BlackBerry under review in Turkey

As concern spreads like wildfire in the Middle East and parts of Asia over security issues with the popular BlackBerry smartphones, Turkey announced it is also reviewing the devices due to "security concerns." On the global front, Saudi Arabia suspended BlackBerry messaging services on Friday, while India, Indonesia, Lebanon and Algeria were reportedly mulling similar moves.

Tayfun Acarer, the chief of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority, or ICTA, said a review has been launched into BlackBerry. "This will be concluded, I believe, in one or two weeks. We will share the results with the public," Turkish Daily News & Economic Review quoted him as saying.

Acarer further said security is not only a concern for "such devices," and that there is also a security problem with the Internet.
"The thing about Blackberry is related to the security of information," Acarer said, speaking in Istanbul. "If [a negative] result comes out of the review, [legal bodies] will decide on what to implement."

Milliyet newspaper reported Thursday that the ICTA has not received any complaints yet about BlackBerry from either the military or intelligence services. ICTA is the top authority in Turkey on mobile communications.

BlackBerry's encrypted emails and data are stored on servers in Canada, the headquarters of its maker, Research in Motion, or RIM, meaning third parties like intelligence agencies cannot monitor communications.