Periodical Publication Declaration in Turkey: Specimen and Filing Guide

Where is the declaration filed, and who may see the records?

Article 7(1) of Law No. 5187 reads as follows: "For a periodical publication to be issued, it is sufficient that a declaration be submitted, for registration purposes, to the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor for the place where the place of management is located. The records kept by the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor are public."

Two words in that sentence are decisive. The first is "sufficient": the regime is one of notification, not of authorisation. The prosecutor's office does not "grant approval" in the exercise of any discretion; it registers. The second is "the place where the place of management is located": the competent prosecutor's office is determined by the publication's place of management, not by where the printing works, the server or the domain registrar happens to be. An internet news site may have its server abroad; the declaration is still filed with the prosecutor's office having jurisdiction over the place of management.

The choice of place of management also has consequences for service of process. Under Article 29 of Law No. 5187, for the purposes of service the place of management of a periodical publication is deemed to be the domicile of the publication's owner and of its representative, and — for as long as the appointment lasts — the domicile of the responsible editor. The address you write on the declaration is the address at which you will be served in any proceedings brought against you.

Information the declaration must contain

Article 7(2) lists the contents of the declaration: "The declaration submitted for registration and signed by the owner of the publication — or, where the owner is a minor or a legal person, by the representative — and by the responsible editor shall state the name and character of the publication, the intervals at which it is to be published, the place of management, the names and addresses of the owner, of the representative if any, and of the responsible editor, together with the type of publication and the electronic notification address."

• The name of the publication
• The character of the publication (its subject field: general, political, economic, sport, culture and arts, and so on)
• The intervals at which it will be published (daily, weekly, monthly; for internet news sites, the publication cycle)
• The place of management (full address)
• The name and address of the owner of the publication
• The name and address of the representative, if any
• The name and address of the responsible editor
• The type of publication — national, regional or local (Article 2(d), (e), (f) of Law No. 5187)
• The electronic notification address

The last item is new. The phrase "and the electronic notification address" was added to Article 7(2) by Article 4 of Law No. 7418 of 13/10/2022. Every declaration filed after 2022 must therefore contain an electronic notification address; given the structure of the provision, this obligation was imposed on declarations for periodical publications generally, not only for internet news sites.

Who signs the declaration, and what documents are annexed?

Under Article 7(2) the declaration is signed by the owner of the publication (or, where the owner is a minor or a legal person, by the representative) and by the responsible editor. One signature is not enough; if either signature is missing the declaration counts as incomplete for the purposes of Article 8.

Article 7(3): "There shall be annexed to the declaration documents evidencing that the conditions set out in Articles 5 and 6 are satisfied, together with a copy of the articles of association, the memorandum or the foundation charter where the owner of the publication is a legal person." The Law does not enumerate the documents one by one; which documents are demanded to prove the conditions required of the responsible editor and the owner is left to the practice of the prosecutor's office. The table below shows which document satisfies each of the conditions in Articles 5 and 6.

Under Article 7(4), the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor issues a receipt evidencing that the declaration and its annexes have been delivered. Always ask for this document and keep it: the starting point of the one-year period in Article 9 and the date of any correspondence about deficiencies under Article 8 are both established by reference to it.

Conditions required of the responsible editor (Article 5)

Article 5(1): "Every periodical publication shall have a responsible editor. Where there is more than one responsible editor, the section for which each is responsible shall be specified." More than one responsible editor may be appointed, but in that case the declaration must state clearly which editor is responsible for which section.

• (a) Having completed eighteen years of age
• (b) Holding a domicile in Turkey and residing there permanently
• (c) Having graduated from at least a secondary education institution or its equivalent
• (d) Not being under legal incapacity or barred from public service
• (e) Not having been convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude
• (f) For persons who are not Turkish citizens, satisfying the condition of reciprocity

Under Article 5(3), where the responsible editor is a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, a deputy editor is appointed to assume the office of responsible editor; the provisions the Law lays down for the responsible editor apply equally to the deputy who assumes that responsibility.

Who may own a periodical publication (Article 6)?

