Turkish Law Explained in English

Guides to the parts of Turkish law that foreign nationals most often need. Each is the English version of a longer Turkish article.

Articles

Administrative Law

• Four Ways to Approach the Administration — and What Each Does to Your DeadlineFreedom of information, the petition system, and the two Administrative Procedure Act applications: which of them stops the sixty-day period running, and which does not.Administrative Law
• Civil Service Disciplinary Proceedings: The Defence Decides the CaseThe sanctions available, the right to be heard before any of them, the limitation periods that defeat many cases, and the routes of objection and annulment.Administrative Law
• Student Discipline and Annulled Exam Results: How to Challenge ThemDisciplinary sanctions in higher education are administrative acts. The sixty-day deadline, the grounds that succeed, and why a stay of execution must always be sought.Administrative Law
• Military Service: Deferment, Paid Exemption and What Happens If You Miss a Call-UpThe grounds of deferment, how paid exemption and the foreign-currency option work, and the consequences of failing to register or to join your unit.Administrative Law
• Negative Security Vetting: What Can Be Done?Your appointment was refused after security vetting. What information may be processed, can you obtain reasons, and how is an action for annulment brought?Administrative Law
• Disability Rights: The Medical Report, Employment Quotas and Tax ReliefHow a disability medical board report is obtained and challenged, what the employment quota is, and which tax and duty exemptions are available.Administrative Law
• Challenging an Administrative Fine: Which Forum, and How Long You HaveThe route for challenging an administrative fine depends on the type of fine: the magistrate's court or the administrative court? Deadlines, the early payment discount and instalments.Administrative Law
• Unauthorised Buildings: Stop-Work Notices, Fines and Demolition OrdersHow the process runs for a building without a permit or contrary to one: the stop-work notice, the one-month window, the planning fine, and challenging a demolition order.Administrative Law

Civil Procedure

• Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign JudgmentsThe difference between recognition and enforcement, the statutory conditions, the documents required, and the faster administrative route for a foreign divorce.Civil Procedure
• Time Limits in Turkish Law: What Must Be Done, and By WhenLimitation and forfeiture periods across employment, family, property, enforcement, criminal and administrative law, collected in one place.Civil Procedure
• Reading Your Case File Online: What Each Entry Actually MeansWhat the national judicial portal shows, how to read the case history, and why seeing a document there does not start time running.Civil Procedure
• What Remains Against a Final JudgmentRectification of judgments no longer exists. How appeal and cassation work, the periods, and the two extraordinary routes left once a judgment is final.Civil Procedure
• Individual Application to the Constitutional Court: The Last Domestic RemedyThe thirty-day period, exhaustion of remedies, the admissibility criteria that defeat most applications, and what a finding of violation actually achieves.Civil Procedure
• Powers of Attorney and Legal Fees: The Two Things to Settle FirstHow a power of attorney is issued, which acts need special authority, how fees are fixed, and who actually receives the costs awarded against the losing side.Civil Procedure
• Litigation CostsCourt fees, the expense advance that is a condition of the action, the evidence advance, attorney's fees, and legal aid for those who cannot pay.Civil Procedure
• Filing Evidence and the DeadlinesWhy evidence must be notified in the pleadings, the two-week peremptory period, witness lists, the requirement of proof by deed, and late evidence.Civil Procedure
• How Civil Proceedings Work: A Stage-by-Stage MapBefore the action, the exchange of pleadings, preliminary examination, the investigation stage, judgment and appeals. What happens at each stage and what you must do.Civil Procedure
• Legal Aid: Bringing a Case Without Paying the CostsTwo separate routes for those who cannot meet the cost of proceedings: legal aid from the court, and the assignment of a lawyer by the bar association. Conditions and applications.Civil Procedure
• Conditions of the Action: Cases Dismissed Without Reaching the MeritsJurisdiction, legal interest, lis pendens, res judicata and compulsory mediation. How a missing condition of the action is remedied.Civil Procedure
• How to Write an Objection to an Expert ReportThere is a way to change a report that goes against you: the two-week period, the elements of an effective objection, and requests for a supplementary report or a new panel.Civil Procedure
• Simplified and Summary Procedures: The Faster RoutesWhich cases follow the simplified civil procedure, how the time limits shorten, and what the summary disposal and simplified procedures in criminal cases involve.Civil Procedure
• Tracking Your Case Online: A Guide to the e-Government and Judiciary PortalsHow to follow your court file, enforcement proceedings, judicial record and formal notifications online, and which task belongs to which channel.Civil Procedure
• Service of Documents: When It Is Irregular, and What FollowsOn whom and how documents are served, notices left at the door, delivery to a neighbour, electronic service, and how to challenge irregular service.Civil Procedure
• Compulsory MediationWhich claims cannot be filed without first applying to a mediator, the timetable, the enforceability of a settlement, and the cost of not attending.Civil Procedure
• Digital Evidence: What Counts and What Does NotUnlawfully obtained evidence is excluded absolutely and may itself be an offence. What you may record, what a screenshot is worth, and how to preserve evidence.Civil Procedure
• Interim Injunctions and Preliminary Attachment: Securing Your ClaimThe two ways of securing a claim while proceedings run: their conditions, the security required, the period for objecting, and the duty to bring the substantive action.Civil Procedure
• Calling Witnesses: The List, the Summons and Giving EvidenceWhen the list of witnesses must be filed, who may refuse to give evidence, what happens if a witness does not attend, and how witness evidence is made to carry weight.Civil Procedure
• Amending a Claim: The One Chance You Get, and When to Use ItWhat amendment covers, how long it remains available, how the relief sought is increased, and why a plea of limitation is the real risk.Civil Procedure
• Partial Claims, Amendment and Increasing the Amount After the 2026 ReformAct no. 7589 repealed the claim for an indeterminate sum. What replaced it, how the single increase under Article 109/4 works, and which route to take when.Civil Procedure

