If you sell to customers in Türkiye, you will talk to them on WhatsApp. TÜİK’s 2026 ICT Usage Survey found that 90% of people aged 16–74 use WhatsApp, ahead of YouTube (77.6%) and Instagram (71.1%); internet use reached 92.3% and 60% of people bought something online.
For a foreign company the question is how to run that channel as a team, in Turkish, without a phone on someone’s desk. That is what the WhatsApp Business API is for.
App or API?
The WhatsApp Business app runs on one phone: one person at a time, no AI, no automated notifications. The WhatsApp Business API (Meta’s Cloud API) connects your number to software such as MonoChat, so your whole team answers from one number, an AI assistant handles routine questions in Turkish, and order, booking and payment updates go out automatically with approved templates.
With coexistence you can keep the WhatsApp Business app on the phone and connect the same number to MonoChat.
What it costs for +90 numbers
Meta charges per delivered message sent by the business; messages from customers are free. Rates for Türkiye in the USD rate card effective 1 October 2026:
| Category | Used for | Per message (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | Campaigns, offers | 0.0109 |
| Utility | Orders, shipping, bookings, account updates | 0.0009 |
| Authentication | One-time passwords | 0.0009 |
| Service | Free-form replies within 24 hours | 0.0009 |
Two exceptions matter:
- The first 1,000 service messages each month are free, per business number, resetting monthly.
- Click-to-WhatsApp ads open a free entry point window in which marketing, utility, authentication and service messages are not charged.
Meta bills these fees to you directly. MonoChat adds no markup; your MonoChat plan is separate.
The 24-hour window
A customer message opens a 24-hour customer service window, which resets with each new message. Inside it you can send free-form messages; outside it, only Meta-approved templates. Meta also asks you to message only people who opted in. In MonoChat the message box locks when the window closes, and you send an approved template instead.
Where data lives, and KVKK
When you connect a number to the Cloud API you choose your business country, which sets Meta’s storage region. Türkiye is not one of the regions offered in MonoChat’s setup form. If data must stay in-house, MonoChat runs on your own servers on the Enterprise plan.
Transfers of personal data abroad fall under Article 9 of Türkiye’s data protection law (KVKK). According to the KVKK Authority, a transfer based on standard contracts must be notified to the Authority within five business days of signing, and since the Board’s decision of 17 October 2024 this can be done online through the Standard Contract Notification Module. This is a checklist, not legal advice.
Setting it up with MonoChat
- Open an account on app.monochat.ai; the Basic plan is free and needs no card.
- Connect WhatsApp in Settings: choose WhatsApp Business API (Cloud), accept the agreement, pick your country and connect your business account and number in Meta’s window.
- Invite the team and set roles and workgroups. Our team in Türkiye can help in English or Turkish.
- Set up the assistant from your website and FAQs, or install the app for your sector.
- Get templates approved for orders, bookings and campaigns.