In Turkey, official announcements — public tender notices, court notifications and similar public notices — are distributed to the press by the Press Advertisement Agency (Basın İlan Kurumu, BIK). The short answer to the question is yes, a newspaper can receive them; but the right does not arise automatically. Article 9 of the Regulation on Official Announcements and Advertisements grants the right to publish official announcements to newspapers and online news sites that fulfil their qualifications and duties fully and in good time, in accordance with the procedures and principles determined by category.
The Regulation requires three conditions
Article 11 gathers the conditions for acquiring the right into three sub-paragraphs. They are not independent of one another: the waiting period does not run during any period in which you do not meet the conditions, and you must maintain the same qualifications throughout it.
First identify your category
The answer to “what must my newspaper do” depends on the category you fall into. Article 32 divides newspapers into six categories by place of publication.
| Category | Place of publication |
|---|---|
| 1st Category | İstanbul |
| 2nd Category | Ankara, İzmir |
| 3rd Category | Adana, Antalya, Aydın, Balıkesir, Bursa and other provinces listed in the article |
| 4th Category | Afyonkarahisar, Batman, Bolu, Çanakkale and other provinces listed |
| 5th Category | Provinces listed in the article |
| 6th Category | Remaining places of publication |
Category is not merely a label: your staffing requirement, your minimum surface area and your quota all follow from it.
Which items are examined in practice
The part of the Regulation dealing with newspapers regulates the headings required to acquire the right one by one — the concession holder, continuity of publication, the masthead, minimum staffing, minimum surface area, the place of business, bookkeeping and so on. That list turns “can my newspaper receive announcements” into a concrete checklist: if one item is missing the right does not arise, and if a deficiency is found on inspection the start of the waiting period moves later.
The waiting period: 36 months
Article 33(1) is a single sentence for newspapers: the waiting period to which they are subject in order to acquire the right to publish official announcements is 36 months. No exception shortening that period is provided for newspapers.
For online news sites the position is different: the period is 24 months as a rule and falls to 6 months in two cases. We set that out in the online news site guide.
When the period starts
Under Article 15 the start date of the waiting period is the date on which it is established, following an inspection or examination carried out on your application, that you possess the required conditions and qualifications — not the date of your application. Going into an inspection with a deficiency does not extend the period; it prevents it from starting.
Conclusion
Your newspaper can receive official announcements. To do so you must make a signed request, meet the conditions of your category in full and complete the 36-month waiting period. The process begins not with the application but with the determination, on inspection, that you meet the conditions.
How the waiting period runs is covered in the waiting period guide and what software can and cannot solve in the BIK compliant software guide.