News agencies occupy a place of their own in press legislation: a periodical under Law No. 5187, an employer within scope under Law No. 5953, and a separate quota table in the press card regime. Anadolu Agency has statutes of its own. This guide gathers agencies together with the lesser known support arrangements of press legislation under fourteen headings.
Agencies Appear in Three Separate Regimes
| Legislation | How it treats agencies |
|---|---|
| Law No. 5187 Art. 2/c | The publications of news agencies are periodicals |
| Law No. 5187 Art. 2/d | Agency publications count as national periodicals by definition |
| Law No. 5187 Art. 4 | The imprint exemption "other than news agency publications" |
| Law No. 5953 Art. 1 | Listed in the scope - their staff are journalists |
| Press Card Reg. Art. 16 | The four conditions required of the outlet |
| Press Card Reg. Art. 24 | The quota tables |
| Press Card Reg. Art. 23 | A separate title list for Anadolu Agency |
1. Setting Up an Agency and the Quota
- press-card-conditions-for-news-agencies-turkey
- what-counts-as-a-news-or-photograph-agency-turkey
- press-card-quotas-for-news-agencies-turkey
| Agency type | Condition | Quota |
|---|---|---|
| General news/photograph agency | A news/photograph contract with a national newspaper or national radio-TV + 5 journalists on staff who have previously held a card | Owner/representative + 18 employees |
| Commercial and economic agency | 1,000 paying subscribers + at least 5 journalists on staff who have previously held a card | Owner/representative + 13 employees |
| Both | - | No cards for foreign bureaux |
2. Anadolu Agency
- the-legal-status-of-anadolu-agency
- law-no-57-anadolu-agency-property-and-staff
- law-no-7-anadolu-agency-commercial-code-exemption
- anadolu-agency-audit-directive
| Issue | Provision | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Property | Counts as State property | Law No. 57 Art. 1 |
| Staff | Treated as officials in applying the Penal Code | Law No. 57 Art. 2 |
| Company law | Exempt from Art. 272 of Commercial Code No. 6762 | Law No. 7 Art. 1 |
| Share acquisition | The ratio limit in Art. 379/1 of Commercial Code No. 6102 does not apply | Law No. 57 Add. Art. 1 (6518/2014) |
| The Treasury | A usufruct right over the shares acquired | Law No. 57 Add. Art. 1 |
| Audit | By the Directorate of Communications at least once a year | The Audit Directive Art. 5 |
| Not applicable | Laws No. 657, 233, 399, 190, 6245, 6085 (Court of Accounts), 3346, 4734 | Law No. 57 Add. Art. 1 |
3. The Promotion Fund
Law No. 3230 (Official Gazette 28/6/1985-18795) establishes a Promotion Fund at the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey under the President's direction. Its purpose has four headings: increasing the resources of organisations charged with promotion, securing the dissemination of the Turkish cultural heritage, making State archive services effective, and seeking to direct international public opinion.
4. The 1999 Suspension Law
- law-no-4454-the-1999-press-suspension-law-turkey
- consequences-of-the-1999-press-suspension-law-turkey
| Criterion | Content |
|---|---|
| Date | Committed up to 23 April 1999 |
| Means | Through the press, oral/visual broadcasting means or speeches at gatherings - including offences committed in the capacity of responsible editor |
| Penalty limit | The upper limit of the penalty provided for not exceeding twelve years |
| Probation period | Three years |
| If the period holds | The conviction is treated as not having occurred; deprivations of rights lapse |
| If it does not | The suspended penalty is served in full - the part already served is set off |
The Law is a conditional suspension rather than an amnesty and repealed Law No. 4304 of 1997. Part of Art. 1 was annulled by the Constitutional Court and re-enacted by Law No. 4616; in 2003 those whose sentences had been executed were brought within the scope by Law No. 4809.
5. Institutional Transformation: 2018
- the-repealed-decree-law-231-and-the-byegm-era-turkey
- decree-law-703-the-2018-alignment-of-turkish-press-legislation
- turkish-press-law-timeline
| Decree-Law No. 703 article | Instrument touched |
|---|---|
| Art. 33 | Service of Process Law No. 7201 |
| Art. 34 | Promotion Fund Law No. 3230 |
| Art. 35 | Right to Information Law No. 4982 |
| Art. 38 | Law No. 1117 on Protecting Minors from Harmful Publications |
| Art. 95 | Turkish Radio and Television Law No. 2954 |
| Art. 122 | Decree-Law No. 231 on BYEGM - repealed |
| Art. 162 | Law No. 195 on the Press Advertising Agency |
| Art. 163 | Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 |
| Art. 164 | Law No. 6112 |
Using Agency Content
- crediting-agency-copy-turkey
- republishing-news-agency-copy-turkey
- freedom-to-reuse-newspaper-contents-turkey
- penalty-for-republishing-without-credit-turkey
Three layers operate together: Art. 36 of Law No. 5846 requires the name of the agency to be stated when citing the source; Art. 24 of Law No. 5187 punishes republication without citing the source; and the subscription contract brings its own limits.
Other Main Guides
| Guide | Scope |
|---|---|
| journalist-employment-rights-turkey | The Law No. 5953 regime: contract, wages, leave, notice and severance |
| starting-a-media-outlet-in-turkey | Declaration, imprint, responsible editor, delivery, archive, licensing |
| turkish-press-card-guide | Card types, conditions, commission, quotas, cancellation |
| turkish-media-ancillary-legislation-map | Legal deposit, printing houses, elections, service, the levy, transmission, advertising |
| copyright-data-protection-and-access-to-information-in-turkish-news | Quotation, source attribution, reader data and freedom of information |