For internet news sites the category works on a different logic from that of newspapers: it is not the place of publication but the quota place that is taken as a basis, and above them there is also a General Category.
Table-5: The Categories
| Category | Quota place |
|---|---|
| General Category | Turkey-wide |
| Category 1 | &Inodot;stanbul |
| Category 2 | Ankara, &Inodot;zmir |
| Category 3 | Adana, Antalya, Aydın, Balıkesir, Bursa, Denizli, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Manisa, Mersin, Ordu, Sakarya, Samsun, Tekirdağ, Trabzon |
| Category 4 | Afyonkarahisar, Batman, Bolu, Çanakkale, Çorum, Edirne, Elazığ, Hatay, Isparta, Kahramanmaraş, Kastamonu, Kütahya, Mardin, Muğla, Sivas, Şanlıurfa, Tokat, Van, Zonguldak |
| Category 5 | Adıyaman, Ağrı, Aksaray, Amasya, Ardahan, Artvin, Bartın, Bayburt, Bilecik, Bingöl, Bitlis, Burdur, Çankırı, Düzce, Erzincan, Giresun, Gümüşhane, Hakkari, &Inodot;ğdır, Karabük, Karaman, Kars, Kırıkkale, Kırklareli, Kırşehir, Kilis, Muş, Nevşehir, Niğde, Osmaniye, Rize, Siirt, Sinop, Şırnak, Tunceli, Uşak, Yalova, Yozgat |
The Basis of Provincial Borders - Art. 53/2
The categories of internet news sites within the scope of that article are determined taking the provincial borders as a basis and the districts are also included in that quota place.
What Is the General Category? - Art. 53/3
The General Category is the quota place in which internet news sites having certain qualities additionally appear, in order to publish the official announcements listed in the first paragraph of Article 77, without regard to which of Categories 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 they are in. Internet news sites in the General Category are also given the benefit of the official announcements in the quota places formed on the basis of provincial borders.
- The General Category does not take the place of the other categories - it is a quota place in which one additionally appears.
- Its purpose is to publish the official announcements listed in Art. 77/1.
- Those in the General Category also benefit from the official announcements in the province-based quota places.
We cover the announcements listed in Art. 77 in the general category guide.
How Does One Enter the General Category? - Art. 53/4
(Added: Official Gazette 6/3/2024-32481) - In order for internet news sites to appear in the General Category:
- (a) To fulfil the conditions stated in this Regulation for 1 month backwards from the date of application,
- (b) To notify that request to the Agency in signed form.
The date on which they begin to appear in the General Category is the date the request reached the records of the Agency.
Removal from the General Category - Art. 53/5
The Other Consequences of the General Category
| Issue | General Category | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Daily minimum unique visitors | 250,000 | Art. 61 Table-8 |
| Daily minimum page views | 750,000 | Art. 61 Table-8 |
| Average time spent on a page | At least 1 minute | Art. 61/3 |
| Traffic originating abroad | 10% of it is included (Amended: Official Gazette 10/12/2025-33103) | Art. 61/4 |
| Intellectual workers for whom the residence condition is not required | At most ten | Art. 18/3 |
| The announcement reporting additional indicator | Only the General Category benefits - 1/6 | Art. 68 |
We cover the traffic thresholds in the traffic guide and announcement reporting in the announcement reporting guide.
Scope - Art. 52
Internet news sites within the waiting period or holding the right to publish official announcements must comply with the provisions in that part as well as with the provisions in the first part.
Art. 52/2 (Added: Official Gazette 6/3/2024-32481): the procedures and principles relating to the rules with which internet news sites must comply technically are determined by the Board of Directors.
Summary
Internet news sites have five categories determined on the basis of provincial borders: Category 1 Istanbul, Category 2 Ankara and Izmir, and Categories 3, 4 and 5 the other provinces; districts are included in the quota place of their province. Above them is the Turkey-wide General Category, in which sites appear additionally in order to publish the announcements in Art. 77/1 and where they also benefit from the province-based quotas.