An international conference on “Right to Information in Turkey” was held on 26 February 2004.

The conference was organised by Istanbul Bilgi University, Faculty of Law and Human Rights Law Research Centre, Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV), Cyber Rights & Cyber Liberties and aimed to discuss transparency in all state operations and the right to information as the main tool to achieve this.

The representatives of the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of the Internal Affairs, Mehmet Elkatmış (President of the Parliamentary Commission of Human Rights in Turkey), Mehmet Ziya Yergök (Member of the Parliamentary Justice Commission in Turkey), Johan Wilhelmsson (Independent Expert, Council of Europe), Andrew Puddephatt (Executive Director of Article 19), İsmet Berkan (Editor in-Chief, Radikal), Fikret İlkiz (Attorney, Istanbul Bar Association), the representative of the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association and Turkish and foreign academics gave speech at the conference in which the Turkish Right to Information Act, human rights, state secrets, economic secrets and economic interests of the state and right to information were discussed.