Anadolu Agency is a joint stock company, but there is a statutory relationship between it and the Directorate of Communications. The frame of that relationship sits in Art. 14 of Presidential Decree No. 14 - and part of the article has been annulled by the Constitutional Court.
The Article as It Stands
Art. 14 (as amended by Art. 2 of Presidential Decree No. 33; Official Gazette 19/4/2019-30750): the Directorate is empowered to make a contract with Anadolu Agency for at most 5 years, not exceeding the appropriation in the Anadolu Agency section of its own budget each year; and it also has audit power over Anadolu Agency's budget.
| Element | Content |
|---|---|
| Contract period | At most 5 years |
| Financial limit | Not exceeding the appropriation in the Anadolu Agency section of the Directorate's budget |
| Audit | Over Anadolu Agency's budget |
The Constitutional Court Annulment
A further annulment note appears in the consolidated text: the decision E.2020/88, K.2023/224. Certain phrases in the first sentence of the article were also removed by that decision and are shown in the text with the mark (...).
The Audit Directive
The audit power in Art. 14 is the basis of the Anadolu Agency Audit Directive. Art. 3 of the Directive states that it was prepared on the basis of Art. 14 of Presidential Decree No. 14, and Art. 5 provides that Anadolu Agency is audited by the Directorate at least once a year.
We cover it in the audit directive guide.
Why Is a Separate Audit Regime Needed?
Additional Art. 1 of Law No. 57 provides that a series of instruments, including Court of Accounts Law No. 6085 and Law No. 3346, do not apply to the Agency. The Directorate's audit power fills that gap.
We cover the Agency's status in the legal status guide and its property and staff regime in the Law No. 57 guide.
The Agency in the Press Card Regime
Anadolu Agency appears in two more places in the Press Card Regulation:
- Art. 23 - a separate title list for Anadolu Agency; its second paragraph provides that no press card is issued to those not working in the news field.
- Art. 43 - a general card replacement is announced through the Directorate's website, Anadolu Agency and the Turkish Radio-Television Corporation.
The Foreign Journalist Side
Art. 40/3 of the Press Card Regulation provides one further connection: a letter of introduction is not required from foreign media members applying through Anadolu Agency and TRT.
Summary
- The Directorate may make a contract with Anadolu Agency for at most five years, not exceeding the appropriation in its budget, and has audit power over the Agency's budget.
- The second and third sentences of the article were annulled by the Constitutional Court in 2020, and phrases in the first sentence were removed by a 2023 decision.
- The audit power is the basis of the Anadolu Agency Audit Directive.