The General Category is a separate quota place for internet news sites, and the reason for it is gathered in a single provision: the six types of announcement listed in Art. 77.
The Six Types of Announcement — Art. 77/1
The official announcements to be published on internet news sites placed in the General Category are the following:
| Sub-para. | Legal basis | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| a | Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004, Art. 114/4-(2) and Art. 166/2 | Enforcement and bankruptcy announcements |
| b | Tax Procedure Law No. 213, Art. 104/1-(3), last sentence | Tax announcements |
| c | State Procurement Law No. 2886, Art. 17/1-(2) | Tender announcements |
| ç | Expropriation Law No. 2942, Art. 10/4 | Expropriation announcements |
| d | Turkish Civil Code No. 4721 | Announcements on presumption of death, actions for cancellation of title and registration, inheritance and succession actions, and the extraordinary prescription in Art. 713 |
| e | Press Law No. 5187, Art. 18/3 | Announcements under the Press Law |
| f | Product Safety and Technical Regulations Law No. 7223, Art. 16/8 | Product safety announcements |
The Power of the Board of Directors — Art. 77/2
Regardless of which of the quota places drawn according to the provincial boundaries of its place of administration a site is in, the Board of Directors is empowered to draw up a separate official announcement quota and distribution table, without regard to the quota place, solely for the official announcements to be published on internet news sites placed in the General Category, or to end that practice.
The Conditions for Being Placed in the General Category
Under Art. 53/4, to be placed in the General Category a site must:
- meet the conditions set out in the Regulation for a period of 1 month counted backwards from the date of application;
- notify its request to the Agency in signed form.
The date on which placement in the General Category begins is the date on which the request reaches the records of the Agency.
The Numerical Thresholds of the General Category
| Criterion | General Category | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum daily unique visitors | 250,000 | Art. 61, Table-8 |
| Minimum daily page views | 750,000 | Art. 61, Table-8 |
| Average time on page | At least 1 minute | Art. 61/3 |
| Traffic originating abroad | 10% of it is included | Art. 61/4 |
| Intellectual workers exempt from the residence condition | At most ten | Art. 18/3 |
| Announcement-into-news additional indicator | 1/6 — General Category only | Art. 68 |
Removal from the General Category — Art. 53/5
The General Category Distinction in Set-Off — Art. 112/2
Where the set-off procedure concerning internet news sites placed in the General Category arises from a breach of the General Category conditions, it is applied within the general quota; otherwise it is applied within the province-based quota. We covered the detail in how set-off and compensation procedures work.
Conclusion
The official announcements to be published in the General Category are gathered under six headings: Art. 114/4-(2) and Art. 166/2 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law, Art. 104/1-(3) of the Tax Procedure Law, Art. 17/1-(2) of the State Procurement Law, Art. 10/4 of the Expropriation Law, the announcements under the Turkish Civil Code on presumption of death, cancellation of title and registration, inheritance and succession and the extraordinary prescription in Art. 713, and the announcements under Art. 18/3 of Law No. 5187 and Art. 16/8 of Law No. 7223. The Board of Directors is empowered to draw up a separate quota and distribution table for them.