The first day of TİGAD's 13th Digital Media Workshop has come to an end! The future of journalism was discussed in Iğdır.

07.08.2026 18:20

The 13th Digital Media Workshop held by the Turkey Internet Journalism Association (TIGAD) in Iğdır saw high participation on the first day. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, Chairman of the Board of Haberler.com Ekrem Teymur, and Editor-in-Chief Attorney Bedia Teymur also attended the workshop. At the workshop, attended by nearly 150 media executives, journalists, and academics, the future of digital media and the impact of artificial intelligence on the future of internet journalism were discussed.

The 13th Digital Media Workshop, made traditional by the Turkish Internet Journalism Association (TİGAD), is hosted by Iğdır. Approximately 150 journalists, media executives, academics, and industry representatives from all over Turkey extensively discussed the future of digital media and the transformation of internet journalism on the first day of the workshop.  TİGAD President Okan Geçgel said that the future of digital media and the transformation of internet journalism were discussed at the workshop.

MINISTER GÜRLEK MADE THE OPENING SPEECH

The official opening of the workshop was held at the Iğdır Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism Conference Hall. In the opening program, where Justice Minister Akın Gürlek also attended and gave a speech; Ekrem Teymur, Chairman of the Board of Haberler. com and SonDakika. com, Av. Bedia Teymur, Editor-in-Chief of Haberler. com, Halit Öztürk, TİGAD Iğdır Provincial Representative, Okan Geçgel, President of TİGAD, Mehmet Ali Dim, President of the Global Journalists Council, Iğdır Governor Mustafa Fırat Taşolar, journalist Hadi Özışık, members of parliament, and protocol members each gave a speech.

"DIGITAL MEDIA SHOULD BE GATHERED UNDER A SINGLE ROOF"

Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, who met with journalists at the workshop, drew attention to the need for internet journalism to be brought under a single roof and that a new legal regulation in line with current needs is inevitable: "There are very valuable masters here, we know many of them, we know them from Istanbul. They must definitely be brought under a single roof. This should have been thought of before, but apparently it wasn't. Such a law has become a necessity according to current needs. If you have any law work on this subject, we will support as much as we can in bringing this law to the agenda or to the parliament's agenda. Or if you want technical support in making the law, our legislation unit is strong in that regard. We make the legislation of all ministries, we do our law studies. But it would be very useful, hopefully it will be beneficial. "

TİGAD PRESIDENT GEÇGEL: WE WOULD BE HAPPY IF YOU GIVE SUPPORT

TİGAD President Okan Geçgel, on the other hand, mentioned the previous contacts regarding the law work and requested support from Justice Minister Gürlek: "Sir, first of all, our Vice President Fuat Oktay, who guided us on this matter, said in my personal meeting; at the award ceremony of our Media Ankara Deputy General President, they said, 'Make such a law study, bring it, I will also support it, let's also talk with our Minister.' Therefore, they opened the way for us. We would be very happy if you also give support, sir. "

MINISTER GÜRLEK: WHO IS MAKING REAL NEWS MUST COME TO LIGHT, WE ARE READY

Reiterating his support upon Geçgel's request, Minister Gürlek emphasized that the regulation would increase the sense of responsibility and unity in the sector, saying, "I said it, I expressed my support just now. Thank you very much, sir, take care. Hopefully. This will, first of all, be unity for you. Everyone is currently trying to make news on the internet somehow. This requires at least revealing who is doing it, who is making real news, and it also requires responsibility, there is the responsibility of the job. This will be beneficial, we are ready to help with whatever falls on us."

