President Sezer vetoes bill on foreign media sales

In a statement issued by the office of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer late Thursday, it was announced that the head of state had applied his veto to the legislation, passed by the parliament on March 15.
According to the statement, the President had vetoed the law because he felt that a number of its articles were contrary to the Turkish constitution.
Under the legislation, there would have been no limits on how much of a single media holding foreign interests could acquire. However, the law did put a ceiling on the number of radio and television broadcasters in which foreigners could have a stake. The limit specified that foreigners could not hold more than 50 percent of a maximum of one quarter of the total number of national broadcasters.
One provision on the new law was that foreigners can not invest in regional or local broadcasters, only at the national level
The initial version of the legislation had set out that foreigners could not own more than 49 percent of a media outlet. However, this article was removed from the final draft on the recommendation of a parliamentary commission.
The new law has come under fire from many in Turkey who claim foreign owners will not show due care to Turkish sensitivities.
The vetoing of the law comes at a time when the state is planning to sell off the media interests of the bankrupted Uzan group of companies, which had been seized due the massive debts owed by the corporation. The media holdings include Star TV and Star newspaper. Foreign investors had expressed an interest in buying up the Uzan group’s media holdings, as have local media interests.