Journalists, MPs regain right to early retirement

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Two journalists are seen trying to escape from tear gas used by the police during a protest in the Turkish capital of Ankara in this file photo.

Parliament adopted a bill late Dec. 10 that paves the way for the early retirement of journalists due to the exhausting nature of their profession. The advantages listed in the proposal will also be valid for lawmakers.

Thanks to the bill, Turkish journalists regained their right to “active service increase,” which counts every four years of seniority worked as a journalist as five years.

That’s to say that journalists will be able to retire one quarter period of employment earlier than professionals in other lines of work.

Turkish journalists have long been campaigning to regain this right, which was abolished in 2008 as part of the Social Security Reform introduced by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

On Journalists’ Day

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently ordered his party seniors to work on a plan to reintroduce early retirement for journalists following growing demand from journalists and journalist associations.

The bill was adopted at Parliament on Jan. 10, which is celebrated as “Working Journalists’ Day” in Turkey, a day that herald as the anniversary of the adoption of the so called “Law No. 212,” which covers occupational and economic rights for journalists. Law No. 212 entered into law Jan. 10, 1961, despite objection from media owners and gave journalists the right to early retirement.