"WE FOLLOW EVERYTHING ON THE INTERNET, IT HAS BECOME A POWER"

Referring to the power of internet media today and the importance of instant journalism, Minister Gürlek continued his words as follows: "Media, from your perspective, people try to follow the agenda from the screen you show, especially internet media has become very common recently. You also put intense effort and labor into this. These workshops are very important, our President just said, the thirteenth is being held. The first workshop was held in my hometown. I hope this workshop will lead to good things. Lately, internet journalism, the internet press has become a power. I mean, personally, we follow everything on the internet. It instantly appears on our television, pardon me, on our screen, on our phone screen. Therefore, you also provide the news to the internet press live and instantly. I hope the workshop leads to good things, President. Hopefully, it will also be useful for our friends here. "

"SOCIAL MEDIA LAW COMES TO PARLIAMENT IN OCTOBER"

Finally, Minister Akın Gürlek, providing information about the fight against disinformation and the upcoming legal processes, pointed to October and concluded his speech: "As you know, we currently have a social media law, we have work on this issue that concerns you too. We announced part of it to the press, now of course, the main agenda item of our parliament is a Terrorism-Free Turkey. Hopefully, with a Terrorism-Free Turkey, we will come to the general assembly on Sunday, and on Sunday, Turkey will hopefully wake up to a new morning, a new dawn.

In October, we especially have our social media law. We are bringing important regulations here. Here, you don't do it anyway, we exclude you, but unfortunately there is disinformation and information pollution on social media. That is, people make accusations against each other based on a news item or a perception, they expose each other's private lives, and they spread fake news. I attach great importance to this workshop on this matter. I want to emphasize once again that TİGAD's activities are important. I also want to thank our President for inviting us to the program. "

THE NEXT WORKSHOP WILL BE HELD IN "BURDUR"

TİGAD President Geçgel opened the workshop with the words: "We are holding our 13th workshop. Our esteemed Minister will chat with you shortly. Therefore, our esteemed Minister honored us. Our esteemed Minister, this is our 13th workshop. We also carried out R&D activities. We held our first workshop in our Minister's city. We started the workshop in Nevşehir. We held our last workshop, the 12th, in Kırşehir 1.5 months ago. Today we are in Iğdır. After this, we will continue with Burdur, hopefully. With your permission, esteemed Minister, I present you to the stage."

DR. EKREM TEYMUR: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCES WILL PAY COPYRIGHT FEES TO THE SOURCES THEY USE

Following the opening program, the workshop began with the 1st session titled "The Reader in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: How Have Expectations in News Changed?" In the first session moderated by Dr. Ekrem Teymur, experts in their fields gave speeches and presentations on important topics."}

Just as we see on YouTube now. Just as YouTube allocates a share to the owners of the works in the published video and distributes it according to a certain formula, there will be a formulation according to this. Of course, it is very important for the union to be established as soon as possible for this. Because the union will be the interlocutor here. In other words, Google will not make payments one by one."

The first speaker of the workshop moderated by Ekrem Teymur was journalist Hadi Özışık. In his speech, Özışık drew attention to the difficult journey internet journalism has covered from past to present, the struggle they gave during the law-making process, and the copyright problems experienced by the Anatolian press.

HADİ ÖZIŞIK: HOW MANY PRESIDENTS, HOW MANY MINISTERS WE CHANGED

Starting his speech by greeting the participants, Hadi Özışık touched on the point reached in internet editorship and journalism, saying, "Welcome everyone. Now, at the point reached regarding internet editorship, when we look at our time, our early periods, the struggle we carried out together with the friends on my right, how many Presidents we changed, how many Ministers we changed, we fought fist to fist with deputies in Parliament for this law to pass. But afterwards, there was the Internet Journalists Association, where we were also in the management. It still exists, but after we achieved our goal, we handed over the job to the Okans. Well, they manage it beautifully, they do a successful job."

THE CRITICAL SUMMIT AT DOLMABAHÇE AND THE PROMISE GIVEN TO ERDOĞAN

Sharing a historical detail from the period when the first steps of the Internet Media Law were taken, Özışık described the summit held at Dolmabahçe Palace as follows: "But let me say this; We attended the first meeting in Istanbul with the then Prime Minister - I emphasize again - with the then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, he invited us as Internet Journalists. And there, the Prime Minister said: 'We expect your intense support in the peace process.' We said then: 'We will support this peace law and the peace process to the end, provided you give us your support regarding the Internet Media Law.' It was at Dolmabahçe Palace. And Tayyip Erdoğan also gave his word, let's give him his due, let's remember him. Bülent Arınç also gave a lot of support on this issue. Binali Yıldırım especially had great support, and Abdullah Gül had support. But when it came to Parliament, it was getting stuck, friends, this is a reality. In other words, the ruling side accepts everything we proposed regarding internet media."

