The Global Journalists Council (KGK) was established on October 14, 2019, with the status of an "International Union." The council's 3rd Ordinary General Assembly, which began on April 8, concluded on July 4 with the elections of the board of directors, audit, ethics, and specialized committees. While Chairman Mehmet Ali Dim was re-elected, significant changes were made to the board of directors and organizational structure.

The council's general assembly, which has representatives in 84 countries and 81 provinces as of July 2026, was held via Zoom through a company accredited by the Ministry of Interior. During the general assembly, attended by delegates from the National, Local, Foreign, and Digital Media assemblies elected in April, the chairs and boards of directors for the 4 assemblies were determined. Additionally, regional working groups were formed for the first time.

ASSEMBLY CHAIR KARAKAŞ

The online general assembly was initiated by Secretary-General Lütfü Karakaş. The assembly committee consisted of Hacı Odabaş, Lawyer Atilla Diler, and Meryem Kanberoğlu, chaired by Lütfü Karakaş. Following the opening speech by Chairman Mehmet Ali Dim, the board of directors' activity report, financial balance sheet, estimated budget, and audit and ethics committee reports were voted on and accepted.

DIM PRESENTS HIS LIST

The elections for the new term commenced. The principal and alternate lists for the board of directors, audit, ethics, and honor committees, presented by Chairman Mehmet Ali Dim, were unanimously approved. Subsequently, the chairs and boards of directors of the Assemblies, as well as the specialized committees and working groups, were voted on. Özgenur Reyhan Güler (National), İsrafil Avcı (Local), Elşad Eyvazlı (Foreign), and Güven Hasbaş (Digital) were elected as Assembly Chairs.

DIM: WE HAVE BIG GOALS

Chairman Mehmet Ali Dim, re-elected for a 3-year term, stated in his thank-you speech that they have become a large family in the 7 years since the council's establishment. Dim said:

"Remember… When this Council was founded, there were those who said, 'they won't succeed.' There were those who said, 'you can't bring together journalists with such different views.' There were those who said, 'an international professional organization is just a dream.' But we embraced belief, not despair. Looking back today, we see that what proved us right was not our claim, but the effort we put in together.

Roles come and go. Positions come and go. But the trust you leave behind remains. I have never seen your trust as personal support; I have seen it as a responsibility entrusted to our profession. I promise to carry this trust with the same diligence tomorrow as I did yesterday. This institution has never been one person's institution. The Global Journalists Council is home to the local reporter working in Anatolia, the editor working in national media, and the journalist representing Turkey in different countries around the world.

We are not rivals to each other. Our rival is ignorance. Our rival is fake news. Our rival is the mindset that tries to discredit journalism. We are honorable representatives of the same profession. Let us foster our common ideals, not our differences. Because a strong Global Journalists Council is not only for its members; it is also a great necessity for Turkey's voice, the reputation of Turkish media, and the defense of truth in the world.

Our goal is to make KGK one of the leading organizations for media cooperation among the Turkic world, the Balkans, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. It is to become a professional organization respected and talked about not only in our country but all over the world. Thankfully, we have achieved a global structure, just like our name suggests. We have reached the power to organize events and activities in all geographies of the world. This was made possible with your support and contributions. As a more qualified NGO, we will continue to make a difference and do what could not be done before. I sincerely thank all our members who have accompanied us on this journey and served from the past to the present. I wish success to my colleagues who will serve in the new term."

In the wishes and aspirations section, the delegates attending the congress also expressed their views.

The elected committees, which will serve for 3 years between 2026 and 2029, consisted of the following names:

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The board of directors, where Chairman Mehmet Ali Dim, Secretary-General Lütfü Karakaş, and Chief Accountant Muhammed Vefa Özalp were directly elected, included Nevzat Çiçek, Savaş Çokduygulu, Ersel Yıldırım, Nalan Yazgan, Edip Üzen, Hayati Arıgan, Hacı Odabaş, Merih Ak, Ulaş Can, M. İlker Yücel, Meral Ay, İsmail Yunus Soner. Alternate Board Members: Yaşar Önel, Nurcan Demirtaş, Sabri Çağlar, Murat Çiçek, İlker Ülker, Felat Bozarslan, Mustafa Birol Güger, Kübra Çelepi, Eran Hasibi, Doğancan Kuru. The Board of Directors will hold its first meeting in the coming days to assign duties.

AUDIT COMMITTEE

Yakup Aslan, Ercan Aslan, Bilal Güley, Aydın Tatar, İzzet Sarı, Kemal Deniz, Hakan Yaman. Alternate Audit Committee Members: Abdullah Biçer, Mustafa Doğan, Cabbar Sıktaş, Osman Sav, Sait Alıcı, Fikri Türkel, İsmail Topal.

ETHICS COMMITTEE

Recep Aydın, Gürsel Eser, Tolga Şardan, Cenap Kürümoğlu, Cahide Hayrunnisa Çiçek, Canan Arslan, Gökhan Güler. Alternate Ethics Committee Members: Sedat Azizoğlu, Necat Ahmet, Esra Alus, Ferhat Esnek, Kamil Güler, Harun Atalay, Hayati Ağca.

HONOR COMMITTEE

Yaşar Yıldız, Bekir Doğan, Şerife Türkeş, Erol Kara, İbrahim Necati Günay, Orhan Kaplan, Hayati Nizamoğlu, Ayhan Mergen, Suhabi Okumuş, Muammer Başer, İrfan Hoşafcıoğlu.