Commercial Law

• Collecting a Commercial Debt: The Document You Hold Decides the RouteWhich route is fastest for an unpaid invoice, a dishonoured cheque or a current account balance — and why mediation is required for proceedings but not for enforcement.Commercial Law
• Legal Risk Checklist for Small Traders and SMEsThe ten traps small businesses fall into most often — unwritten contracts, invoices sent without proof of service, cheque risk, guarantees, records and limitation.Commercial Law
• Trade Mark Registration: Applying, Opposing and EnforcingHow a trade mark is registered in Turkey, how to oppose a similar application, whether unregistered use is protected, and the remedies for infringement.Commercial Law
• Choosing a Company Type: Sole Trader, Limited or Joint-Stock?The differences between a sole trader business, a limited liability company and a joint-stock company: liability, capital, tax and exposure to unpaid public debts.Commercial Law

Consumer Law

• When an Online Order Goes Wrong: Delivery, Withdrawal and ChargebacksThe thirty-day delivery rule, the fourteen-day right of withdrawal, how a chargeback works, and when the marketplace is liable.Consumer Law
• Your Credit Score Is Wrong: How to Get the Record CorrectedHow credit records are built, how to object to an incorrect entry, the data protection route, and when the bank is liable for the loss it caused.Consumer Law
• Consumer Credit: Withdrawal, Early Repayment and Reclaiming FeesThe fourteen-day right of withdrawal, the reduction the lender must give on early repayment, which fees can be reclaimed, and why insurance can never be imposed.Consumer Law
• Cancelling a Subscription: Your Rights, and the Limits on Exit ChargesThe right to cancel at any time, the rule that cancelling must be as easy as subscribing, how an early termination charge is capped, and automatic renewals.Consumer Law
• Consumer Arbitration Committee or Consumer Court: Which One, and WhenThe monetary threshold, how to apply, whether the decision binds, the fifteen-day objection, and when mediation is required.Consumer Law
• Defective GoodsThe four alternative remedies the consumer chooses between, the six-month reversal of the burden of proof, the two-year period, and where to apply.Consumer Law
• The Right of WithdrawalWhen the fourteen days start, who pays the return postage, the goods excluded from the right, and what to do if the seller does not refund.Consumer Law
• Buying a Used CarWhy buying from a dealer differs from buying privately, the warranty against defects, and why fraudulent concealment defeats both the time limit and the exclusion clause.Consumer Law
• Subscription ContractsWhy cancellation must be possible by the same means the contract was made, the limit on early-exit fees, disputing bills, and auto-renewing digital subscriptions.Consumer Law
• The Consumer Arbitration Committee: Thresholds, Procedure and OutcomeWhich disputes go to the committee and which to court, how to apply, how long it takes, how to challenge a decision, and how a decision is enforced.Consumer Law
• Consumer Rights: Your Remedies for Defective Goods and ServicesThe four elective remedies for defective goods, the consumer arbitration committee, the right of withdrawal and the scope of a guarantee under the Consumer Protection Act.Consumer Law
• Timeshare ContractsThe difference between registered timeshare ownership and a holiday timeshare, the fourteen-day withdrawal right, the ban on taking payment, and what to do afterwards.Consumer Law