"THE LAW REMAINED STALE IN PARLIAMENT THREE TIMES"

Drawing attention to the bottlenecks and obstacles encountered in the Parliamentary commissions, journalist Özışık noted the following regarding the press card struggle: "Then it comes to Parliament, it is discussed in the Parliamentary commission. I begged the party members at that time, I said: 'Brother, there is nothing here, there is no censorship law. This is our internet media law. We have been doing journalism for years, we pay taxes to the state, we don't have a press card. Help us regarding the efforts to obtain press cards under Law No. 212, even though it costs us a great deal for our employees.' But unfortunately, each time in Parliament, those laws remained stale three times and died, they didn't happen."

"PEOPLE IN ANATOLIA WORK HARD"

Also mentioning his meeting with the Minister of Justice, Hadi Özışık reacted harshly to the unauthorized use of content produced by the Anatolian media and copyright problems, concluding his speech as follows: "Look, today I had a meeting with the Minister. Especially on this copyright issue, people in Anatolia - I am a person who comes from local journalism - people in Anatolia work hard, and without getting the return of their labor, those who do this job in a glass mansion in Istanbul enjoy the cream. Therefore, measures need to be taken as soon as possible. When you make an effort, it happens; when you struggle, you can reach a result. But if you leave the struggle halfway and become complacent, you won't get any results. Everyone will come and sit on your head and take the bread in your hand, folks. I also say again; I started journalism from the local level. I started by writing in a local newspaper in Kars, I started this job by distributing newspapers. And today, here I am before you as the founder of a 26-year-old internet news outlet."

In the Q&A section of the program, Ekrem Teymur, Chairman of the Board of Haberler.com, directed questions to Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek regarding "artificial intelligence" and "unsolved murders."

EKREM TEYMUR: WHAT WILL BE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR AI COPYRIGHTS AND MURDERS SOLVED YEARS LATER?

The questions directed by Ekrem Teymur, Chairman of the Board of Haberler.com, to Minister Gürlek were as follows: "My first question is about artificial intelligence. When an artificial intelligence creates a text, if the owner of the original text that inspired this text later claims rights from the owner of this derived text, how will the proof, determination, and trial of this be done? Do you have any work on this?

Secondly, let me briefly say this. Now, in the community for solving unsolved murders, is there any new digital or artificial work? This is very important. But there is also a situation like this. For example, as a press member, we follow, a murder was solved 15 years later. Well, now let's think like this; a file solved today ???? was like a file not solved 15 years ago. Now, after 15 years have passed, after many witnesses have perhaps died or disappeared, after much evidence has been obscured, if this murder is still solved even after 15 years, will any responsibility be directed towards the security and judicial officials who looked at this file 15 years ago and did not solve it?"

MINISTER GÜRLEK: THOUGHTFUL AND DEEP QUESTIONS

Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek, who answered Ekrem Teymur's questions by saying "You asked thoughtful and deep questions," made the following statements regarding the use of artificial intelligence in the judiciary and the processes of solving unsolved murders: "Let me start with the first question.Artificial intelligence, of course, technology is now artificial intelligence. You know, China is the center of artificial intelligence. We have also established an infrastructure, especially within the Ministry of Justice, under our Directorate General of Information Technology, regarding artificial intelligence. We are developing an application to benefit from artificial intelligence in some of our practices, especially for judges to benefit from artificial intelligence. We are currently utilizing it.

"UYAP AND OUR DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ARE WORKING"

As you mentioned, regarding opening a social media account through artificial intelligence or producing news there, we currently do not have a technical study on that. I am saying this because you asked, but we have started new studies on artificial intelligence. Especially regarding citizens' access to justice and the practicality of our judges in similar decisions they have made in similar cases, UYAP and our Directorate General of Information Technology are working on using artificial intelligence. It has also carried out major projects. We will announce this to the public soon. Hopefully, this artificial intelligence will be beneficial.

"A MURDER THAT COULD NOT BE SOLVED 15 YEARS AGO."

