Director of Communications Prof. Fahrettin Altun made the following statement to Demirören News Agency regarding the allegations about the Press Card Regulation and Commission:
The Directorate of Communications, which assumes a critical role in the new vision of the Presidential Government System, carries out one of its main activities in the field of media. Within this framework, issuing press cards to press members is among the main duties of the Directorate of Communications.
In addition to corporate revisions, necessary amendments were made to the Press Card Regulation in December 2018 in order to protect the prestige of the press card. Afterwards, preparations were completed for the design and printing processes of the new press cards prepared by evaluating international examples. Renewal applications were received from the press members and the procedures were initiated. To date, the press cards of approximately 10,000 journalists have been delivered to them.
The first meeting of the Press Card Commission, which was established within the framework of the “Formation, Working and Decision Making Procedures of the Press Card Commission” under the new regulation, was held in July 2019, and all 671 applications were approved and the printed press cards were delivered to their owners. The Commission is scheduled to hold its next meeting in September.
The Press Card Unit within the structure of our Directorate is working diligently to complete the evaluation of other applications in different categories such as renewal, loss, return to the profession or change in the card information. In the process of renewing the press cards, our Directorate has provided all kinds of convenience and solutions in order to prevent any press members from experiencing difficulties in their professional activities.
“We will not let anyone take aim against reforms and we will pave the way for new reforms”
The new Press Card Regulation has been subjected to some status quo-supporter comments since the first days. However, claiming that “press cards of some press members are deliberately kept waiting, and that the aim is to maltreat the journalists” is the result of a defamatory campaign that will not benefit anyone except for information pollution-fed circles. Considering that the first press card, permanent press card or renewal applications for various reasons are evaluated according to the date order, it is clear that these comments are malicious.
Procedures, application evaluation processes and criteria for press card applications are clear. The whole process has been and is being carried out within the context of the Press Card Regulation. Occupying the agenda with assumptions, contradictions, confusing sentences, false and unfounded claims is political engineering and malevolent effort.
Trying to make the new press card design a matter of debate through color selection is ridiculous and pathetic. In the design and decision stage, international examples were assessed by experts and after a painstaking design evaluation process, the final design was decided with a participatory approach.
The new Press Card Regulation is available to everyone on the internet. It is our demand not only for our institutions, but also for our citizens to create a constructive and useful dialogue form for the questions about the regulations, free from information pollution, aggression and stereotypes that serve perception operations.
Protecting the prestige of our press members and the press card is the responsibility of our Directorate of Communications. We will continue to support our press members in a large spectrum from improving working conditions to facilitating their professional activities. As the Directorate of Communications, we will proceed on our way with a reformist approach in our media activities as well as in all task fields. We will not let anyone take aim against reforms and we will pave the way for new reforms.