Restrictions on foreign investor participation in broadcasting companies will be relaxed with amendments to be made to the current Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) Law, which currently allows foreign companies only partial ownership (up to 25 percent) of media institutions in Turkey.

A draft RTÜK bill prepared by the council and sent to the Prime Ministry in January 2008 has been reviewed by the government as part of efforts to harmonize Turkish legislation with that of the EU.

In the draft of the Third National Program, which maps the EU-required reforms that the government aims to introduce, the government pledged that restrictions on foreign capital participation in media would be relaxed by 2009 with amendments to be made to Law No. 3984, related to the broadcasts of radio and TV stations.

It was also noted that all restrictions on foreign capital participation in the media would be lifted two years before Turkey is granted full membership to the bloc and that new regulations will go into effect simultaneously with Turkey's membership.

According to the current RTÜK law, any media establishment have a maximum of 25 percent of foreign capital in Turkey and a foreign person or company that has shares in a private radio or TV station is not allowed to have shares in another radio or TV station. Foreign and native shareholders are not allowed to own privileged shares, either.

According to the draft RTÜK bill, foreigners will be allowed to have shares in at most two private radio and two private TV stations. Foreign capital ownership in the first radio and television stations owned will not be more than 50 percent of the paid capital, while it will not be more than 25 percent for the second radio and television stations owned by foreign capital. Foreign investors will not be allowed to have shares in local radio and TV stations, which will save these institutions from a monopoly of foreign capital. Nevertheless, restrictions on foreign capital in ownership of local radio and TV stations could be changed with later amendments, as noted by the draft bill.

According to the bill, political parties, foundations, labor unions, professional organizations, associations and local administrations, along with companies established by these institutions or the ones in which they have shares, their business partners and institutions involved in exports, imports, marketing and finance will not be granted permission for radio and TV broadcasts. These institutions will also not be allowed to be partners in companies that have permission for radio and TV broadcasts.

In line with the Turkish Commercial Law, permission for radio and TV broadcasts will only be granted to limited companies established with the aim of communication, education, culture and arts services. Any such company will be allowed to establish one radio station and one TV station.

In a radio or TV station that has annual ratings of more than 20 percent according to the rankings of the RTÜK, a real person or a legal entity or capital group will not be allowed to have shares of more than 50 percent.

If the annual ratings of a radio or TV station with more than 50 percent of its shares owned by a real person, legal entity or capital group exceeds 20 percent, it will lower its shares to less than 50 percent by offering them to the public or selling some of them within 90 days after being notified by the RTÜK.

If the annual ratings exceed 20 percent due to ownership of shares in more than one radio or TV station, shares will have to be sold to lower ownership of shares to less than 50 percent. If this rule is violated, broadcasting permission granted to that TV or radio station will be cancelled.

An approval from the RTÜK will be sought for offering shares in radio and TV stations to the public before receiving permission from the Capital Markets Board (SPK) in line with the Article No. 2499 of Capital Markets Law.

In line with the EU chapter on the free movement of capital, legal obstacles and administrative regulations that lead to discrimination between foreign and domestic investors and bring special responsibilities to foreign investors will be lifted. Regulations that create discrimination between foreign and domestic investors in the telecommunications, energy, mining, sea transportation, civil aviation and media sectors will all be abolished.

In EU countries, there are no restrictions on foreign capital for ownership of radio and TV stations; however, shares of foreign capital in these countries do not exceed 20 percent in many fields, including media, due to their established economic structure. The share of foreign capital in Germany is 5 percent, 8 percent in Italy, 10 percent in Spain, 11 percent in the Netherlands, 17 percent in Denmark and 19 percent in Austria and Greece.

According to the amendments to be made to the RTÜK Law, radio and TV broadcasts will not be allowed to have content that is immoral and/or that includes obscenity. They will also not be able to broadcast programs that promote threats from terrorist organizations.

The RTÜK authorities have also been rearranged in the draft bill. The current regulation, which rules that the RTÜK cannot monitor or cancel programs before they are broadcast except in cases of court rulings, does not exist in the bill. The bill allows either the prime minister or a minister assigned by him to cancel broadcasts in situations of national security or when there is a strong risk that public order will be threatened.

In cases when programs are broadcast that will arouse societal anger, the RTÜK will be able to cancel the broadcast of the program and its decision to cancel broadcasts will be affirmed by a court within 24 hours.

The new bill gives the authority to assign frequencies for national radio and TV stations, which are currently authorized by the Telecommunications Board, to the RTÜK. The license period of all broadcasts will be eight years. Broadcasting licenses to media institutions will be given by the RTÜK. Private radio and TV stations will offer at most 49 percent of their shares to the public and the shares will be traded on the stock exchange.

Todays Zaman