On the other matter, in your other question you mentioned; a case not solved 15 years ago is being solved 15 years later. Here, we need to pay attention to this; why could a murder not solved 15 years ago not be solved? Of course, the technologies back then were different. Actually, the purpose of this unit we established here is to look only at these files. Our colleagues look only at these files.

Now, we have a rule here; evidence is collected within 48 hours. We have personnel here from the police and the gendarmerie. If you collect evidence after 48 hours have passed, it is not reliable evidence. That is, there may be evidence not collected while it was fresh. In other words, we need to look at it from a different perspective. There may have been a witness who was not heard at that time, or a base station study was not conducted then. As you know, DNA matching can be done now with new technology. So, we do not necessarily need to seek a fault there.

"WHAT MATTERS HERE IS SOLVING A MURDER"

But there is this; if a public official or a public servant intentionally failed to perform their duty at that date, we punish that. Look, in the current incident, arrests were made. That is, there are police personnel among those arrested, and health personnel who deleted the health report from the system. Intent is one thing, but negligence can certainly occur. In the end, our prosecutor colleagues and police officers may not have collected the evidence while it was fresh due to work intensity. But examining this after 15 years with a different perspective, putting it on the table, having technical colleagues examine it, and using new technologies is a different matter. What matters here is solving a murder. Holding those who committed this murder accountable. That is what we want. If there is bad faith, of course, we take the necessary action against them. "

ATTORNEY BEDIA TEYMUR ASKS MINISTER GURLEK ABOUT A TERROR-FREE TURKEY

Av. Bedia Teymur, Editor-in-Chief of Haberler.com, who attended the workshop, asked Justice Minister Akin Gurlek striking questions about the "Terror-Free Turkey process" and "internet media".

"WILL IT END TERRORISM, OR WILL IT BE A PACKAGE SPREAD TO EVERYONE?"

Starting her question by thanking Minister Gurlek, Av. Bedia Teymur said, "Actually, 'Terror-Free Turkey' is a very important issue. We have endless support, and we know that many grievances have truly been experienced in this regard. I would like to ask you to make an assessment on this. Will this actually end terrorism, or will it be a package of peace, tranquility, and spread to everyone? What exactly is its content?" she said.

"WILL THERE BE A REGULATION IN THE LAW REGARDING FAKE ACCOUNTS?"

Asking her second question, Bedia Teymur drew attention to the disruptions in the digital media sector, saying, "Internet media truly is still not where it deserves to be. We have mentioned internet media, and we are in the digital age. In the digital age, as you also said, it has reached a point where we are fighting not with laws one by one, but with individuals who open fake accounts and do whatever they want, person by person. We also fight against them institutionally. Because, from our perspective, what can institutions with an institutional identity, memory, and 20-30 years of history do? At most, how much harm can they cause?

Based on this, the damage an individual can do by opening a fake account would be almost zero compared to that. And as I said before, when I participated in a study with Mr. Okan, I said: First, we need to legally prevent these individuals who open fake accounts and do whatever they want.

Now, you know, Mr. Minister, we have Law No. 5651, and this regulation, which holds hosting providers completely irresponsible regarding these fake accounts, needs to be removed as soon as possible. We are responsible for all our content, but they are not responsible in any way for the people for whom they open accounts and provide accounts. When a person opens an account, first, the question 'for what purpose should it be opened?' needs to be asked. Will there be a regulation on this in a digital law? And we will support it to the end—I am also a lawyer and we work hard on this" she stated.

MINISTER GURLEK: THE LAW IS VERY SIMPLE, BUT PEOPLE HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS IN THEIR MINDS

Thanking Av. Bedia Teymur, Editor-in-Chief of Haberler.com, for her questions, Minister Gurlek stated that he met Bedia Teymur in Istanbul and had previously spoken with her, and detailed the first question on the "Terror-Free Turkey" issue: "Terror-Free Turkey is really very important. Look, if there is terrorism in a country, I do not mean only in terms of peace, security, and public order; investors will not come, and there will be no legal security. Turkey has seen these; the scourge of terrorism has been in this region for 40 years, probably. We talked with our esteemed Member of Parliament and our esteemed Governor in this region as well. People absolutely want terrorism to end now. Look, surveys were conducted here, and 91% of our citizens want the 'Terror-Free Turkey' process to be implemented. Following this, these meetings were held two years ago in Ahlat, first upon a statement by the esteemed Chairman, Mr. Devlet Bahçeli; then speeches were made, and finally, its legal regulation was made.

