Evrensel loses 'official ad' lawsuit against BİK: 'Contrary to the principle of equality before the law'

The Istanbul 2nd Administrative Court has announced its decision in the lawsuit filed by Evrensel against the Press Advertisement Agency (BİK) regarding the cancellation of its right to publish official announcements and advertisements.

Accepting the argument put forward by the Press Advertisement Agency that “buying more than one newspaper is a crime,” the court decided to reject the case, stating that “a total of 359 copies were delivered to various political parties and companies,” and therefore it “did not meet the minimum actual sales requirement.”

The court stated the following in its decision:

"It is understood that newspaper deliveries were carried out continuously and a total of 359 copies were delivered to various political parties and companies that do not qualify as final-point newsstands, that the sectoral ledgers required to be kept in an electronic environment were not processed daily in violation of the Communiqué on Ledgers Required to be Kept in an Electronic Environment, and that it was determined that the 50 subscription sales specified in the newsstand and subscription ledger, for which invoices were issued for each publication day of the newspaper, were present.

"In this case, given that it is stated that sales at final-point sub-dealers must be made actually and one by one within the framework of the aforementioned legislative provisions, it is understood that the plaintiff newspaper did not meet the minimum actual sales requirement sought in the legislation when the bulk sales made for the plaintiff newspaper are excluded; therefore, it has been concluded that there is no illegality in the subject matter of the lawsuit regarding the termination of the right of the daily Evrensel Newspaper, of which the plaintiff is the concessionaire, to publish official announcements and advertisements in accordance with the Regulation on Official Announcements and Advertisements and Periodicals That Will Publish Them."

'THE MAIN ISSUE...'

Regarding the lawsuit, Evrensel Editor-in-Chief Hakkı Özdal and lawyer Devrim Avcı held a press conference at the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) Academy building.

Stating that the court's decision was extremely biased, Avcı said, "This is a decision that suggests financial aid to newspapers should be collected in a single hand and that the control of this should remain in the hands of the Press Advertisement Agency itself! The issue is not about our right to publish official announcements and advertisements being cancelled, and then completing the procedure again and reapplying," and added:

"The issue is that the Press Advertisement Agency interferes so much with Evrensel being included in a collective bargaining agreement, a political party subscribing to the newspaper, or the newspaper's readers buying two or three copies from newsstands…

And that the Press Advertisement Agency constantly monitors this in the case of Evrensel, while ignoring such an obligation for other newspapers, especially pro-government newspapers. This is contrary to the principle of equality before the law..."

WILL BE TAKEN TO THE ECHR IF NECESSARY

Stating that they have the right to appeal the decision within 30 days, Avcı said that they would take the file to the Constitutional Court (AYM) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) if necessary.