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Status: Delegated
country: Istanbul, Turkey
Registry Provider: Afilias
Registry: Istanbul Dijital Medya Tic. A.S.
Registry Backend: Afilias
Type: Generic
Category: Culture
Priority #: 808
Registrations: 8,062
Parked Domains: 5,455
Parked Domain %: 67.66 %
Important Dates
Delegation: 12 July 2015
General Availability: 10 May 2016

More Information: 1}}

.ist is a geographical TLD delegated 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.[1].[2] The applicant also applied for .istanbul. The name was applied for as a GeoTLD, which includes obtaining the respective government support, but ICANN deemed that the term in question does not in fact refer to a geographic area as defined by its standards. The ruling was made by the Geographic Names Panel, and has no necessarily overt, negative repercussions for the application.[3]

Application Details


"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 .ist TLDʹs mission is to create ʺISTʺ brand for Istanbul at national and international levels, provide an alternative usage as short-form for Istanbul, encourage innovation, 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. Everyone will have the opportunity to chose their online presence through ʺ.istʺ TLD or ʺ.istanbulʺ TLD.


The IMM will implement a global registration policies to achieve its goals. These are grouped under the following headings: 1. Registry Services through experienced, powerful, centralized registry service provider. 2. Start-up period Policies (Grandfathering, Sunrise A, Sunrise B, Landrush) 3. Registry Registrar Agreement (RRA)

The IMM expects a significant rush for domain name registrations during the period immediately following the initial opening of the TLD (the ʺStart-Up Periodʺ), after the close of the Landrush Period. In order to roll out the registry in a responsible fashion, and ensure proper and accurate processing of the registrations in a fair manner across all registrars, we will implement the following variations in its registry policies in coordinated with back-end registry service provider during the Start-Up Period which is expected to last for more than four months.

At least four months (120 days) prior to the proposed TLDs being opened to the general public, the IMM, in coordination with the intellectual property community, will make a general public announcement with the estimated date that it will open the proposed TLD to the general Internet community.

The IMM will implement a series of special policies with a detailed Launch Plan during a ʺStart-up Periodʺ. The Launch Plan will be intended to deter abusive and bad faith registrations of proposed TLDs Domain Names and to create a stable and effective launch of proposed TLD Domain Names for the benefit of the Internet community on a local and global level.

Schedule for Start-up

The IMM will introduce a detailed .TLD Launch Plan which intends to provide for the allocation of Domain Names in the proposed gTLD in a fair, orderly and equitable manner, and described in detailed at question #29 Rights Protection Mechanisms.

The following list provides a summary of the four phases of the Launch Plan:

  • Phase 1: Grandfathering (one month). The IMM intend to provide one month timeframe for grandfathering for existing Registrants of Third Level Name(s) of .TR ccTLD.
  • Phase 2: Sunrise (two months). Sunrise “Local (A)” for local trademarks, and Sunrise “Global (B)” for global trademarks.
  • Phase 3: Landrush (one month): Period during which interested parties can seek to register Domain Names not previously registered through the Grandfather Process or Sunrise Process, or otherwise reserved by the Registry or Restricted by theses Launch Rules, but where the allocation of Domain Names is not done on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Phase 4: General Availability: As from the start of this phase, Domain Names that have not been previously registered can be registered on a first-come, first-served basis."[4]