Access to public information in Turkey

rdf:langString Access to public information in Turkey

rdf:langString Access to public information and freedom of information (FOI) refer to the right of access to information held by public bodies also known as "right to know". Access to public information is considered of fundamental importance for the effective functioning of democratic systems, as it enhances governments' and public officials' accountability, boosting people participation and allowing their informed participation into public life. The fundamental premise of the right of access to public information is that the information held by governmental institutions is in principle public and may be concealed only on the basis of legitimate reasons which should be detailed in the law. No specific right of access to information was enshrined in the 1982 Turkish Constitution that in Article 26 instead refers to the right of free expression, including the "right to receive information". In the 2001 amended Constitution, Article 74 specifically refers to the right to information establishing that everyone has the right to obtain information. Following the 2010 Constitutional amendments, the right to appeal to the Ombudsperson is also provided.Access to public information is regulated by the Law on the Right to Information, Law No: 4982 of 2004. The law was introduced in the framework of the negotiations for accession to the European Union. On September 21, 2016, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Steering Committee designated the inactive status of Turkey with regard to the OGP action plan which included, among other objectives, an improvement of the possibility to access public information for Turkish citizens. The Steering Committee found that the Turkish government acted contrary to OGP process for two consecutive action plan cycles.