Criminal Law

• Withdrawing a Criminal Complaint: What It Closes, and What It CostsWhich offences a withdrawal actually closes, why it cannot be taken back, how settlement differs, and what happens to your claim for damages.Criminal Law
• Victim–Offender Settlement: Which Offences, and What You Are SigningWhich offences settlement covers, how the process runs, what the settlement document binds you to, and why a withdrawal should come last, not first.Criminal Law
• Insult on Social Media: Fix the Evidence, Then ComplainWhat counts as insult online, why a screenshot is not enough, how an anonymous account is traced, and the six-month complaint period.Criminal Law
• False Accusation and Fabricating an Offence: The Price of an Unfounded ComplaintThe elements of false accusation, how it differs from fabricating an offence and false testimony, effective remorse, and the claim for damages.Criminal Law
• Children in the Criminal Justice System: Age Groups and Special ProcedureCriminal responsibility by age group, how the capacity to appreciate is assessed, the children's courts, social investigation reports and protective measures.Criminal Law
• How a Prison Sentence Is Actually CalculatedThe three stages of the calculation: the conditional release proportion, probation and set-off — and what to do when the calculation is wrong.Criminal Law
• The Indictment Has Been Filed: What Happens NowWhat an indictment must contain, why a court returns one, what changes when it is accepted, and how to use the weeks before the first hearing.Criminal Law
• Attempt and Continuing Offences: How the Sentence Is FixedWhere preparation ends and execution begins, what voluntary withdrawal means, and when repeated acts count as one offence rather than many.Criminal Law
• Forgery of Documents: Official and Private, and Why the Difference MattersThe distinction between official and private documents, the capacity to deceive, how signatures are examined, and the civil claims that run alongside.Criminal Law
• Phone and Online Fraud: The First 24 Hours Decide Whether You Get the Money BackThe order that matters — the bank first, then the prosecutor, then the civil claim — and exactly what to ask for in the complaint.Criminal Law
• Challenging a Traffic Fine: Where, When and On What GroundsThe fifteen-day period, the free application to the criminal judgeship of the peace, the grounds that actually work, and what the early-payment discount costs you.Criminal Law
• Criminal Records and the ArchiveThe difference between the criminal record and the archive record, which one an employer sees, when the archive is deleted, and how to apply.Criminal Law
• Judicial ControlThe measures available, how long they last, what happens on breach, and how to apply to have them lifted or relaxed.Criminal Law
• The Offence of FraudThe elements of the offence, the aggravated forms, what to do in the first 24 hours, and why a criminal complaint alone does not get your money back.Criminal Law
• Cybercrime and Your RightsThe principal offences under the Criminal Code, insult and harassment on social media, personal data breaches, and how to preserve digital evidence.Criminal Law
• Intentional InjuryThe basic and aggravated forms, the six-month complaint period, the separate civil claim for damages, and the conciliation stage.Criminal Law
• Police Custody: Time Limits, Your Rights and the First 24 HoursHow long can police custody last in Turkey, when does a lawyer arrive, and must you give a statement? The process from apprehension to release, step by step.Criminal Law
• Deferral of the Announcement of the Judgment (HAGB)What a deferral decision means, whether it appears on the judicial record, what happens during the five-year supervision period, and what refusing it entails.Criminal Law
• Insult and False Accusation: Sentences and How to ComplainThe offence of insult under Article 125 and false accusation under Article 267 of the Turkish Criminal Code: insults on social media, the six-month complaint period and sentencing.Criminal Law
• Fraud: Complaints, Sentences and Rights of the DefenceYour position as a victim or as an accused in a fraud case: how to report it, the aggravated forms under Articles 157 and 158, sentences and defence rights.Criminal Law
• Theft: Aggravated Forms, Complaints and Active RemorseSimple and aggravated theft distinguished, theft committed at night, the circumstances that reduce the sentence, criminal mediation, and the effect of returning the property.Criminal Law
• Drink-Driving: Sanctions, Your Licence and Insurance RecourseBlood alcohol limits, how long a driving licence is withdrawn, the offence under Article 179, the consequences of refusing a breath test, and the insurer's right of recourse.Criminal Law
• Probation: Conditions, Obligations and BreachWhat probation is and who qualifies, how it relates to conditional release, the obligations imposed, what happens on breach, and how it differs from a deferred judgment.Criminal Law
• Mitigation of Sentence: When Is a Sentence Reduced?Discretionary mitigation, unjust provocation, minority, active remorse and attempt: the grounds that reduce a sentence and the order in which they are applied.Criminal Law
• Abuse of Trust: When Entrusted Property Is Not ReturnedA car lent and not returned, money left in someone's keeping, goods handed over for repair: which offence arises, what the complaint period is, and the aggravated forms.Criminal Law
• Animal Cruelty: The Offences Introduced by Law No. 7332The 2021 amendment turned certain acts against animals into criminal offences. Which acts are offences, which remain administrative, and how to report them.Criminal Law
• Amnesty, Pardon and Changes to Sentence ExecutionAn amnesty and a change to the rules on executing sentences are not the same thing. How an amnesty is passed, what majority it needs, which offences are excluded, and what to do meanwhile.Criminal Law
• Traffic Accident Compensation: Insurance and the Legal ProcessCompensation rights after a traffic accident in Turkey, compulsory motor insurance, the Insurance Arbitration Commission, and how fault affects what you can recover.Criminal Law
• Pre-Trial Detention: Conditions, Your Rights and How Release Is SoughtWhen detention may be ordered, the maximum periods under Article 102, the rights of a detained person, judicial control as an alternative, and how release is applied for.Criminal Law
• Making a Criminal Complaint: Procedure and DeadlinesThe difference between a complaint and a report, the six-month deadline, how to draft the petition, and what happens after you file it.Criminal Law
• A Decision Not to Prosecute: The Fifteen-Day Objection and What FollowsWhat a decision not to prosecute means, how the fifteen-day objection is made, and whether a file can be reopened on fresh evidence.Criminal Law
• Criminal Threats: Complaints, Evidence and SentencesWhich words amount to a threat under Turkish law, when a complaint is required, how a threat sent by message is proved, and how a protection order is obtained.Criminal Law
• After an Assault: The Medical Report, the Complaint Period and MediationWhat to do after an assault in Turkey: why the forensic medical report matters, the six-month complaint period, criminal mediation, and the aggravated forms.Criminal Law
• Stalking and Sexual Harassment: The Offence and How to Obtain ProtectionThe offence of stalking introduced in 2022, sexual harassment, protection orders under Law no. 6284 and electronic tagging: the complaint period and gathering evidence.Criminal Law
• Possession for Personal Use: Deferral of Prosecution and ProbationDeferral of the bringing of a prosecution for possession for personal use, the probation obligations that follow, and how the offence is distinguished from trafficking.Criminal Law
• Self-Defence: When Defending Yourself Is Not an OffenceYou responded to an attack and are now under investigation. The four conditions of self-defence, exceeding its limits, and how the defence is established on the file.Criminal Law