Article 6(1): "Natural and legal persons and public institutions and organisations may own periodical publications." No special qualification is required in order to be an owner. Article 6(2) then builds a bridge: where the owner of a periodical publication is under eighteen or under legal incapacity, the conditions in Article 5(2) are required of the legal representative as well; where the owner is a legal person, they are required of the legal person's representative.

The practical consequence: if you publish through a company, the education and criminal record conditions in Article 5 apply not only to your responsible editor but also to the legal person's representative whom you designate from among the company's directors. Under Article 2(l), the representative of a legal person is the natural person designated from among the directors by the competent organ of the legal person; an outside proxy cannot hold that capacity.

Specimen declaration, ready to complete

The specimen below contains the information listed in Article 7(2), in the order the provision sets out. Fill in the dotted fields; do not delete lines you do not use — write "—" instead. Prepare two counterparts: one is taken onto the register, the other stays with you together with the receipt.

        TO THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF PUBLIC PROSECUTOR OF .......................

                                                       Date: ..... / ..... / 20.....

SUBJECT : Declaration for a periodical publication pursuant to Article 7 of Press
          Law No. 5187.

1) NAME OF THE PUBLICATION  : ................................................................

2) CHARACTER OF THE PUBLICATION : ...........................................................
   (general news and comment / political / economic / sport / culture and arts / trade)

3) PUBLICATION INTERVAL     : ................................................................
   (daily / weekly / fortnightly / monthly /
    for an internet news site: continuously updated during the day)

4) TYPE OF PUBLICATION      : ................................................................
   (national / regional / local — Art. 2(d), (e), (f) of Law No. 5187)

5) PLACE OF MANAGEMENT      : ................................................................
   Full address               ................................................................
   District / Province        ................................................................

6) OWNER OF THE PUBLICATION
   Name and surname / Title   : .............................................................
   ID no. / Tax no.           : .............................................................
   Address                    : .............................................................

7) REPRESENTATIVE OF THE LEGAL PERSON / LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE
   (where the owner is a legal person, a minor or under legal incapacity)
   Name and surname           : .............................................................
   ID no.                     : .............................................................
   Address                    : .............................................................
   Resolution of designation  : resolution no. .......... dated ..........................

8) RESPONSIBLE EDITOR
   Name and surname           : .............................................................
   ID no.                     : .............................................................
   Address                    : .............................................................
   Section responsible for    : .............................................................
   (to be completed separately for each responsible editor where there is more than
    one — Art. 5(1))

9) ELECTRONIC NOTIFICATION ADDRESS : ........................................................
   (Art. 7(2) of Law No. 5187; added by Article 4 of Law No. 7418)

10) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IF AN INTERNET NEWS SITE
    Domain name (URL)         : ............................................................
    Name of the hosting provider : .........................................................
    Address of the hosting provider : ......................................................

ANNEXES :
1- Civil registry extract / copy of identity document of the responsible editor  (Art. 5(2)(a))
2- Certificate of residence of the responsible editor                            (Art. 5(2)(b))
3- Secondary education or equivalent graduation certificate of the responsible
   editor                                                                        (Art. 5(2)(c))
4- Criminal record certificate of the responsible editor                      (Art. 5(2)(d), (e))
5- Document on the reciprocity condition (if a foreign national)                 (Art. 5(2)(f))
6- Copy of articles of association / memorandum / foundation charter
   (where the owner is a legal person)                                              (Art. 7(3))
7- Resolution of the competent organ designating the legal person's
   representative                                                          (Art. 2(l), Art. 6(2))
8- Document concerning the legal representative (where the owner is a minor or
   under legal incapacity)                                                          (Art. 6(2))

This declaration, together with its annexes, is submitted in two counterparts for the
purpose of issuing the periodical publication described above, pursuant to Article 7 of
Press Law No. 5187. Pursuant to the final paragraph of the same Article, we request
that a receipt be issued.


      OWNER / REPRESENTATIVE                           RESPONSIBLE EDITOR
      Name and surname : ..............                Name and surname : ..............
      Signature        : ..............                Signature        : ..............

