Istanbul domain names up for public use

The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality said the web address suffixes could now be bought online on a first come, first served basis.        

Until now, there was a pre-request period which companies or individuals had to endure, plus a sale by auction if more than one person wanted the same domain name.        

Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş initially unveiled the new scheme on Jan. 27 following an agreement between the city and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a non-profit global organization that regulates online domains.        

Berlin was the first city to launch its own web domain name in March 2014 and has been followed by others including London and New York.        

Those who are interested in buying the domain name extensions can visit “www.nic.istanbul” to register their names.