Employment Law

• Unfair Dismissal: Rights and DeadlinesValid reason and just cause, severance and notice pay, the reinstatement action and the one-month mediation deadline under Turkish employment law.Employment Law
• Notice PayThe statutory notice periods, who pays whom, how the all-inclusive wage is used, and how notice pay differs from severance pay.Employment Law
• Severance Pay After ResigningThe exceptions that preserve severance on resignation, why the wording of the resignation letter decides the case, and the six-working-day limit.Employment Law
• The Statutory Severance CeilingWhat the ceiling is, how it is updated twice a year, which payments enter the all-inclusive wage, and why the excess cannot be paid as severance.Employment Law
• Occupational DiseaseHow an occupational disease is established, what happens when it emerges after employment ends, the employer's duties, and when the limitation period starts.Employment Law
• Maternity, Nursing and Paternity LeaveThe sixteen weeks of maternity leave, the nursing break the employee schedules herself, paternity and compassionate leave, and the ban on dismissal for childbirth.Employment Law
• Retirement ConditionsThe three conditions, why your first insurance date governs everything, buying back missing periods, and the severance right for those waiting only on age.Employment Law
• The Minimum WageWhere the gap between gross and net comes from, the cost to the employer, and the many other calculations that use the minimum wage as their floor.Employment Law
• Unused Annual Leave: It Does Not Expire, and It Cannot Be Carried Over EitherHow much leave the law gives, when it can be split, why leave neither expires nor carries over, and when it turns into money.Employment Law
• Challenging a Social Security Decision: Fines, Contribution Debts and IncapacityThe fifteen-day objection to the institution, the thirty days to sue afterwards, the discount for paying up front, and which court hears which dispute.Employment Law
• The Allowance That Disappeared from Your Payslip — and What Replaced ItWhy the minimum living allowance was abolished, how the income and stamp duty exemption that replaced it works, and what happens to claims from the earlier period.Employment Law
• Worked Without Social Security Registration: The Action to Establish Insured EmploymentIf you were employed without social security registration or with days under-declared, a court can have your record corrected. Conditions, the five-year period and proof.Employment Law
• Overtime Pay: Calculation and ProofThe 45-hour week, the 50 per cent uplift, the 270-hour annual cap, how overtime is proved, and the equitable reduction courts apply to witness-based claims.Employment Law
• Severance Pay: Conditions and CalculationThe three conditions for severance pay, which forms of termination qualify, how the all-inclusive gross wage is used, and the five-year limitation period.Employment Law
• Workplace AccidentsWhat counts as a workplace accident, the three-working-day notification, social security benefits, compensation claims and the ten-year limitation period.Employment Law
• Workplace Harassment: How to Prove It and What to DoWhat counts as workplace harassment under Turkish law, which behaviours fall within it, how it is documented, and the legal routes available to an employee.Employment Law
• Unemployment Benefit: Conditions, Duration and How to ApplyWho qualifies for unemployment benefit, how many months it is paid for, which leaving codes disqualify you, and what happens if you miss the thirty-day application period.Employment Law
• Paid Annual Leave: Entitlement, Use and Unused LeaveHow many days of paid annual leave you are entitled to, how leave is taken, and how unused leave is turned into a money claim when employment ends.Employment Law
• Unpaid Wages: How to Recover What You Are OwedWhat to do when your wages are not paid: the right to withhold work, termination for just cause, compulsory mediation, proceedings in the labour court and the five-year limitation period.Employment Law
• Non-Compete Covenants: Their Limits and When They Are InvalidWhen a clause preventing an employee from joining a competitor is valid: the limits of place, time and subject matter, penalty clauses, and the court's power to cut them down.Employment Law
• Transfer of an Undertaking: What Happens to Your Service and Your ClaimsWhat happens to employment contracts when a business changes hands: how service is calculated, the transferor's two-year liability, and whether a transfer justifies termination.Employment Law
• Subcontracted Workers: The Principal Employer's Joint LiabilityThe rights of subcontracted workers, the principal employer's joint and several liability, sham subcontracting arrangements, and how to claim severance pay.Employment Law
• Job Security: The Thirty-Employee Threshold and the Reinstatement ClaimWho benefits from statutory job security, what counts as a valid reason for termination, and how a reinstatement claim and compensation for non-reinstatement work.Employment Law
• Dismissal Under Code 29: What It Means and How to Challenge ItWhat leaving code 29 means, how it affects severance pay and unemployment benefit, and what to do when it has been used without justification.Employment Law
• Unpaid Leave: Can an Employer Impose It Without Your Consent?Whether the employee's consent is required for unpaid leave, how it affects length of service and contributions, and the statutory right to unpaid leave after maternity.Employment Law
• Starting a New Job: What to Check in the ContractWhat to watch for when signing an employment contract: the probationary period, penalty clauses, non-compete covenants, and the documents the employer must provide.Employment Law
• Trade Union Membership, Collective Agreements and the Right to StrikeHow union membership is established, whether the employer learns of it, what trade union compensation is, and who benefits from a collective agreement.Employment Law
• Remote Working and Part-Time Contracts: What the Law RequiresThe requirement of a written contract for remote working, who bears the costs, working hours, and the rights of part-time employees.Employment Law
• Sham Subcontracting: When the Worker Is the Principal Employer's Worker All AlongThe statutory limits on subcontracting, how a sham arrangement is established, and the consequence: the worker is treated as the principal employer's worker from the outset.Employment Law
• Social Security: Check That Your Contributions Are Actually Being PaidHow to check your contribution record, what undeclared and under-declared employment means, and what to do when years of work are missing from your record.Employment Law

