20 September – 2024
Ankara 20th Administrative Court ruled that the decision by the Presidential Directorate of Communications’ Press Card Commission to revoke the press card of Özer Akdemir, İzmir correspondent for Evrensel newspaper, was unlawful.
Akdemir, who had held a yellow press card since 2013, submitted a renewal application in 2019 after press cards were changed to turquoise. However, his application remained unprocessed for years. The issue was brought to the commission’s agenda by Dilek Gappi, President of the İzmir Journalists Association (İGC) and a member of the Press Card Commission, and the application—pending for four years under the pretext of “review”—was finally addressed at the meeting held on 13 December 2023.
The court found that the commission’s decision lacked a clear justification and legal basis, ruling in favor of Akdemir.
