Türkiye became a founding member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) by being among the 52 States that first signed the Chicago Convention on 7 December 1944. The Convention and its Annexes were ratified through Law No. 4749 dated 5 June 1945, and Türkiye was represented both in the Provisional Council of the Organization (PICAO/1945–1947) and in the First Council (1947–1950).

Subsequently, Türkiye was re-elected to the ICAO Council from the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) group for the 2016–2019 term during the elections held at the 39th Assembly between 27 September and 7 October 2016. Following the entry into force of the 2016 Amendment Protocol, which envisages increasing the number of Council members from 36 to 40 (requiring the completion of ratification procedures by at least 128 States), Türkiye is expected to be re-elected to the ICAO Council as the ECAC group’s candidate in the elections to be held for the additional four seats.

As civil aviation gained global significance beginning in the 1970s, ICAO’s activities were followed by the Turkish Embassy in Ottawa. In line with Türkiye’s efforts to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation in civil aviation and the importance attached to the ICAO’s work, Türkiye’s Resident Permanent Mission to ICAO was established and became operational in 1990.

Türkiye has been and is fully committed to ICAO’s strategic objectives; safety, security, environmental protection and sustainable growth of global civil aviation in by establishing international standards and recommended practices for the world’s civil aviation community.

Technical panels, committees and working groups within the ICAO play an important role in the process of developing and amending international aviation rules and recommended practices. These panels, committees and working groups, established under the Council, the Air Navigation Commission (ANC) or the Air Transport Committee (ATC), are composed of experts specialized in their respective fields. At present, a considerable number of Turkish experts participate in the ICAO’s technical activities as members and observers in various panels and working groups. Türkiye is the 14th largest contributor to the ICAO’s regular budget.

As a specialized technical agency of the United Nations, ICAO’s global civil aviation standards and recommended practices, as well as its technical capacity-building and cooperation activities, are closely followed in Türkiye by specialized institutions such as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the General Directorate of State Airports Authority under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.

Türkiye’s Permanent Mission closely follows the work of the Council and all committees and commissions subordinate to it, while the relevant Turkish institutions actively participate in the ICAO meetings.

Türkiye spares no effort in upholding the strategic objectives of the Organization and works closely with all countries and aviation partners to strengthen the safety, security, efficiency environmental integrity and sustainable growth of the world civil aviation.