The Global Journalists Council (KGK), established on October 14, 2019, by Presidential Decree with the status of “International Union,” concluded its 3rd ordinary general assembly marathon, which began on April 8, with the elections of its board of directors, audit, ethics, and specialized committees, and working groups on July 4. General President Mehmet Ali Dim renewed his mandate at the general assembly, while significant changes were made to the board of directors and the council's organizational structure.

The general assembly, which has representatives in 84 countries and 81 provinces as of July 2026, was held online via the Zoom platform by a company accredited by the Ministry of Interior. The general assembly, attended by members who gained delegate status from the Broad, Local, Foreign, and Digital Media councils elected in April, also determined the presidents and boards of directors for the 4 councils. Additionally, regional working groups, established for the first time this term, were also elected.

PRESIDING CHAIRMAN KARAKAŞ

The online general assembly was initiated by Secretary-General Lütfü Karakaş, followed by the election of the presiding board. The presiding board consisted of Lütfü Karakaş as chairman, Hacı Odabaş, Lawyer Atilla Diler, and Meryem Kanberoğlu. In accordance with the agenda, after the opening speech by General President Mehmet Ali Dim, the board of directors' activity report, financial statements, and estimated budget, along with the audit and ethics committee reports, were read and voted on separately, and approved.

DİM SUBMITTED HIS LIST

Subsequently, elections for the new term commenced. The main and reserve lists for the board of directors, audit, ethics, and honor committees, submitted by the previous term's general president Mehmet Ali Dim to the presiding board, were unanimously accepted. Following this, the council presidents and boards of directors, as well as the specialized committees and working groups, were voted on separately, concluding the congress. Özgenur Reyhan Güler (Broad Media), İsrafil Avcı (Local Media), Elşad Eyvazlı (Foreign Media), and Güven Hasbaş (Digital Media) were elected as council presidents.


DİM: WE HAVE BIG GOALS


In his thank-you speech, General President Mehmet Ali Dim, re-elected for 3 years, emphasized that they had become a large family over the 7 years since its establishment, stating:

“Remember… When this Council was being founded, there were those who said, ‘They won’t succeed.’ There were those who said, ‘You can’t bring together journalists with so many different views.’ There were those who said, ‘An international professional organization is just a dream.’ But we clung to belief, not despair. Looking back today, we see that what proved us right was not our ambition, but the effort we put in together.

Positions come and go. Offices 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 meticulousness tomorrow as I did yesterday. This institution has never been the institution of one person. The Global Journalists Council is the home of 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 rivals are ignorance. Our rivals are fake news. Our rivals are the mindset that tries to discredit journalism. We are the honorable representatives of the same profession. Let us amplify our common ideals, not our differences. Because a strong Global Journalists Council is a great necessity not only for its members but also 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 between the Turkic world, the Balkans, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. To become a professional organization that is respected and talked about not only in our country but all over the world. Thank God, we have achieved a global structure, just like our name suggests. We have reached the power to organize and hold events in all geographies of the world. This was achieved with your support and contributions. We will continue to make a difference and do what has not been done as a more qualified NGO. 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 our friends who will serve in the new term,” he said. Delegates attending the congress also expressed their views during the wishes and recommendations section.

The elected boards that will serve for 3 years between 2026-2029 are as follows:

BOARD OF DIRECTORS


In the board of directors, where General President Mehmet Ali Dim, Secretary-General Lütfü Karakaş, and Treasurer Muhammed Vefa Özalp were directly elected by the general assembly delegates, the members included Nevzat Çiçek, Savaş Çokduygulu, Ersel Yıldırım, Nalan Yazgan, Edip Üzen, Hayati Arıgan, Hacı Odabaş, Merih Ak, Ulaş Can, M. İlker Yücel, Meral Ay, and İsmail Yunus Soner. Board of Directors Reserve 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 responsibilities.


AUDIT COMMITTEE


Yakup Aslan, Ercan Aslan, Bilal Güley, Aydın Tatar, İzzet Sarı, Kemal Deniz, Hakan Yaman.

Audit Committee Reserve 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. Ethics Committee Reserve 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.


BROAD MEDIA COUNCIL BD


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


LOCAL MEDIA COUNCIL BD


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


FOREIGN MEDIA COUNCIL BD


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


DIGITAL MEDIA COUNCIL BD


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


SPECIALIZED COMMITTEES


Editorial Board: 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.