More than half of 70 requests for information from Turkish authorities tracked between April and June went unanswered, while nearly three-quarters of the responses that were sent provided none of the information requested, according to a new report by the International Press Institute (IPI).
The IPI said 36 of the requests recorded on its Right to Information Platform during April, May and June were still awaiting responses when the report was prepared. Authorities rejected 12 requests and sent responses to 22. Journalists filed 93 percent of the applications, which focused most frequently on human rights, government accountability and transparency and children’s rights.
IPI said the findings showed that receiving a formal response often did not translate into access to information. Of the replies sent by public institutions, 73 percent provided none of the information sought, even though the institutions had not formally rejected the requests. Only 6 percent provided most or all of the information requested.
The group said delays were particularly damaging to journalists, who may need government information while reporting time-sensitive stories. Information supplied after a statutory deadline can lose its relevance and public value even if it is eventually disclosed, IPI said.
Turkey’s Right to Information Law, adopted in 2003, gives individuals the right to request information and documents held by public institutions, subject to exemptions including state secrets, personal data and commercial secrets. Public bodies generally are required to respond within 15 working days.
IPI said another 13 percent of the responses it examined provided less than half of the information requested, while 8 percent supplied about half. The Health Ministry and the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) responded to the largest number of applications in the sample.
Public institutions most frequently rejected applications on the grounds that the requested material had already been published, that providing it would require a separate or special study or that the issue did not concern the public, according to the report. The institutions cited provisions of the Right to Information Law in rejecting the applications.
The report also documented problems with the mechanisms used to submit requests and challenge government responses.
In one case a journalist tried on the final day of the legal deadline to challenge a response before Turkey’s Right to Information Review Board (BEDK). The electronic system rejected the appeal as being late even though the deadline had not expired, IPI said.
IPI’s legal advisory board determined that the problem was caused by a technical error rather than a miscalculation of the deadline. The error was not corrected, preventing the journalist from filing the appeal, according to the report.
The report cited another case in which the Health Ministry’s Department of Migrant Health told a journalist that information was missing from an application and asked for it to be resubmitted. But the standard response left blank the section meant to specify what information was missing, making it impossible for the journalist to correct the application, according to IPI.
In a separate case Health Ministry officials called a journalist and offered to provide the requested information orally but said they would not issue a written response. IPI said the absence of a written administrative decision deprived the applicant of an official record that could be used in an appeal or court challenge.
IPI called for regular monitoring of whether public institutions comply with legal response deadlines and for effective administrative accountability when applications are left unanswered. It also recommended changes to BEDK’s electronic appeals system, individualized and reasoned responses to requests and the regular publication of information of public interest without requiring people to formally request it.
