Yes — so far as those whose publication is compulsory are concerned. General Assembly Principle Decision No. 174 of the Press Advertisement Agency (decided 26.05.2006, Official Gazette 31.05.2006 / 26184) held that announcements insurance and reinsurance companies are obliged to publish under legislation are treated as official announcements.
The subject of the decision
The decision was taken on a dispute between the Association of the Insurance and Reinsurance Companies of Turkey and the Directorate General of the Press Advertisement Agency. The dispute had two limbs: are these announcements treated as official announcements, and can they be published, under the division of duties in Law No. 195, through Agency branches and provincial governorships in newspapers holding the right to publish official announcements?
The General Assembly examined the matter under Article 30 of Law No. 195 and settled it by principle decision.
What the decision says
According to the decision, announcements whose publication is or will be compulsory under the relevant legislative provisions are among the official announcements within the definition in Article 29(a) of Law No. 195.
The definition quoted in the decision is: announcements whose publication is compulsory under laws, by-laws and regulations (private associations excepted) and which do not bear an advertising character are treated as official announcements.
The second conclusion concerns procedure: announcements within that scope must, under the division of duties determined by Law No. 195, be published through Agency branches in places where there is an Agency branch and through provincial governorships elsewhere, in newspapers holding the right to publish official announcements.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Are compulsory insurance announcements official announcements? | Yes |
| Can they be given directly to a newspaper? | No — through an Agency branch or governorship |
| In which publications do they appear? | In publications holding the right to publish official announcements |
An important caveat: the legislation referred to has changed
The principle the decision carries is this: an announcement whose publication is compulsory under legislation and which does not bear an advertising character is an official announcement. That principle appears in the same terms today in Article 5(1)(a) of the Regulation on Official Announcements and Advertisements.
Announcements that are not compulsory
The decision covers only compulsory announcements. Promotional announcements an insurance company gives on its own initiative are not within that scope; they are treated as advertising under the definition in Article 6 and published over the publication’s own tariff.
The distinction arises less from the identity of the giver than from the nature of the announcement: compulsion makes it an official announcement, a promotional purpose makes it advertising.
Similar decisions
The same principle has been applied in other sectors. General assembly convocation announcements of tradesmen and craftsmen credit and guarantee cooperatives were treated as official announcements by Decision No. 220 and compulsory announcements of foundation universities by Decision No. 162 — see the cooperative guide and the foundation university guide.
For an example in the opposite direction see the airline advertising guide: commercial announcements of public undertakings engaged in commercial activity were treated as advertising.
Conclusion
Announcements that insurance and reinsurance companies are obliged to publish under legislation are official announcements and are published, through Agency branches where there is a branch and through governorships elsewhere, in publications holding the right to publish official announcements. Promotional announcements a company gives by its own choice are advertising.
Because the insurance legislation referred to in the decision has since changed, verify the current basis of the compulsion separately in any particular case.