Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey hosted the D-8 Workshop on Information Technologies on April, 16-17 2014 in Ankara. Representatives from Foreign and Interior Ministries of the D-8 member countries participated in the workshop.

During the workshop, participants were briefed about the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s applications of information technologies, particularly e-Visa Application System. Other member countries also made presentations concerning their own applications. Moreover, opportunities for concrete cooperation projects between Foreign and Interior Ministries of D-8 member countries of D-8 were addressed.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Head of Information Technologies Department, Mr. Haldun Koç emphasized that in globalized world, there are 2,7 billion internet users, 6 billion mobile phone users and these statistics further increase the importance of information technologies. He said that the Turkish Foreign Ministry has been a pioneer in improving the quality of services by using information technologies and pointed out the e-Visa Application System as one of the best examples in this regard. The e-Visa Application System which was launched on April 17, 2013 is unique in terms of its scope. Through the system, more than one million e-Visas were issued for citizens of the 98 countries in one year.