NATIONAL MEDIA ASSEMBLY BOARD

Özgenur Reyhan Güler (Chair), Dursun Eker (Deputy Chair), Ünsal Karabulut (Vice Chair), Adnan Türkkan (Vice Chair), Sabri Çağlar (Vice Chair), Ferhat Yıldırım (Vice Chair), Sevgi Uçar (Assembly Secretary), Nurcan Demirtaş, M. Veysi İpek, Şehnaz Demiral, Ece İçmez.

LOCAL MEDIA ASSEMBLY BOARD

İsrafil Avcı (Chair), İbrahim Arslan (Deputy Chair), Mustafa Demir (Vice Chair), Mustafa Efe (Vice Chair), Salih Suat Deniz (Vice Chair), Murat Dönmez (Vice Chair), Melek Barış, Orhan Doğan, Esat Bindesen, Esma Kural.

FOREIGN MEDIA ASSEMBLY BOARD

Elşad Eyvazlı (Assembly Chair), Ahmet Coşkunaydın (Deputy Chair), Vatan Öz (Vice Chair), Eran Hasibi (Vice Chair), İsmail Yunus Soner (Vice Chair), Esra Öztürk (Vice Chair), Nigar İbrahimova (Assembly Secretary), Aynur Tattersall, Dilek Kaya, Khamza Djumayev, Emir Abdurrahman Bulut.

DIGITAL MEDIA ASSEMBLY BOARD

Güven Hasbaş (Chair), Denizhan Erkoç (Deputy Chair), Sertaç Virancık (Vice Chair), Üstün Tuncer (Vice Chair), Kemal Özdilek (Vice Chair), Tolga Yenigün (Vice Chair), Kübra Çelepi (Assembly Secretary), Emre Baktiroğlu, Mustafa Salman, Dicle Nehir Bozdan, Ulaş Odabaş.

SPECIALIZED COMMITTEES

Publications Committee: Mehmet Ali Dim, İsmail Bayazıt, Nevzat Çiçek, Savaş Çokduygulu, Lütfü Karakaş, Ersel Yıldırım, Özgenur Reyhan Güler, Ardan Zentürk, N. Benan Kepsutlu, Dünya Taşlardan, Meryem Kanberoğlu.

Conciliation Committee: Murat Onur, Yıldız Yakar, Selahiddin Akkuş, Caner Güngör, Hüseyin Bekar, Feyzullah Taş, Yalçın Bel, İsmail Altunbaş, Halit Akgül, Ramazan Çetin, Esma Kural.

Education Committee: Ali Hançerli, Hediye Eroğlu, Nihan Müşerref Yarkent İnce, Ferit Kesen, Özkan Karakaya, Cemal Kaplan, Harun Atalay, Okan Dilek, Bekir Nazım Ada, Uğur Kapuçi, Erdal Savaş.

Political Relations Committee: Erdal Güven, Hasan Basri Akdemir, Dursun Eker, Banu Şen, Osman Bekâr, Adnan Türkkan, Fatih Atik, Yakup Aslan, Şerif Varol, Ümit Kozan, Metin Demir.

Social Relations Committee: Seda Demir, Serkan Tatlı, Serap Karaoğlu, Özner Berber, Fatih Fırat Ekaterina Gündüz, Mert Talat Dilekçioğlu, Cemil Yıldız, Mahmut Özbalcı, Fatma Sumer, Zeliha Akkuş.

Project Development Committee: Ahmet Külekçi, Batuhan Aybers, Mehmet Kumcağız, Aybeniz Küzeci, Veysel Kavrayan, Gündüz Üç, Talip Bayram, Necdet Yıldırım, Alper Ceylan, F. Melih Maradit, A. Kadir Konuksever.

WORKING GROUPS

Professional Union Working Group: Mehmet Ali Dim, Bülent Öztürk, Savaş Çokduygulu, Lütfü Karakaş, İsrafil Avcı, Bekir Doğan, Celil Acar, Hüsniye Karakoyun, Mehmet Emin Güzbey, Orhan Kaplan, Recep Aydın.

Latin America Working Group: Roberto Trobajo Hernandez, İ. Yunus Soner, Mariana Andrea Mendez Ruker, Cesar Gomez Chacon, Roberto Fonseca Francisco, Felipe Martorell Cammarella, María Gabriela Castillo.

Europe Working Group: Vatan Öz, Alpar Kato, Adil Elmas, Nufel Yavuz, Sedat Azizoğlu, Sefa Doğanay, Arber Hitaj.

Asia Working Group: Mehmet Adnan Akfırat, Devadeep Purohit, Nyamdari Baigalmaa, Tolga Karagöz, Mesut Küçükaslan, Burak Ersoy, Imam Sopyan.

Turkic World Working Group: Cesurhan Taş, Daryanur Jaforava, Dauletkhan Zhiyenkulov, Dovran Orazgylyjov, Khamza Djumayev, Gulnaz Kutueva, Aidana Stamova.

Middle East, Gulf, and Africa Working Group: Deniz Büstani, Thierno Ahmadou Sy, Majdi Tall, Mohammed Ali Bakhit, Abdülkadir El Şatır, Mohamad Sultan, Khalil Assali.

North America Working Group: Buse Biçer, Dilek Kaya, İslam Doğru, Selçuk Acar, Bünyamin Sürmeli, Anıl Süral, Eren Abdullahoğlu.

Eastern Europe and Eurasia Working Group: İsmet Zaatov, Daria Melekhova, Gulsum Khalilova, Dmitri Calac, Liana Jorjoliani, Miranda Oganezova, Albina Khazieva, Nadezhda Tydykova, Teya Arshba.