E-Devlet: Service to the Turkish Citizen or a Tool in the Hand of a Centralized Government?

Abstract

E-Devlet (officially E-Devlet Kapisi) is the Turkish equivalent of E-government. It is a digital environment that facilitates the relationship and the problem solving procedures between the Turkish citizens and their government. Citizens can subscribe with their identity number or TC kimlik numarasi using their mobile devices or computers in order to obtain diverse documents ranging from health care or student status verifications to real estate ownership certificates. Though the E-Devlet seems to be a magnificient invention for the ordinary people that lets them arrange these papers hasslefree, and this method is also widespread in the Western hemisphere, in the frame of a more and more centralized and authoritarian rule under the Muslim conservative AKP governments, it is feared to be a way of controlling the Turkish nationals. As the system is not only willing to serve the citizen but also tries to collect the maximum amount of data on them, the gathered information could be misused and turned against the taxpayers. This effort of congregating all personal facts and figures is likewise a challenge for those responsible of the technical background of the project as shown by a 2018 incident of breakdown when the site could not resist the Turks interested in their family trees published by the government on E-Devlet.