The two concepts are often confused but their rights and their sanctions differ. The distinction is in Arts. 5 and 6 of the Regulation.
Official Announcement - Art. 5
Within the scope of this Regulation the following are official announcements:
| Subpara. | Content |
|---|---|
| a | Announcements whose publication is compulsory under a statute, a presidential decree, a by-law or a regulation |
| b | Announcements not having the character of an advertisement belonging to the administrations within the central government, local administrations, social security institutions, universities, chambers and exchanges, unions, bar associations, public economic enterprises, undertakings more than half of whose capital belongs to public legal persons, and their participations |
Official Advertisement - Art. 6
Art. 6/1 first defines an advertisement: content published in periodicals visually, aurally or in writing in order to obtain a material or moral benefit, such as gaining favour for a thing or an idea, or for the purpose of promotion, is deemed an advertisement.
Art. 6/2: official advertisements, under Art. 42 of Law No. 195, are the advertisements given to periodicals by the departments and undertakings listed in subparagraph (b) of the first paragraph of Art. 5 of this Regulation and by other institutions established by law or by presidential decree, or by their participations.
A Comparison of the Two Concepts
| Official announcement | Official advertisement | |
|---|---|---|
| Character | An announcement not having the character of an advertisement, or a statutorily compulsory announcement | An advertisement |
| Who gives it | Anyone in subparagraph (a); public departments and undertakings in subparagraph (b) | The departments and undertakings in Art. 5/1-b and institutions established by law or by presidential decree and their participations |
| Distribution | By the quota system - according to the indicators | In line with the preference of the advertisers |
| The right | The right to publish official announcements - Art. 9 | The right to publish official advertisements - Art. 10 |
| Who may obtain it | Newspapers and internet news sites | Also magazines and those publishing advertisements only |
The Advertiser's Preference
Art. 6/3: official advertisements are published through the Agency in the periodicals having the right to publish official advertisements, in line with the preference of the advertisers.
Stating the Announcement/Advertisement Character
That is the counterpart in the legislation of the practice of the advertorial. We cover the detail in the advertorial guide.
Which Announcements Are Deemed Official?
The concrete examples - cooperative general assembly announcements, insurance company announcements, Turkish Airlines advertisements, foundation university advertisements - are determined by the principle decisions of the General Assembly. We cover the detail in the which announcements guide.
Summary
An official announcement is an announcement whose publication is compulsory under a statute, a presidential decree, a by-law or a regulation, together with the non-advertising announcements of the public departments and undertakings listed; the compulsory announcements of private associations are not deemed official announcements. An official advertisement is an advertisement given to periodicals by the same departments and undertakings and is published in line with the preference of the advertiser.