The law is actually very simple, but of course, people have a few questions in their minds.There are questions like, 'Will Apo be released or not?' Let me tell you this: Since we specifically drafted and wrote these articles of the law for a Terror-Free Turkey and contributed to Parliament, we also know the justifications; we know which article serves which purpose. The first article of this law, the entry-into-force article: The PKK and KCK armed terrorist organization will definitely dissolve itself with all its elements, lay down its arms, and only after the confirmation that the organization has been liquidated will this law enter into force. In other words, this law will not enter into force without these things happening. The organization must dissolve entirely, it must lay down all its arms, the organization must be liquidated, and these must be determined and confirmed by the National Security Council. So this is the first article, the introductory article. After this happens, the other provisions will come into play. That is, after the organization is dissolved, lays down its arms, is liquidated, and the National Security Council makes a decision saying, 'Yes, the law can now enter into force here,' then it will enter into force once published in the Official Gazette."

"WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THE LAW?"

Continuing to explain the details of the regulation, Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek continued his words as follows: "Of course, there is a segment that will benefit from this law. There are numbers; there are 2600, there are 3800. Here, of course, we made a gradual arrangement. Individuals definitely involved in armed killing acts; whether abroad or domestically, even if currently in prison, they are definitely excluded from this scope, as an exception. That is, they will not benefit in any way. But there are people who will benefit from this scope. These are written in the second article of the law. Namely; propaganda, membership in an organization, forming and managing an organization. That is, those who are inside or abroad without participation in acts of killing will benefit from this law.

And this, look, this is not so easy either. Here too, we established a committee; in Article 7 of the law, there is a committee. Under the chairmanship of our Vice President, with the Minister of Justice, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Interior, and the Secretary General of the National Security Council, there is a committee. This committee will decide whether these crimes will benefit and whether the rights withheld will be reinstated. So there is also a discretionary power; this committee does not have to evaluate every application positively. But there is this: Ultimately, we want terrorism to end. This outcome is important. That is, terrorism will end, and hopefully, all our citizens want this as well. A Terror-Free Turkey means the country's bright future, its tomorrows, the arrival of investment, the arrival of employment, and the proper functioning of law. The outcome is very important. Of course, there will certainly be debates about this, and other dissenting voices will emerge, but it is especially important that we and you explain this accurately to the people. Here, as the Ministry of Justice, we have prepared a 50-item pocket guide in the form of a booklet regarding the questions asked by our citizens. For instance, a citizen on the street asks: 'Will Apo benefit?' No, he will not benefit. 'Let me say, after how many years can these people come and engage in politics in Turkey?' We have prepared answers to such questions. This is a new law; hopefully, it will pass in Parliament with the participation of major parties. That is, so far, it has been introduced with over 360 signatures, it is on the agenda in the General Assembly, and I personally believe it will be accepted with a number above 400. This actually indicates how determinedly and resolutely both our Parliament and our citizens want this law to enter into force. I hope I was able to answer your question about a Terror-Free Turkey."

"THE LAW IS BEING IMPLEMENTED BUT HAS SHORTCOMINGS"

Minister Gürlek, who also answered lawyer Bedia Teymur's second question, used the following statements: "There is Law No. 5651, it is being implemented, but there are shortcomings in this law. Especially in internet media, there must definitely be a responsible person, and a news site must have a masthead. That is, it certainly exists, but generally, fake names are used here.

The social media law, as I said from the beginning, actually, if this social media law is passed, 90% of these problems will be solved. That is, first of all, there will be a responsible person using this on social media, there will be a responsible person in internet journalism, and anyone opening a social media account will also be responsible. Here, in every crime, the prosecutor's office will not question the owner of the social media account; we have written these down. There will be 'catalog crimes'; if there is suspicion that these crimes have been committed, the prosecutor's office or the court will write and say, 'Who is the owner of this account?' Then the owner of that account will face responsibility. Arrangements can be made regarding 5651, and I also agree with the points you mentioned. Because we come from practice with our prosecutors, we experience difficulties. We write; 'Who is the responsible person for this site, this internet site?' and we get no answer. Because why? There is no responsible person. That is, more precisely, there is no tax registration, more precisely, there is no editor-in-chief, more precisely, there is nothing; there is no address, no contact address, no branch. They have completely set up an account from there, like this. These definitely need to have rules."