What happens if the declaration is incomplete or untrue (Article 8)?

Article 8(1) establishes a two-stage process. Where the declaration and its annexes do not contain the required or truthful information, or where the owner, the representative or the responsible editor does not satisfy the conditions in Articles 5 and 6, the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor requires the owner of the publication, within two weeks of the filing of the declaration, to remedy the deficiency or correct the untrue information.

If that requirement is not complied with within two weeks of the date of service, the prosecutor's office applies to the Criminal Court of First Instance for suspension of publication. The court gives its decision within two weeks at the latest. The decision may be challenged by way of expedited objection (acele itiraz).

If publication continues despite a suspension order, Article 16 comes into play: where a publication suspended by court order is continued without a duly filed declaration or without notification of changes, the owner, the responsible editor and the official to whom the responsible editor reports are punished with a heavy fine (ağır para cezası). The amounts in the statutory text are stated in the old Turkish lira of 2004; the current figure is determined within the framework of the official revaluation rate.

The special regime for internet news sites: determination of status

The paragraph added to Article 8 by Article 5 of Law No. 7418 is explicit: "The sanction of suspension of publication regulated in the first paragraph shall not apply to internet news sites." The publication of an internet news site that has filed an incomplete declaration is therefore not suspended by court order. A different type of proceeding is provided for instead.

Under the same paragraph, where an internet news site fails to comply with Article 8, the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor requires the site, within two weeks, to remedy the deficiency or correct the untrue information. If the requirement is not complied with within two weeks, the prosecutor's office applies to the Criminal Court of First Instance for a determination that the status of internet news site has not been acquired. The court gives its decision within two weeks at the latest, and the decision may be challenged by way of objection.

Weigh the seriousness of these two consequences against your own publishing model. The right to official announcements and advertisements directly affects turnover in local and regional publishing; the loss of employees' press card rights invalidates the team's accreditation and your quota calculation. A determination of status arises from a purely administrative failing such as a defective declaration: easy to prevent, hard to undo.

The duty to notify changes

Article 8(2): "Every change occurring in the content of the declaration shall be notified to the same authority within two weeks, by means of a new declaration together with the necessary documents." Article 8(3) then provides that the deficiency procedure applies to declarations of change as well. In other words, failing to notify a change of responsible editor triggers the Article 8 process just as failing to file the initial declaration at all would.

• A change in the name of the publication
• A change in the publication interval (moving from weekly to daily, for example)
• A change in the address of the place of management
• A change in the owner of the publication or in its corporate name
• A change in the representative of the legal person
• A change of responsible editor, or a change in the section for which they are responsible
• A change in the type of publication (moving from local to regional, for example)
• A change in the electronic notification address

        TO THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF PUBLIC PROSECUTOR OF .......................

                                                       Date: ..... / ..... / 20.....

SUBJECT : Declaration of change pursuant to Article 8(2) of Press Law No. 5187.

REFERENCE : Our declaration registered under no. .......... dated ..... / ..... / 20.....

NAME OF THE PUBLICATION : ......................................................

MATTER(S) CHANGED :

  Item                 Previous information            New information
  ------------------   -----------------------------   -----------------------------
  ..................   .............................   .............................
  ..................   .............................   .............................

DATE OF THE CHANGE : ..... / ..... / 20.....

ANNEXES :
1- Documents evidencing the change (organ resolution, trade registry gazette,
   letter of appointment, etc.)
2- Where a new responsible editor has been appointed, documents evidencing the
   conditions in Art. 5(2)

Pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 8 of Law No. 5187, the above change in the
content of the declaration is hereby notified within the two-week period.


      OWNER / REPRESENTATIVE                           RESPONSIBLE EDITOR
      Name and surname : ..............                Name and surname : ..............
      Signature        : ..............                Signature        : ..............

Article 8(4) fills a gap: "Where the responsible editor leaves that office, responsibility rests with the owner of the publication or the representative until a new one is appointed." When your responsible editor resigns, the publication is not left without an accountable person; responsibility passes automatically to the owner. Until a new editor is appointed, the owner is the addressee of criminal and administrative liability for every item published.