Enforcement Law

• Attachment of Wages: How Much Is Deducted and How to Challenge ItThe quarter-of-wages rule, why pensions are different, what happens when several attachments compete, and the seven-day complaint to the enforcement court.Enforcement Law
• Undertakings to Pay in Enforcement: What You Are SigningAn undertaking given at the enforcement office carries a penal consequence. Its conditions of validity, the coercive detention that follows breach, and how payment ends it.Enforcement Law
• Dishonoured Cheques: Two Routes That Run Side by SidePresentation and the endorsement of dishonour, enforcement special to negotiable instruments, the ban on drawing cheques, and the defences open to the drawer.Enforcement Law
• Composition with Creditors or Bankruptcy: A Route Map for BusinessesThe composition procedure, the documents required, the provisional and definitive moratoriums, the creditor majorities — and why postponement of bankruptcy no longer exists.Enforcement Law
• When a Debtor Transfers Assets Away: The Creditor's RemediesHow a disposition made to defeat creditors is set aside, the three grounds and the periods they cover, who bears the burden of proof, and what a successful claim achieves.Enforcement Law
• Recovering a DebtChoosing between enforcement proceedings and an action, the evidence that decides these cases, precautionary attachment, and how to reduce the risk in advance.Enforcement Law
• Annulment and Removal of an ObjectionThe one-year action before the ordinary court, the faster route before the enforcement court, and the 20 per cent compensation for an unjustified objection.Enforcement Law
• When You Cannot Pay Your DebtsRestructuring before enforcement starts, the seven-day objection period, what cannot be attached, and the mistakes that make matters worse.Enforcement Law
• Attachment and Salary Garnishment: A Debtor's RightsDebtors' rights in attachment proceedings: property exempt from attachment, the limits on salary garnishment, routes of objection, and the action for a negative declaration.Enforcement Law
• Objecting to Enforcement Proceedings: How to Protect Your PositionHow to object to enforcement proceedings in Turkey, the deadlines that apply, and the difference between an objection to the debt and an objection to venue.Enforcement Law
• Are There Enforcement Proceedings Against Me? How to CheckHow to check an enforcement file through the e-government and national judiciary portals, what to look for in the file, and what to do about proceedings you never knew about.Enforcement Law
• Credit Card Debt and Bank Enforcement ProceedingsWhat happens when card debt goes to enforcement: the minimum payment trap, the interest ceiling, the notice calling in the debt, and how to object to a payment order.Enforcement Law
• Setting Aside Dispositions: Pursuing a Debtor Who Has Transferred Assets AwayWhat a creditor can do when a debtor transfers property to a relative: the grounds, the five-year period, the certificate of insolvency, and the effect of the judgment.Enforcement Law
• Composition with Creditors: The Moratorium and What It Means for Each SideWhat composition with creditors is, who may apply, what the provisional and definitive moratoriums mean, and the consequences for debtors and creditors alike.Enforcement Law
• Buying at an Enforcement Auction: The Electronic Process and Setting a Sale AsideEnforcement sales are now conducted electronically. The deposit, challenging the valuation, the grounds for setting an auction aside, and the risks for a buyer.Enforcement Law
• My Property Was Attached for Someone Else's Debt: The Third-Party ClaimWhat to do when property belonging to you is attached: raising the claim, the deadlines, who bears the burden of proof, and how to stop the sale.Enforcement Law
• “I Do Not Owe This”: Negative Declaration and RestitutionWhich action to bring when enforcement is started for a debt that does not exist: the difference between the two, security, stopping the enforcement, and bad-faith compensation.Enforcement Law