Haberler.com Editor-in-Chief Attorney Bedia Teymur, in her speech at the workshop, drew attention to the vital importance of protecting intellectual and labor products under the title "New Generation Copyright."

BEDİA TEYMUR'S COPYRIGHT STATEMENT: THE SUBJECT OF THE NEWS BELONGS TO EVERYONE, THE ORIGINAL NARRATION BELONGS TO THE JOURNALIST

Attorney Bedia Teymur, who took part as a speaker at the workshop moderated by Haberler.com Chairman of the Board Ekrem Teymur, evaluated the news copying processes that have accelerated with the development of digital publishing and the ownership boundaries over news from a legal perspective.

"HUNDREDS OF JOURNALISTS CAN FOLLOW THE SAME EVENT"

Referring to the effects of the rapid spread of content within seconds with digitalization on the sector, Attorney Bedia Teymur said, "With the growth of digital publishing, the ability to copy news content within seconds has brought along an important debate for journalism: To whom does a news story belong, and what exactly does copyright protect in journalism? The fundamental distinction in copyright law arises between the event itself and the journalist's original narration of the event. An earthquake, an election result, a court decision, an official statement, or any development on the public agenda does not belong to a single journalist or media organization. Tens or even hundreds of journalists can follow and report on the same event. However, this does not mean that the original labor put forth by a journalist can be used without limits."

"JOURNALISM IS NOT JUST ABOUT RELAYING NEWS"

Emphasizing that the journalism profession is not merely about relaying news but involves serious composition and labor, Teymur said, "Journalism is not just about conveying obtained information to the public.The journalist decides which information to highlight, which sources to consult, what headline to present the news with, how to structure the text, and which visuals to use. This is precisely where copyright law protection begins. The journalist's original news text, exclusive interview, self-taken photographs, prepared graphics, analysis, and unique narrative style can benefit from copyright protection to the extent they meet the necessary legal conditions. Therefore, from a journalistic perspective, the distinction can be summarized in a single sentence: 'The subject of the news does not belong to me; however, my original presentation of that news belongs to me.'

"THE SAME EVENT CAN BE REPORTED, BUT THE TEXT CANNOT BE COPIED"

Drawing attention to the fact that directly taking original journalistic texts belonging to others will lead to legal sanctions, Attorney Bedia Teymur stated, "Another publisher who learns of an event in a news story published by a media outlet can also investigate the same development, consult their own sources, and prepare their own news. However, directly taking the original text, photographs, graphics, or original elements of the news brings a different legal evaluation to the agenda. Therefore, in digital journalism, the main debate revolves less around the question 'Who broke this story first?' and more around 'Was the original journalistic effort produced by someone else used without permission?'"

"JOURNALISTIC LABOR IS AT THE CENTER OF COPYRIGHT DEBATE IN THE DIGITAL AGE"

In the final part of her speech, Teymur stated that copyright is the most fundamental mechanism protecting the economic value of journalistic labor and concluded her remarks as follows: "With the internet and digital platforms, the much faster circulation of news content has made this distinction more important than in the past. A news story, exclusive interview, or analysis that a journalist spends hours researching can be republished on other platforms within seconds. Therefore, at the core of the digital copyright debate, there is not only a matter of 'content ownership.' At the center of the debate is also the protection of the economic value of journalistic labor and original production. If journalism is the activity of researching the truth, verifying it, and presenting it to society in an original way, then copyright appears as one of the tools through which the law recognizes the original labor that emerges at the end of this process."

PLAQUES WERE PRESENTED TO THE SPEAKERS

The first day of the workshop ended with a plaque presentation ceremony. Plaques were presented to Ekrem Teymur, Chairman of the Board of Haberler.com and SonDakika.com, Attorney Bedia Teymur, Editor-in-Chief of Haberler.com, and all the speakers who attended the workshop.