TurkStat lost the case, will publish the censored price list
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) stopped publishing the basket of items as of May 2022 inflation data.
Although the termination of the disclosure of the elements of the inflation basket with the May data caused reactions, DİSK filed a lawsuit against TÜİK. In the statement made by DİSK today, it was noted that the lawsuit filed against TÜİK was won.
In the statement made by DİSK, “We won the case we filed against TÜİK after TÜİK stopped announcing the inflation-based item price list in June 2022. According to the court decision, TurkStat has to re-publish the price list. item prices.
In the statement, noting that not disclosing the basket of goods data made the inflation data even more suspect, the process was explained as follows:
“Because TURKSTAT stopped publishing the price list containing the average price of more than 400 substances, which was announced uninterruptedly between January 2003 and May 3, 2022, the research center of our DİSK-AR confederation requested information to the Turkish Statistical Institute. on June 3, 2022. TURKSTAT rejected the information request, stating that the basket of items and the list of average prices of the items would not be published.
TRANSFER TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Given TUIK’s rejection of our request for information, on June 6, 2022, within the framework of the right to information, we once again asked TUIK for the data on the average price list of items through the Presidential Communication Center (CIMER ). With its response of June 23, 2022, TURKSTAT again rejected our request for information on the basket of items and the average price list, arguing that the information we requested “caused misunderstanding and misleading evaluations” in the public.
We appeal to the Information Board about the refusal of the TUIK to request our information. The Board also rejected DİSK’s request with its decision number 2022/936 dated August 3, 2022. Thereupon, DİSK took the matter to the administrative court, stating that the Board’s decision had no legal basis and that it was illegal to abandon disclosure of data that had been disclosed for years.
‘ILLEGAL’ DECISION TO TURKSTAT
Upon our request, the Ankara 6th Administrative Court unanimously decided that the disclosure of the information requested by DİSK was the duty of the institution and that the rejection of the information request was illegal.
In the judgment of the 6th Administrative Court of Ankara, dated March 31, 2023, based on 2022/2383 and number 2023/700, the information requested by DİSK is related to the statistical data obtained by TÜİK and published by the institution in years previous. years, and this information must be in the possession of the institution by reason of its duty, decided that the denial of the request for information was unlawful because it had canceled the denial object of the cause”.
“YOU MUST EXPLAIN AGAIN”
After the court decided that the refusal of the information request was illegal, stating that the disclosure of the data was a requirement of the institution’s duty, DİSK pointed out that TÜİK had to re-disclose the price list of the item together with the court decision.
In the statement made by DİSK, the following statements were made:
With this court decision, TURKSTAT has to re-announce the inflation base price list, which it stopped in June 2022. We will request TURKSTAT to comply with the decision’s requirements, submit the substance price list to DİSK and make it public.