Family Law

• Increasing or Reducing MaintenanceWhen maintenance can be varied, when spousal maintenance ends, what evidence is needed, and the automatic annual increase that avoids repeat litigation.Family Law
• Contact Arrangements and Their BreachWhat the judgment must specify to be enforceable, the 2022 change that moved enforcement away from the enforcement office, and what to do when contact is obstructed.Family Law
• Family Residence ProtectionWhy the home cannot be sold or mortgaged without the other spouse's express consent, how to register the annotation, and what to do if it is sold anyway.Family Law
• Prenuptial and Matrimonial Property AgreementsThe statutory regime that applies by default, when separation of property is worth choosing, the notarial form requirement, and what happens without an agreement.Family Law
• Changing Your Name: What Counts as Good Cause, and What FollowsName changes go through the courts, not the registry. What counts as good cause, where the claim is brought, and everything that has to be updated afterwards.Family Law
• Name and Surname Changes: The Grounds, and the Right Forum for Each RequestWhat the courts accept as good cause, which requests go to the registry instead, and the separate rules for a surname after divorce and for a child's surname.Family Law
• AdoptionThe one-year care requirement, the eighteen-year age gap, whose consent is needed, adoption of adults, and the effects on succession and surname.Family Law
• Establishing and Denying PaternityThe three ways parentage is established, how acknowledgement works, the one-year limits on a paternity action, and DNA testing.Family Law
• Domestic Violence and Protection OrdersThe measures under Act No. 6284, where to apply, why no evidence or complaint is needed, who can apply, and how it relates to divorce proceedings.Family Law
• Declaration of Presumed Death: The Legal Position of a Missing PersonHow a declaration of presumed death is obtained for someone long missing: the waiting periods, the public notice procedure, the estate, and the effect on a marriage.Family Law
• Maintenance and AlimonyInterim, child, spousal and family support maintenance under Turkish law: who claims what, how the amount is set, and what happens when it is not paid.Family Law
• Division of Matrimonial PropertyAcquired property versus personal property, how the participation claim is calculated, the burden of proof, and when the action must be brought.Family Law
• Uncontested DivorceThe three statutory conditions, what the settlement protocol must contain, why the judge must hear both spouses in person, and what happens if it is refused.Family Law
• Custody and Parental Responsibility: The Best Interests of the ChildHow custody is decided on divorce in Turkey, what the best-interests principle means, joint parental responsibility, variation of custody, and contact arrangements.Family Law
• Wedding Gold: Who Owns It, and How the Claim Is ProvedWho owns the gold given at a Turkish wedding, what happens if it has been sold, and how the hardest part of these claims — proof — is met.Family Law
• Guardianship and Curatorship: Which One Applies, and How to ApplyGuardianship or curatorship for a relative who can no longer manage their affairs: the grounds for restricting capacity, how to apply, the guardian's powers and supervision.Family Law
• Filing for DivorceUncontested and contested divorce, the statutory grounds, the family court procedure, and why every claim must be made in the petition itself.Family Law
• Divorce for AdulteryThe special ground and the general ground compared, the six-month forfeiture period, forgiveness, and the evidence trap that can turn the case against you.Family Law
• Damages on DivorceWhat each head of damages compensates, why comparative fault decides the claim, and the one-year deadline for a separate action.Family Law
• How Long a Contested Divorce TakesThe stages and their typical durations, the eight factors that extend the case, how to shorten it, and the interim measures available while it runs.Family Law
• When Maintenance Is Not PaidEnforcement on the judgment and a complaint to the enforcement criminal court, the three-month complaint period, and the debtor's available defences.Family Law
• Spousal Maintenance: What “Open-Ended” Actually MeansMaintenance for a spouse in need is awarded without a fixed end date. When it is granted, when it ends automatically, and how it is revoked or reduced.Family Law
• Family Support Maintenance: The Duty Towards Parents, Children and SiblingsMaintenance is not only a divorce matter. The duty of support between descendants, ascendants and siblings: the conditions, the order of liability, and the procedure.Family Law
• International Child Abduction: The Hague Convention and Return ApplicationsA child taken abroad without consent, return applications under the 1980 Hague Convention, and cross-border custody disputes involving Turkey.Family Law
• Matrimonial Property Agreements: What You Can Agree Before You MarryThe four property regimes in the Civil Code, how the agreement is made before a notary, when it can be changed, and what can and cannot be agreed in it.Family Law
• Breaking Off an Engagement: Returning Gifts and Claiming CompensationAn engagement is a promise to marry, not an obligation. What happens to the gifts, when compensation is payable, and the one-year period for bringing a claim.Family Law
• Divorce for Desertion: The Notice Requirement and the Six-Month RuleWhere a spouse has left the matrimonial home: when the notice to return may be sent, what it must contain, and why most of these claims fail on the notice.Family Law
• Varying a Custody Order: When the Court Will Change ItA custody order is not final. When it is varied, how the child's views are taken, and how much weight the expert report carries.Family Law

