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FREE LAW JOURNAL - VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1 (18 JULY 2005)
3.2.4. Convention on Transfortier Television
The European Convention on Transfortier Television is also an important legal source of broadcasting in
Turkey, since Turkey is a party to the Convention. According to the Article 90 of the Constitution, the
Convention as an international agreement which has been duly put into effect bears the same force as a
law and moreover it is not subject to any judicial review of constitutionality.
Some provisions of the Broadcasting Law refers directly to the Convention. For example the Law requires
RTUK, “to verify the compliance of broadcasts with international treaties to which Turkey is a party”
(Art. 8/h), to “bear in mind the principles of the European Convention on Transfortier Television” while
determining the obligations and standards to be observed by broadcasters (Art. 8/f) and to draft the rules
regarding its own activities in conformity with the Convention in question (Art. 8/p).
3.3. Development of Ownership Rules
Until the entry into force of the Broadcasting Law in 1994, there was no specific regulation dealing with
the restriction of ownership in the broadcasting sector. This unregulated period has naturally led to a free
economic development and a rapid concentration in the sector.
The Article 29 of 1994 Broadcasting Law was the first in this manner to specify the establishment and
ownership rules of private radio and television enterprises. The multi-ownership rules introduced a share
limit of % 20 for a person to hold in a broadcasting company. The same limit was to apply to the totality
of shares, if any, in different broadcasting companies. The cross-ownership rules, on the other hand,
required the newspaper owners who have interests in broadcasting media, not to have more than %20 in
totality of both sectors.
In 2001 a draft law has been prepared as a government proposal and it has been approved by the
Parliament. This draft was amending the Brodcasting Law entirely and the amendments were clearly to
the benefit of the existing big media companies which were looking forward to more relaxation of market
development. The new rules, for example, eliminated the ban on those who owned more than % 10 of a
television station to enter into business relations with the public bodies.
With this draft, the old rules of ownership restriction based directly on ratio of shares has been abolished
and a new way of calculation considering additionally the audience share has been introduced. According
to the sub-paragraph (d) of the new Article 29, “if a television or a radio enterprise’s avarage annual
viewing or listening ratio exceeds 20 percent, then capital share of a real or legal person or a capital group
in that enterprise shall not exceed 50 percent”. This would allow anybody to have %100 of any
broadcasting company having %20 audience share or less.
The President, by using his constitutional power, sent the draft law back to the Parliament for a reexamination.
The President declared, among other things, that the new ownership rules were not capable
of satisfying the necessity of combating concentration and favouring pluralism. In 2002 the Parliament
DR. SAIM UYE - PLURALITY OF OPINION VERSUS CONCENTRATION OF OWNERSHIP : RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TURKISH MEDIA LAW
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