law of sports organizations autonomy in Taiwan and Turkey. Turkey and Taiwan are very similar in the structure and environment of sports governance. And Turkey is better than Taiwan in terms of the competitive performs participation of international sports and the holding of mega sports events. Therefore, this research analyzed the content and changes of relevant laws and regulations of Taiwan and Turkey on the basis of document analysis and uses relevant government documents and announcements as a source of data analysis. This study found that Turkey has passed the Sports Association Autonomy Act in 2004 and many associations have completed self-government. However, there are still rooms for Turkish Sports organizations of autonomy. There are two issues of autonomy of Turkish Sports organizations, board elections and funding. Turkish Sports organizations are still highly relying on the funding of government and have the government-appointed person in the supervisory members of the association. In contrast, after the 2017 Taipei Universiade, Taiwan was under pressure from public opinion, and the government amended the National Sports Law. It stipulates that the association should have a transparent electoral system, open participation for the whole people, and amendments to the player selection system. It seems that the part of Taiwan's regulations is more perfect than the Turkish regulations and more in line with the spirit of good governance. However, such reforms are also worrying about the government's excessive involvement in the association. Good governance is like a road without an end, and many developed countries are still moving towards this goal. Taiwan and Turkey have also undergone reforms and gradually move toward a good governance path. However, in order to achieve the goal of good governance, in addition to the improvement of the regulatory environment, what more important is the attitude of the leaders and the public to the sports organization. First of all, we must publicize the concept of good governance, and establish a sound organizational structure and organizational charter. Furthermore, through the constraints of external stakeholders, the entire sports organization network can be more stable. The fulfilment of good governance of sports can also be possible.

Incidence of aflatoxin M1 contamination in milk, white cheese, kashar and butter from Sakarya, Turkey

Abstract The purpose of this research is to determine the incidence and occurrence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in 104 samples of milk, white cheese, kashar and butter in Sakarya, Turkey. Followed by immunoaffinity column (IAC) purification, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-fluorescence detection method was implemented to analyze the samples. Results show that 61.5% of milk, 40% of white cheese, 65.4% of kashar and 29.6% of butter contains AFM1. In 53 of samples (50.96%) are not determined AFM1. The amount of AFM1 in 51 samples (49.04%) ranges from 2.4 to 47.8 ng/L/kg. AFM1 levels do not exceed the limit set by Turkish regulations (50 ng/L/kg). However, the incidence of AFM1 contamination is a potential health risk for customers, particularly for children and infants. These results emphasize the significance of constant monitoring of AFM1 levels in milk and dairy products (MDPs) in Sakarya, Turkey.

Assessing the reliability of Turkish building energy performance tool (BEP-TR2) by case tests

This paper aims to draw a general picture of the simplified software for calculation building energy performance based on Turkish Regulations called BEP-tr.v2, which was released at the end of 2017. Even the tool has a simplified calculation methodology, the discussion in this paper is going to be focused on assessing the accuracy of the tool by test cases. The assessing procedure for the tool has two steps. In the first step, box type cases are analyzed, and the results are compared with the results of a detailed energy simulation tool (BES) to perceive the percentage of deviations. In the second step, a current building is selected to use as a test case. The model results are compared with the real consumptions of the building to see the convergence rate of the tool (Bep-TR2). The results showed that the net energy calculation procedure of the methodology needs to be improved.

Uluslararası Rehberler ve Türk Mevzuatı Çerçevesinde Klinik Araştırmalar Etik Kurullarında Karar Verme Sürecinin Standardizasyonu

Uluslararası Rehberler ve Türk Mevzuatı Çerçevesinde Klinik Araştırmalar Etik Kurullarında Karar Verme Sürecinin Standardizasyonu

NF-RO Membrane Performance for Treating the Effluent of an Organized Industrial Zone Wastewater Treatment Plant: Effect of Different UF Types

Reuse of water is necessary in Organized Industrial Zones (OIZ) due to excessive use of groundwater in semi-arid Turkey. Membrane treatment of the OIZ wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents should be explored for new treatment options. In this study, three different UF membranes with variable molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) values (4, 10, and 250 kDa) were used to treat the effluent of an OIZ WWTP at laboratory scale. Six different nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes were used for the effluent of UF membranes to evaluate the difference in the membrane filtration performance and the water quality. Effluent electrical conductivity (EC) values of NF membranes were 1.77 ± 0.17, 3.73 ± 0.27, and 4.20 ± 0.23 ms/cm for NF (NF90, NF270, and TM610) membranes, respectively while they were 0.83 ± 0.47, 1.17 ± 0.47, and 1.13 ± 0.57 ms/cm for RO (XLE, AD90, and BW30) membranes, respectively. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) images showed severe biofouling in UF 4 kDa and UF 10 kDa membranes whereas UF 250 kDa membrane showed larger metal precipitates and little bacterial fouling. The results indicated that OIZ WWTP effluent could be reused as irrigation water according to Turkish regulations with UF 250 kDa and RO-XLE membranes, effectively.