Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: History, Definition, Legal Status in Turkey and in the World

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle/System (UAV/UAS or drone) is a kind of plane which has neither a pilot nor passengers on board and only carries fit-for-purpose equipment such as video camera, camera, GNSS receiver, laser scanner, etc. UAV can be used either remotely controlled or autonomously. Military, civil (hobby and commercial) and scientific uses of UAVs have rapidly increased both in Turkey and in the world. Thus, it is anticipated that in near future this issue will be more frequently in the World’s agenda. High accuracy, economy in time, cost and personnel in professional uses of UAVs such as in surveying can be considered to be some basic reasons of this increasing demand for UAV. On the other hand, it is a fact that the intensive uses of UAVs in our daily life both for professional applications and hobby purposes have given rise to some legal issues together. Today, in many countries, there are either no regulations or some have been improved/updated as draft versions continuously. Due to this fact, some comprehensive studies are being achieved related to the legal frames of using UAVs/drones by FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) and EUROCONTROL. In Turkey, some preparations are being developed about UAV/drone issues by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation under the Ministry of Maritime, Transportation and Communication.The main purpose of this paper is to give some brief information related to the civil uses of UAV/UAS/drones and their fields of use. And also to provide a comprehensive information on the current status of the legal frames and regulations in Turkey and in the World and accordingly to make some suggestions following the determination of the state of legal issues in many countries. On the other hand, military uses and regulations of UAV/UAS/drones have been excluded in this study.