General

• Judicial Reform Packages: Separating What Is Law from What Is TalkThe twelfth package is in force and changed civil procedure; the thirteenth is not law. What each contains, and when a proposal actually becomes binding.General
• How to Assert a Legal Claim: A Step-by-Step Starting GuideFor anyone facing a legal problem in Turkey for the first time: what to do first, which documents to gather, how to preserve evidence and where to apply.General
• Do I Need a Lawyer? When to Take Legal AssistanceWhere representation is compulsory in Turkey, what you can do yourself, the bar association's legal aid scheme, and free sources of legal help.General
• Missing a Hearing: Being Excused, and the Risk of Striking OutWhat to do if you cannot attend a hearing, how to apply to be excused, why a file is struck out when neither party attends, and the three-month period for reinstatement.General
• Expert Reports: How They Are Used and the Two-Week Window to ObjectWhen an expert is appointed, how the report is assessed, how long you have to object, and what a supplementary report or a new panel requires.General
• Complaints to Public Bodies: What an Administrative Application Can and Cannot DoWhat an application to the presidential communications centre achieves, how long it takes, which matters it resolves, and when you must go to court instead.General
• Appeals: The Two Routes, Their Deadlines and When a Judgment Is FinalHow to challenge a court decision in Turkey: the difference between the two appellate routes, the deadlines, judgments that are final, and how long the process takes.General
• Limitation Periods: How Long You Have to Bring a ClaimWhat limitation is, how it differs from a forfeiture period, the periods for the most common claims, when time starts running, and what interrupts or suspends it.General
• Giving a Power of Attorney to a Lawyer: Types and Express AuthoritiesHow a power of attorney is issued, what to take to the notary, when a photograph is required, and which steps need express authority in the document.General

Inheritance Law

• Simulated Dispositions by the DeceasedWhen a gift is dressed up as a sale to keep property from the heirs: how it is proved, who may sue, and why there is no time limit.Inheritance Law
• Abatement and the Reserved PortionThe reserved portions, which dispositions can be abated, the one-year forfeiture period, and how abatement differs from a simulation claim.Inheritance Law
• Inheritance and Transfer TaxThe four-month declaration deadline, the exemptions, the six-instalment payment schedule, and why no transfer can be registered without a tax clearance certificate.Inheritance Law
• Determining the EstateHow the court establishes what the estate contains, the official inventory that limits an heir's liability, and the protective measures available.Inheritance Law
• Collation of Lifetime GiftsHow gifts made during life are brought into account between heirs, which value applies, and how collation differs from abatement and simulation.Inheritance Law
• Transferring Inherited Property: From the Certificate of Inheritance to the Title DeedThe four steps after a death — the certificate of inheritance, the tax return, the transfer of title and the other assets — and the two deadlines that decide everything.Inheritance Law
• Distribution of an EstateThe three-tier system of legal heirs, the surviving spouse's share, wills, reserved portions, joint ownership of the estate and disclaimer.Inheritance Law
• Certificate of Inheritance: How to Obtain OneWhat a certificate of inheritance is and where to obtain it: through a notary, the civil court of peace or the e-government portal, and the documents required.Inheritance Law
• Making a Will: The Three Valid FormsThe requirements for a holograph will, a will made before an official and an oral will, the reserved portion, the action for abatement, and the commonest formal mistakes.Inheritance Law
• Dissolution of Co-Ownership: Division in Kind or SaleHow jointly owned property is divided when the co-owners cannot agree: division in kind versus sale by auction, how the case runs, and the practical points that matter.Inheritance Law
• Disclaiming an InheritanceThe three-month forfeiture period, how the declaration is made, deemed disclaimer for an insolvent estate, and the acts that destroy the right to disclaim.Inheritance Law

