Crediting the source is not a courtesy but a statutory obligation, and the statute also enumerates what that credit must contain. Article 36(3) of the Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works No. 5846 ("FSEK") states one by one which elements are to be written, while the final paragraph of Article 35 requires that the quotation be made "in a manner that is apparent". In this article I first extract the elements the statute requires, and then give copy-and-paste source-line templates for news quotations, opinion-column summaries, agency copy and translated stories.
The elements the statute requires: FSEK Article 36(3)
The text of the duty to credit reads as follows:
FSEK Article 36 — third paragraph
"In all these cases it is necessary to state the name of the newspaper,
periodical or news agency quoted and, where these in turn have taken the
material from another source, the name of that source, together with the
date and issue number, and in addition the name, pen name or sign of the
authors of the articles."
(Unofficial translation; the Turkish text is authoritative.)When we break the sentence down into its elements, four items emerge. The statute's own words are these:
| Element | The statute's wording | Its equivalent in online news publishing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Name of the publication | the name of "the newspaper, periodical or news agency quoted" | The name of the news site, newspaper, periodical or agency you are quoting |
| 2. Original source | "where these in turn have taken the material from another source, the name of that source" | If the outlet you took the content from had itself taken it from someone else, the name of that first source |
| 3. Date and issue number | "the date and issue number" | The date of publication of the story; in print, the issue number as well |
| 4. Author | "the name, pen name or sign of the authors of the articles" | The author's name, the pen name used, or the mark used as a signature |
The second provision: the quotation must be made in a manner that is apparent
Article 36(3) governs the content of the credit; the final paragraph of Article 35 governs its visibility:
FSEK Article 35 — final paragraph
"The quotation must be made in a manner that is apparent. In scientific
works, in addition to the name of the work used and of its author, the place
from which the passage was taken shall be stated."
(Unofficial translation.)The practical consequence is this: the reader must be able to see which sentences are yours and which are quoted. Quotation marks, block-quote formatting or the use of italics are therefore not a typographic preference but a legal requirement. Dissolving a quotation into the flow of your own text and adding a general source line at the end does not satisfy this condition. Put the credit next to the quotation rather than at the very bottom of the piece; in a long story, a single source note sitting at the end does not show which of three separate quotations it belongs to, and is open to being argued over as an "insufficient source" within the meaning of Article 67(3).
Template 1 — News quotation (FSEK Article 36(1))
If you are quoting daily news or a report that appeared in another publication, this is the line to use. In an unsigned story the "name of the author of the article" cannot be written; write the remaining three elements in full and state that the story was unsigned — in that case, under FSEK Article 12, the publisher may exercise the rights and powers in its own name, meaning your counterpart is the publishing organisation.
NEWS QUOTATION — SOURCE LINE
Source: [Name of publication], [DD.MM.YYYY], [issue number if any: Issue
12345]. Reported by: [Reporter's name / pen name].
— Short form (for pages where the source field is narrow) —
Source: [Name of publication], [DD.MM.YYYY] — [Reporter's name]
— Where the publication itself took the content from another source
(Article 36(3), second element) —
Source: [Name of publication], [DD.MM.YYYY]; original source: [Name of the
first source]. Reported by: [Reporter's name].
— For an unsigned story —
Source: [Name of publication], [DD.MM.YYYY]. (The story was published
unsigned.)Template 2 — Opinion-column summary (FSEK Article 36(2))
With opinion columns the source line does not merely identify the source; it also makes clear under which regime you took the piece. If the right of quotation has been reserved you may take only an abridged press summary; stating that in the line gives you both transparency and a defence.
OPINION-COLUMN SUMMARY — SOURCE LINE
[Author's name]'s piece entitled "[Title of the piece]",
[Name of publication], [DD.MM.YYYY], [Issue 12345 if any].
The text above is a press summary prepared in abridged form pursuant to
Article 36(2) of Law No. 5846.
— Where a piece whose right of quotation has not been reserved is taken
as it stands —
This piece was published in [Name of publication] on [DD.MM.YYYY] under the
by-line of [Author's name]. It is quoted pursuant to Article 36(2) of Law
No. 5846.
— For authors writing under a pen name —
Under the by-line [Pen name], [Name of publication], [DD.MM.YYYY].
(Article 36(3) of the Law says "the name, pen name or sign"; the pen name
is sufficient.)We explain the difference between the two possibilities, and what the phrase "the right of quotation has been expressly reserved" means, in a table in our article devoted to quoting opinion columns.
Template 3 — Agency copy
Article 36(3) mentions news agencies expressly: the name of "the newspaper, periodical or news agency quoted". Naming the agency in agency-sourced content is therefore beyond argument.
