İSTANBUL- TGS President Gökhan Durmuş, who reacted to the recently published circular for the yellow press card, said, 'Journalism is not a card carried in the pocket.' 

 

The procedures and principles of the press cards were published in the Official Gazette on 14 December Wednesday.With the decisions taken, the requirements of the people it will be given and the circumstances to cancel the card is established and cancellation is made much easier and the justification for cancellation is said to be the Anti-terror law (TMK) as well as the investigations about the journalists.

 

Turkey Journalists Union President Gökhan Durmuş spoke about the new regulations.

 

Durmuş, informing about the fact that only 15 thousand of the 40 thousand journalists have yellow press cards in Turkey said: "What, do we say the people except those 15 thousand are not journalists? Journalism in Turkey is always unliked by the governments because the main duty of the journalist is the public welfare, not the politicians. Since AKP came to power, the oppression against journalism increased. Journalism is not a card in one's pocket.There are some journalists that knowingly and willingly do not use press cards. The is no law dictating a journalist to carry a press card. This is not the criterion of journalism. The process that follows is a process in which the cards of journalists, who is for public interest, will be cancelled

 

 

‘WE WILL TAKE INITIATIVES FOR ITS CANCELLATION‘

 

Durmuş who stated that yellow card system is not used in any other countries but Turkey, said: "Even if you are graduated from a faculty of communications you have to wait for 9 months for the commission to respond. We, as a union will take initiative for its cancellation. Then we will have suggestions that we will do together with the press professional organizations."