Meeting Held with the Advisor to Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Batuhan Mumcu

MEETING HELD WITH THE ADVISER TO DEPUTY MINISTER OF CULTURE AND TOURISM MR. BATUHAN MUMCU

MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND TOURISM — MEETING SUMMARY AND UNION VIEWS

MEETING NOTES

Date: 25 June 2025

Subject: Meeting held with Ayşegül Genç, Adviser to Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Mr. Batuhan Mumcu

Participants: Union representatives, Ministry Adviser Ms. Ayşegül Genç

Agenda: Follow-up on previous meetings and assessment of the work towards solving the art institutions' problems

Dear stakeholders,

At the meeting we held on 25 June 2025 with Ayşegül Genç, Adviser to Deputy Minister Batuhan Mumcu, important matters were addressed concerning the art institutions' current problems, disciplinary provisions, incentive and bonus arrangements, intibak processes, double standards in appointments and assignments, and salary and personnel rights. The topics raised and our union's views on them are summarised in detail below:

1. Disciplinary Provisions and the Art Institutions' Legislation

• —Agenda: the inclusion of the disciplinary provisions of the State Theatres, the State Opera and Ballet and the General Directorate of Fine Arts in an omnibus law.
• —Status: we received information that such work exists within the Ministry. However, our union emphasised that handling disciplinary provisions in isolation could create new problems instead of solving the art institutions' existing ones.
• —Our union's view:

2. Work on Legislation for the Art Institutions

• —Agenda: whether comprehensive legislative work on the State Theatres and the other art institutions is under way.
• —Status: the Ministry stated that no such work exists at present.
• —Our union's view: comprehensive legislation is essential to close the legal gaps in the art institutions' administrative, financial and personnel rights. The current customs prevent the institutions from being managed soundly and lead to arbitrary practices.

3. The Across-the-Board Raise and Incentive/Bonus Problems

• —Agenda: the reflection of the across-the-board raise in incentives and bonuses.
• —Status: the Ministry stated that it is working on the matter, but that the Ministry of Finance is showing serious resistance. The court case our union brought on this issue in autumn 2023 continues.
• —Union view:

4. The Intibak Problem of 4B-Status Staff

• —Agenda: the intibak arrangement for staff who moved from 4B to 4A status.
• —Status: this arrangement has been approved by all the boards within the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Inspection Board and the Legal Counsel's office, and has been sent to the Ministry of Finance and the Social Security Institution. The process will proceed to the Presidency's Strategy and Budget Directorate and then to enactment.
• —Our union's view:

5. Double Standards in Appointments and Assignments

• —Agenda: double standards in appointments and assignments at the State Theatres; the rejection of excuse- and hardship-based transfer requests.
• —Status: examples were shared of transfer requests being rejected on grounds such as staff shortage despite medical reports, while unjustified assignments were being made.
• —Union view:

6. Inadequate Salaries and Retirement Problems

• —Agenda: current salaries remaining below the poverty line, the non-application of the across-the-board raise, and incentive cuts.
• —Status: the Ministry stated that proposals on salary raises and retirement arrangements are stuck on the Ministry of Finance's austerity measures.
• —Our union's view:

General Assessment and the Union's Position

• —The art institutions' problems must be solved not through disciplinary provisions alone, but through a holistic approach covering administrative, financial and personnel rights.
• —The arbitrary application of disciplinary penalties carries the risk of becoming an instrument of mobbing and financial pressure. Our union will fight such practices on both legal and administrative ground.
• —Incentive and bonus cuts, double standards in appointments and assignments, and inadequate salaries are making artists' and technical staff's working conditions harder.
• —Our union will follow all these matters, continue the court proceedings and keep presenting solution-oriented proposals to the Ministry.

Conclusion: our union is determined both to cooperate with the Ministry to solve the art institutions' problems and to wage a legal struggle against losses of rights. The views and suggestions from our internal stakeholders will be taken into account so that the processes are run transparently and effectively. While we look to all our stakeholders for support, we will continue to share developments with you.