Mediterranean Network of Regulatory Authorities

Turkey has a rich and a very dynamic broadcasting sector, aware of the opportunities and challenges that the new media landscape will bring both to public and private broadcasters in adapting themselves to the digital age. Currently, the number of national television enterprises is 24, the regional television enterprises are 15, the local television enterprises are 210 in number and the total number of televisions is thus 249. In terms of radio broadcasting, the total number of radio enterprises is 1061 including 35 national radio enterprises, 98 regional radio enterprises and 928 local radio enterprises.  Furthermore, two enterprises are currently carrying out its activities as satellite platform operators.  Moreover, broadcasts of private radio and TV channels are transmitted to Europe, Asia and United States of America through satellite. 
 In order to deal with such a complicated broadcasting environment as a regulatory body, Radio and Television Supreme Council - RTÜK was established as an autonomous and impartial public legal person to regulate radio and television broadcasting services under Article 5 of the Law No 3984 on the Establishment and Broadcasts of Radio and Televisions which entered into force on 20 April 1994. Radio and Television Supreme Council is composed of nine members who are elected by the Turkish Parliament. Their main duties and powers can be listed as follows: granting license to the radio and television enterprises, allocation of channel and frequency bands, issuing licenses for the construction and operation of telecommunication facilities and monitoring the compliance of radio and television broadcasts with regard to the national and international legislation, deciding on the relevant sanctions in cases of violation of the provisions of the Law, conducting and commissioning public opinion surveys in order to determine the reactions of the public,  representing the State concerning any aspects of radio and television broadcasts all across Turkey at the  organizations that have legal personality under international law.
RTÜK favors the development of freedom of information, universal rights, new technologies and information society. It attributes utmost importance to seek for cooperation opportunities in order to achieve these goals. RTÜK represents the Republic of Turkey at the Council of Europe, European Union and several international arena. In this context, we are making contributions in particular to the legal instruments prepared by the Council of Europe. Regarding the international organizations; RTUK is the member of the European Platforms of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) and has initiated the establishment of Black Sea Regulatory Authorities Forum (BRAF). RTÜK has launched the webpage of BRAF (www.braf.info) and has been hosting the permanent secretariat of the Forum which is composed of 12 member states of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. In 2008, a kick-off meeting was held in İstanbul and a joint declaration was released. Furthermore, the founding charter of BRAF was adopted by the member states and it was decided to organize a regular meeting once a year. Finally, another initiative was launched to establish a Forum among the Regulatory Authorities of the member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). In this context, a Project Proposal was prepared in four languages (Turkish, English, French and Arabic) and a meeting was organized with Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin IHSANOGLU, Secretary General of OIC for an initial evaluation of the project. The Turkish proposal for the establishment of the Islamic Countries Broadcasting Regulatory Authorities Forum (IRAF) was duly adopted by the OIC / COMIAC members on 12 October 2010 in Dakar Senegal.
As already known, Mediterranean Network of Regulatory Authorities - MNRA was established in 1997 and many great works have been succeeded since then. The Decleration on Audiovisual Content Regulation, the Declaration of Intent Concerning the Protection of Young Publics and the Fight Against the Violence in the Media and the Memorandum of Understanding Between MNRA and COPEAM are among the concrete works achieved so far. We joined the Network in 2000 and have been taking active part in initiatives within the Network. We assumed the  Vice-Presidency for 2010 and undertook the Presidency for 2011. On behalf of the Radio and Television Supreme Council, I would like to convey my sincere thanks to  Mr. Juan MONTABES PEREIRA, President of Consejo Audiovisual de Andalucía, for his works and contributions during his Presidency during the last term.
The next plenary meeting of MNRA will take place in 2011 in Malta upon the Broadcasting Authority of Malta’s kind invitation as the Vice President. I am inviting all member and observer authorities, related institutions and the other stakeholders in media to enhance and reinforce the current cooperation within the Network and to search for new initiatives on common basis in the Mediterranean Basin.
 

Prof. Dr. Davut DURSUN
President of Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) & President of MNRA