Yes — at least so far as tradesmen and craftsmen credit and guarantee cooperatives are concerned. General Assembly Principle Decision No. 220 of the Press Advertisement Agency (decided 30 May 2025, Official Gazette 31 May 2025 / 32916) settled this doubt expressly.
The content of the decision
The decision addresses the doubt whether convocation announcements for general assemblies made by cooperatives in newspapers under their articles of association fall within the scope of official announcements and whether they must be published through the Agency, and makes two findings:
| Finding | Basis |
|---|---|
| These announcements are among official announcements | Arts. 5, 6 and 45 of Cooperatives Law No. 1163 and Art. 28 of the articles of association headed “Form of convocation”; Art. 29(a) of Law No. 195; Art. 5(1)(a) of the Regulation |
| They must be published through BIK | Arts. 31 and 45/A of Law No. 195 and Art. 7(1) of the Regulation; as to the list, Art. 37 of the Law and Art. 8 of the Regulation |
The logic of the decision is this: because how the convocation announcement is to be made is regulated in the Cooperatives Law and in the articles of association, the announcement is of a kind “whose publication is compulsory under legislation”. That brings it within the scope of Article 5(1)(a) of the Regulation.
The consequence: through the Agency, in listed publications
The second limb of the decision determines the practice: these official announcements must be published through the Press Advertisement Agency in periodicals holding the right to publish official announcements whose names appear on the list of newspapers and online news sites drawn up under Article 37 of the Law and Article 8 of the Regulation.
Why is this asked so often?
Cooperative general assembly convocations are a common and regular type of announcement; every cooperative holds a general assembly at least once a year. In practice these announcements are sometimes given directly to local newspapers. Decision No. 220 makes clear that this practice does not comply with the legislation.
That the decision dates from 2025 also matters: habits resting on older practice changed with it.
How disputes are resolved
Article 30 of Law No. 195 shows the route to be followed in disputes over whether an announcement is to be treated as official: where there is a dispute between the Agency’s Directorate General and those concerned, the decision of the Board of Directors is followed; where the Board considers it necessary, or the Directorate General or the party concerned so requests, the matter is referred to the General Assembly for a principle decision.
Principle decisions the General Assembly takes in that way or of its own motion are final and are published in the Official Gazette. Decision No. 220 was taken by that procedure.
Similar principle decisions
The General Assembly has resolved similar doubts for different sectors by separate decisions. The approach of treating compulsory announcements as official has also been applied to insurance and reinsurance companies and foundation universities.
Announcements of a commercial nature, by contrast, are treated as advertising; the typical example is covered in the airline advertising guide.
Conclusion
General assembly convocation announcements of tradesmen and craftsmen credit and guarantee cooperatives were treated as official announcements by General Assembly Principle Decision No. 220. They must be published through the Press Advertisement Agency in listed periodicals holding the right to publish official announcements.
The general definition of an official announcement is covered in the classification guide.