When the declaration lapses (Article 9)

Article 9(1): "If the periodical publication is not published within one year of the date on which the owner filed the declaration, or if publication is interrupted for three years after it has begun, the declaration lapses and the right it confers ceases to exist." There are two thresholds: 1 year at the outset, and an interruption of 3 years thereafter.

Article 9(2) reserves trade mark law; the second sentence of that paragraph was annulled by the Constitutional Court in its judgment of 31/1/2008, case no. E.2004/81, decision no. K.2008/48. In practice: reserving a title and never starting publication renders the declaration void after one year. If you intend to interrupt publication, keep track of the three-year threshold; continuing to publish after the declaration has lapsed amounts to publishing without a declaration.

Compliance period for existing internet news sites (Provisional Article 4)

Provisional Article 4(1), added by Article 18 of Law No. 7418: "Internet news sites operating before the date on which this Article enters into force shall fulfil the obligations laid down in this Law within three months of the date on which this Article enters into force." The second paragraph of the same Article provides that press cards duly issued earlier retain their validity, provided their holders satisfy the conditions in Additional Article 3.

That three-month transition period expired on 18 January 2023; for an internet news site operating today the declaration obligation is not deferred but directly in force. For sites without a declaration, the only course is to file it, however late, and to close out the Article 8 process in full. You will find the complete table of obligations for your site in the legal compliance checklist.

The process step by step

STEP 1  Appoint the responsible editor; verify the six conditions in Art. 5(2) with
        documents. (Where there is more than one editor, separate the sections each
        is responsible for in writing.)

STEP 2  Where the owner is a legal person, the competent organ designates the legal
        person's representative from among the directors by resolution; Art. 5(2)
        applies to the representative as well.

STEP 3  Obtain an electronic notification address and enter it on the declaration.

STEP 4  Determine the type of publication (national / regional / local) against the
        criteria in Art. 2(d)-(e)-(f).

STEP 5  Prepare the declaration in two counterparts; the owner/representative and the
        responsible editor sign it.

STEP 6  File it, with its annexes, with the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor for
        the place where the place of management is located.

STEP 7  Obtain the RECEIPT and put it on file  (Art. 7(4)).

STEP 8  If a deficiency notice arrives, remedy it within 2 WEEKS of service
        (Art. 8(1)).

STEP 9  Begin publishing within 1 YEAR; otherwise the declaration lapses (Art. 9).

STEP 10 Notify every change in the content of the declaration to the same authority
        within 2 WEEKS by means of a new declaration (Art. 8(2)).

Checklist

• The declaration was filed with the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor for the place where the place of management is located (Art. 7(1))
• The name, character, publication interval and place of management were entered (Art. 7(2))
• The names and addresses of the owner, the representative if any, and the responsible editor were entered (Art. 7(2))
• The type of publication was stated (Art. 7(2), Art. 2(d)-(e)-(f))
• The electronic notification address was entered (Art. 7(2), phrase added by Law No. 7418)
• The declaration was signed by the owner/representative and by the responsible editor (Art. 7(2))
• Documents evidencing the conditions in Articles 5 and 6 were annexed (Art. 7(3))
• Where the owner is a legal person, a copy of the articles of association/memorandum/foundation charter was annexed (Art. 7(3))
• The receipt was obtained and kept (Art. 7(4))
• For an internet news site, the imprint and date stamp obligations were also put in place (Art. 4)
• An internal process was defined for notifying changes within two weeks (Art. 8(2))
• The team was informed that responsibility passes to the owner if the responsible editor leaves (Art. 8(4))

Once your declaration file is complete, the obligations that apply within the publication itself come next: the imprint and date stamp (Article 4), content retention (Article 10), and reply and correction (Article 14). On reply and correction, the period allowed to internet news sites is one day; we cover the procedure and the form of the petition in the specimen reply and correction petition. For the contracts you will sign with your editorial staff, see the journalist employment contract template compliant with Act No. 5953.