According to the roadmap drafted by this four-member commission, the Ministry of Transportation will be solely responsible for coordinating search and rescue operations. Although this is the case in the current version of the regulations, in practice, the coordination duty is shared with the Ministry of the Interior. A search and rescue center will be established within the General Directorate of Civil Aviation and equipped with sufficient materials, equipment and personnel according to international standards. This center will be operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A new unit will be established within the State Airports Management General Directorate (DHMİ) to perform air traffic and flight services to assist the search and rescue center.

SMART management of Turkish airspace

The Ministry of Transportation will complete, in the shortest possible time, the Systematic Modernization of ATM Resources in Turkey (SMART) project that will ensure central management of Turkish airspace. The air traffic radar systems mounted in seven zones under this project will be updated with state-of-the-art-technology to scale up flight security.

A commission has been set up to prepare an outline for the revision of Turkey's search and rescue regulations in an effort to improve the safety of its airspace. Pieces of Yazıcıoğlu's helicopter sent to Germany for analysis The body and motor of the helicopter that carried the late leader of the Grand Unity Party (BBP), Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, to his death have been sent to Germany for analysis, BBP Deputy Chairman Ahmet Şanverdi said. Speaking at a press conference held at party headquarters, Şanverdi said the BBP is determined to establish the exact reason of the March helicopter crash that killed Yazıcıoğlu and five others. The inspection is expected to last 10 days. Some parts of the helicopter, including the ELT and GPS systems, will be examined in England, the United States and Canada, Şanverdi said. He also noted that despite requests made to state institutions to hand over the helicopter's maintenance and repair documents, no progress has been made. Meanwhile, the parliamentary Research Commission, formed to look into the helicopter crash, has completed its investigation into the crash in Kahramanmaraş, where the accident occurred. Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy Sadık Yakut, a member of the commission, said they do not want to experience such an incident again and will first submit their findings to Parliament before making them public. İstanbul Today's Zaman with wires

Türk Telekom will make sure that coastal radio stations are effectively used during search and rescue operations and coordinate the communications among vessels involving in these operations. It will also be responsible for establishing and operating Digital Selective Calling (DSC) and radio stations for relaying the calls it receives for medical help from vessels to the Ministry of Health.

The military also has a share

In addition, the General Staff, land, air and naval forces commands will establish search and rescue centers staffed by professionally trained personnel; these will be funded out of the Ministry of Defense budget. The Gendarmerie General Command and the General Directorate of Civil Defense will provide the necessary equipment and personnel for their search and rescue centers, while the centers run by the General Directorate of Health for Borders and Coasts and the General Directorate of Basic Health Services will be equipped with the necessary first aid and rescue equipment and materials. The Health Ministry's 112 Emergency Services system will also be overhauled, and these units will be equipped with devices that can locate people or vehicles requesting aid.

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the General Directorate of State Meteorological Services will assume important functions in search and rescue operations. The General Directorate of State Meteorological Services will report weather and sea conditions concerning the area where such operations are conducted to the main research and rescue coordination center.

Atılgan: Turkey may be declared risk zone

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Kürşat Atılgan, a retired air forces general, argues that if the search and rescue operations in Turkey are not made compliant with international standards, Turkish airspace may be deemed insecure. Atılgan cautions that all institutions must comply with the search and rescue regulations.

"After the search and rescue regulations were prepared, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) strictly adhered to the regulations. However, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation and the DHMİ failed to comply. The centers set forth in the regulations were not established, and they were not equipped as specified. Recruitment and training of personnel was not done. It is likely that Turkish airspace may be declared a risk zone," he said.

Increased air traffic

The commission has also mapped the current rate of air traffic in Turkish airspace according to the statistics provided by the Ministry of Transport. In 2008, 38 airports in Turkey served 624,345 passenger and cargo planes carrying about 68 million passengers.

 However, there is increasing trend in the number of flights in Turkish airspace. The number of passenger and cargo planes using Turkish airspace was 471,637 in 2005, 522,785 in 2006, 573,835 in 2007 and 624,345 in 2008, while the number of passengers on domestic and international flights was 54 million in 2005, 58 million in 2006, and 66 million in 2007.