Press Law No. 5187 is not the only legislation governing a publication. Running a newspaper or a news site also brings in the law on legal deposit, printing houses, elections, service of process, the broadcasting levy, advertising and damages. This map gathers, under twenty-nine headings, the instruments that sit outside press law but bind the press directly.

The Legislation Layered Over a Publication

FieldLegislationWhat it brings
PublicationPress Law No. 5187Declaration, imprint, responsible editor, delivery, archive
EmployeesPress Labour Law No. 5953Contract, wages, leave, severance
Radio-TVLaw No. 6112Licensing, broadcasting principles, commercial communication
Official announcementsLaw No. 195 and Agency decisionsPeriodical status, staffing, announcement distribution
ArchivingLegal Deposit Law No. 6279Mandatory copies to libraries
PrintingPrinting Houses Law No. 5681The printing house declaration
ElectionsLaw No. 298Broadcasting bans, rules on polls
The levyTRT Revenues Law No. 3093Bandrol charges
TransmissionElectronic Communications Law No. 5809Frequencies and authorisation
Service of processService legislationPublication of service by announcement in a newspaper

2. Printing Houses

Two Press Advertising Agency General Assembly Principle Decisions are decisive on the printing side: No. 176 (11/08/2006, Official Gazette 26262) provides that desktop digital printing machines cannot count as printing house presses, and No. 141 (16/08/1996, Official Gazette 22735) determines when the place-of-printing condition is relaxed.

3. The Election Period

IssueRuleBasis
Radio-TV propagandaFrom the 7th day before polling day until 6 p.m. on the day beforeLaw No. 298 Art. 52
Publishing polls and researchProhibited in the ten days before polling dayLaw No. 298 Art. 55/B
Mandatory information in a poll storyThe organisation + the number of respondents + the fundingLaw No. 298 Art. 55/B
Propaganda by e-mail and telephone messageProhibited - messages parties send to their own members are freeLaw No. 298 Art. 55/B
Publication in breach of the ban3 months to 1 year of imprisonmentLaw No. 298 Art. 151
SupervisionThe Supreme Election Council for nationwide broadcasters, district election boards for the rest - objection within 24 hoursLaw No. 298 Art. 55/A

4. Mandatory Notices and Service of Process

Agency General Assembly Principle Decision No. 126 (14/05/1993, Official Gazette 21604) shows the breadth of the definition of an official announcement: Law No. 195 treated as official announcements not only the notices of public institutions but all notices "whose publication is mandatory under laws, by-laws and regulations" (even where they belong to private law legal persons). The Law left out only the notices of private associations.

5. TRT and the Transmission Infrastructure

The division of powers: the Information and Communication Technologies Authority authorises electronic communication services; RTUK grants licences and transmission authorisations in respect of broadcasting services. Art. 29 of Law No. 6112 provides that platform and infrastructure operators authorised by BTK are subject to Law No. 6112 in respect of broadcasting services.

6. Professional Organisations

7. Administrative Fines and Objections

PenaltyImposing authorityType
Breaches of Law No. 5953The regional director of the Ministry of Labour and Social SecurityAdministrative
A legal deposit breachThe highest civil administratorAdministrative
A breach of the broadcasting principlesRTUKAdministrative
Breaches of Law No. 5187A courtA judicial fine

8. The Courts and the Scene

The core safeguards at the scene: Art. 3 of Law No. 5187 (the right to acquire information), Art. 30 of the Constitution (press equipment may not be seized as an instrument of crime), Art. 12 of Law No. 5187 (no compulsion to disclose a source or give evidence) and Art. 22 of Law No. 5187 (preventing the publication, distribution or sale of printed works by violence or threat - imprisonment of up to two years).

9. Reading the Legislation

NoteMeaningExample
(Amended: ...)AmendedLaw No. 5187 Art. 1 - 7418/1
(Added: ...)Added laterLaw No. 5187 Art. 4 - 7418/3
(Repealed: ...)Removed from forceLaw No. 5953 Art. 22 Union - 274/33
(Annulled: ...)Annulled by the Constitutional Court - the text does not appear in the consolidated versionLaw No. 5953 Art. 20 - E.1992/36, K.1993/4

10. Advertising

11. Liability and New Technologies

Art. 13 of Law No. 5187 holds the author of the work and the owner of the publication and, where there is one, the representative jointly and severally liable for material and moral damage arising from acts committed through printed works or internet news sites; where the legal person is a company, the board chair in joint stock companies and the most senior manager in other companies is liable together with the company.

Other Main Guides

GuideScope
journalist-employment-rights-turkeyThe Law No. 5953 regime: contract, wages, leave, notice and severance
starting-a-media-outlet-in-turkeyDeclaration, imprint, responsible editor, delivery, archive, licensing
turkish-press-card-guideCard types, conditions, quotas, application and cancellation