Must You Publish on Public Holidays in Turkey?

For newspapers (Art. 34(5))

Article 34(5) regulates two situations together: newspapers may refrain from publishing provided they notify the Agency at least three working days in advance for the Ramadan and Sacrifice holidays, or within three working days in cases of force majeure.

For online news sites (Art. 56(4))

Article 56(4) provides: the visitor traffic and content conditions are not sought from online news sites on the days falling on the Ramadan and Sacrifice holidays, provided they notify the Agency at least three working days in advance.

The scope of that exemption differs from the newspapers’ one. For newspapers the wording is “may refrain from publishing”; for sites it is “the traffic and content conditions are not sought”. The site is therefore expected to remain accessible; what is exempted is the minimum daily news count and the visitor traffic thresholds.

What if no notification is made?

Days not published without notification are assessed as ordinary interruptions and are entered against the thresholds in Article 113:

• Newspapers: interrupting publication for more than 3 days within a calendar year, consecutively or intermittently, terminates the right to publish (Art. 113(1)(c)).
• Online news sites: a continuity breach of more than 7 days within a calendar year produces the same result (Art. 113(1)(ç)).

Sub-paragraph (c) of Article 113 already excludes holidays from that calculation: the article uses the words “outside the Ramadan and Sacrifice holidays”. That does not, however, remove the notification condition in Article 34; the two provisions must be read together.

Strikes are separate

There is a third exception beyond holidays and force majeure. Under Article 34(4), where newspapers obliged to interrupt publication because of a strike resume publication within 30 days of the date the strike ended, fulfilling the other qualifications and duties sought apart from the actual sales figure condition, their right to publish official announcements continues.

Article 56(3) sets up the same arrangement for online news sites; there the item excepted is the visitor traffic conditions.

Does copy delivery still apply during the holiday?

No delivery obligation arises for an issue you do not publish; but it applies to every issue you do. Under Article 35 newspapers must deliver at least two copies of each issue, and its pages, to the Agency through İLANBİS by 09:00 on the day whose date it bears.

Sub-paragraphs (d) and (e) of Article 113 make failure to deliver the printed copies of 10 issues (daily newspapers) or 5 issues (non-daily newspapers) in time within a calendar year a ground of termination. Keeping the delivery routine going through the holiday rush is therefore important.

A practical checklist

• Enter the holiday dates in your calendar at the start of the year.
• Identify the days you will not publish and notify the Agency at least 3 working days in advance.
• If you are an online news site, make sure the server stays accessible over the holiday.
• If force majeure occurs, notify within 3 working days and document the reason.
• Do not let copy delivery for the issues you publish slip during the holiday.

Conclusion

Publishing on holidays is not compulsory; newspapers may refrain from publishing and online news sites are exempted from the traffic and content conditions. Both exemptions depend on notifying the Agency at least three working days in advance. In cases of force majeure the notification may be made within three working days.

The continuity thresholds are covered in the continuity guide and all the grounds of termination in the loss of right guide.