Everything from a newspaper's staff number to its number of sales, from its quota to its frequency of publication, depends on its category. Article 32 determines six categories in Table-1.

Table-1: The Categories

CategoryPlace of publication
Category 1&Inodot;stanbul
Category 2Ankara, &Inodot;zmir
Category 3Adana, Antalya, Aydın, Balıkesir, Bursa, Denizli, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Manisa, Mersin, Ordu, Sakarya, Samsun, Tekirdağ, Trabzon (21 provinces)
Category 4Afyonkarahisar, Batman, Bolu, Çanakkale, Çorum, Edirne, Elazığ, Hatay, Isparta, Kahramanmaraş, Kastamonu, Kütahya, Mardin, Muğla, Sivas, Şanlıurfa, Tokat, Van, Zonguldak (19 provinces)
Category 5Adıyaman, 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 (38 provinces)
Category 6The districts within subparagraphs (c) and (ç) of the first paragraph of Article 31

What Does the Category Determine? - The Frequency of Publication (Art. 34)

CategoryFrequency of publication
Categories 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5Published daily. However, provided it is stated in the declaration filed under Law No. 5187 and notified to the Agency in signed form, they may not be published on one day a week, specific to the day notified.
Category 6They must be published on the days stated in the declaration filed under Law No. 5187, provided it is at least two days of the week.

What Does the Category Determine? - Minimum Actual Sales (Art. 44 Table-4)

CategorySales (copies)Minimum dealer sales rate and numberMinimum return rate and number
Category 13,00050% - 1,5005% - 75
Category 21,60050% - 8005% - 40
Category 340050% - 2005% - 10
Category 440040% - 1605% - 8
Category 530030% - 905% - 4
Category 610030% - 30-

What Does the Category Determine? - The Printing Technique (Art. 41/2)

The printing operations must be carried out on web offset/rotary, flat offset printing or industrial-type digital printing machines, excluding stationery-type, office-type, desktop or portable digital printing machines, computer printers, duplicating and photocopying machines.

What Does the Category Determine? - The Residence Condition (Art. 18/3)

PublicationNumber of intellectual workers for whom the residence condition is not required
National newspapersAt most four
An internet news site - the General CategoryAt most ten
An internet news site - the 1st and 2nd CategoriesAt most four
An internet news site - the 3rd and 4th CategoriesAt most two
An internet news site - the 5th CategoryOne

The Waiting Period - Art. 33

The waiting period to which newspapers are subject in order to acquire the right to publish official announcements is 36 months.

We cover the detail in the waiting period guide and the start guide.

Summary

There are six categories: Category 1 Istanbul, Category 2 Ankara and Izmir, Category 3 21 provinces, Category 4 19 provinces, Category 5 38 provinces and Category 6 the districts within Art. 31/1-(c) and (ç). The category determines the frequency of publication, the minimum actual sales and return numbers, the printing technique and the staff and residence conditions.