AGENCY COPY — SOURCE LINE
[Name of agency], [DD.MM.YYYY].
— Where the story was taken from an agency, published in a newspaper, and
you took it from the newspaper —
Source: [Name of newspaper], [DD.MM.YYYY]; source of the story: [Name of
agency].
— Where the agency story has been used in part and the rest is your own
work —
The [first three paragraphs / factual section] of this story are sourced
from [Name of agency] ([DD.MM.YYYY]). The remaining sections were prepared
by [Name of your publication].
— Where the full text of a statement carried in an agency bulletin is used —
The full text of the statement is taken from the [Name of agency] bulletin,
[DD.MM.YYYY].Template 4 — Translated news
A translation is an adaptation under FSEK Article 6(1). The final paragraph of Article 6 requires, for an adaptation to be treated as a work, that it cause no prejudice to the rights of the author of the original work and that it bear the individual characteristics of the adapter; Article 8(2), for its part, says that the owner of an adaptation is the person who adapted it, subject to the rights of the author of the original work. For that reason, in a translated story both the original source and the translator must be stated.
TRANSLATED NEWS — SOURCE LINE
Source: [Name of foreign publication] ([Country]), [DD.MM.YYYY].
Original headline: "[Original headline]".
Translated into Turkish by: [Translator's name].
— Where only one section has been translated —
The [section in quotation marks] of this text is translated from the piece
entitled "[Original headline]", published in [Name of foreign publication]
on [DD.MM.YYYY] under the by-line of [Author's name].
Translation: [Translator's name].
— Where the translation was taken from an agency service —
Source: [Name of agency] Turkish service, [DD.MM.YYYY];
original text: [Name of foreign publication], [DD.MM.YYYY].On the HTML side: blockquote and cite
The cleanest way to satisfy the "quotation must be made in a manner that is apparent" requirement of Article 35 at page level is to mark the quotation up semantically. The structure below both separates the quotation visually and keeps the source adjacent to it:
<figure class="quote">
<blockquote cite="https://example-gazette.example/story/12345">
<p>The quoted text goes here. Only the necessary section is taken;
the rest is conveyed in your own words.</p>
</blockquote>
<figcaption>
Source:
<cite>Example Gazette</cite>,
<time datetime="2026-03-14">14.03.2026</time>,
Issue 12345 — Ayşe Yılmaz
</figcaption>
</figure>Note three things. The cite attribute of the blockquote element keeps the address of the source in machine-readable form but does not appear on screen; for that reason the visible source line is written separately inside the figcaption. The cite element marks up the name of the publication and the time element the date. All four of the elements required by the statute appear in the visible text.
A checklist for the placement and form of the source line
SOURCE-CREDITING CHECKLIST
[ ] Has the name of the publication been written? (Art. 36(3), element 1)
[ ] If the content was taken over, has the original source been written?
(Art. 36(3), element 2)
[ ] Has the date been written? The issue number in print?
(Art. 36(3), element 3)
[ ] Is the author's name / pen name / sign present?
(Art. 36(3), element 4)
[ ] Can the quotation be distinguished from my own text?
(quotation marks, block quote or italics) (Art. 35 final para.)
[ ] Is the source line adjacent to the quotation?
[ ] Where there is more than one quotation, does each carry its own source?
[ ] For agency content, has the credit format required by the subscription
contract been used?
[ ] Does the photograph / video carry a separate source line?An incomplete credit produces the same result as no credit at all
The statute makes the defence "I credited the source" conditional on sufficiency. FSEK Article 67(3) enumerates three possibilities together and attaches the same consequence to all of them:
FSEK Article 67 — third paragraph
"In the cases enumerated in Articles 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39 and 40, where
the source has been stated incorrectly or insufficiently, or has not been
stated at all, the provision of the second paragraph applies."
(Unofficial translation.)The result of the reference to Article 67(2) is that the author's name must be inserted on the original and on the copies in circulation, and that publication of the judgment in up to three newspapers may be claimed at the infringer's expense. On the criminal side, Article 71(1)(3) ties quotation without crediting the source to imprisonment from six months to two years or a judicial fine, while Article 71(1)(5) ties crediting the source in an insufficient, incorrect or misleading manner to imprisonment of up to six months.
To this is added the separate sanction in Article 24(1) of Press Law No. 5187; we set out in detail how the two regimes operate together in our article on the penalty for republishing without credit. We establish through the provisions that crediting the source does not replace permission in a separate article.
We set out the limits of the freedom to quote, and when each article comes into play, with a decision flow in our article on the freedom to quote news. For an editorial set-up that makes source fields mandatory for every content type, you can look at the field definitions on the news publishing software side.