Insurance Law

• The Insurer Refuses to Pay: Arbitration or Proceedings?The written application that must come first, the Insurance Arbitration Commission, the usual grounds of refusal and how to meet them, and the two-year limitation period.Insurance Law
• The Insurer Has Refused Your Claim: What You Can DoWhen the insurer must pay, the usual grounds of refusal, arbitration and the ombudsman, where to sue, and the limitation periods that decide whether you are in time.Insurance Law
• Vehicle Diminution in ValueThe loss in resale value after repair, who it is claimed from, how fault affects the amount, and the order of application.Insurance Law

Law of Obligations

• Fatal Road Accidents: Who Can Claim, and for WhatDamages for loss of support, funeral and treatment costs and non-pecuniary damages — the insurance route, and why the longer criminal limitation period applies.Law of Obligations
• Strict Liability: When You Pay Without Being at FaultLiability of employers, building owners, animal keepers and vehicle operators — the cases where fault is not required, and the exculpatory proof that ends it.Law of Obligations
• Breach of ContractThe four types of breach and the remedies each gives, when default arises without notice, rescission compared with termination, and the evidence required.Law of Obligations
• Tort: Who Pays for the Loss, and on What Basis?The four elements of a tort, the burden of proof, limitation periods, and how a tort claim relates to criminal proceedings. How pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages are claimed.Law of Obligations
• Promissory Notes: Requirements, Enforcement and RisksThe mandatory elements of a promissory note, enforcement proceedings on it, the risk of signing a blank note, and actions to annul a note.Law of Obligations
• Acting as a Surety: Formal Requirements, Spousal Consent and the Limit of LiabilityWhat makes a contract of suretyship valid, the spouse's written consent, the handwritten maximum amount and date, and the consequences of joint and several suretyship.Law of Obligations
• I Sent Money to the Wrong Account: Unjust Enrichment and RecoveryHow to recover a mistaken transfer, a duplicate payment or money paid under an invalid contract, the two-year period, and how much has to be returned.Law of Obligations
• Medical Negligence: Complication or Malpractice, and Which Court?The difference between a recognised complication and negligence, informed consent, the public and private hospital distinction, expert evidence and limitation periods.Law of Obligations
• Drafting Contracts: The Ten Clauses Most Often Left OutWhich clauses make a contract safe: default, penalty clauses, termination, jurisdiction, the address for service and agreements as to evidence.Law of Obligations
• Interest: Which Rate Applies, and From What DateWhich rate applies to which claim: statutory and default interest, the higher commercial rate, the date from which interest runs, and the prohibition on compound interest.Law of Obligations

Real Estate Law

• Rent Increases and Tenants' RightsThe consumer price index cap on rent increases, the closed list of eviction grounds, the ten-year rule and rent redetermination actions under Turkish law.Real Estate Law
• Rental Deposits: Limits and ReturnA deposit may not exceed three months' rent and must be held in a bank account in the tenant's name. What can be deducted, and what to do if it is not returned.Real Estate Law
• Acquisitive Prescription: Registering Land That Has No Title DeedTwenty years of possession as owner, the ten-year ordinary prescription, the land that can never be acquired this way, and how the claim for registration works.Real Estate Law
• Neighbour Disputes: Noise, Water Leaks and SmellsThe duty to avoid excessive interference, the flat-ownership rules that run alongside it, and why preserving the evidence is always the first step.Real Estate Law
• Expropriation Compensation: Negotiation, Valuation and the Thirty-Day DeadlineThe negotiation stage, how the court fixes the compensation, urgent expropriation, and what to do where land is taken without any expropriation at all.Real Estate Law
• Evicting a TenantThe statutory grounds for eviction, the enforcement route versus court action, time limits, and why self-help eviction is a criminal offence in Turkey.Real Estate Law
• Ten Checks Before a Title TransferEncumbrances, family residence annotation, occupancy permit, zoning, service charge debts and why understating the price in the deed puts the buyer at risk.Real Estate Law
• Buying and Selling Property: Legal Risks and How to Avoid ThemLand register searches, zoning status, mortgages and annotations, the promise-to-sell agreement, transfer at the land registry, and latent defects.Real Estate Law
• Right of Way: Securing Access to Landlocked PropertyAn action for a right of way over a neighbour's land: the conditions, the payment required, how the route is chosen, and registration at the land registry.Real Estate Law
• Title Deed Cancellation and Re-registrationWhen the register can be corrected: forged powers of attorney, lack of capacity, simulated dispositions and defects of consent — with the applicable time limits.Real Estate Law
• Condominium Ownership: Service Charges, Common Areas and ManagementDisputes over service charges, use of common areas, electing a building manager and resolving disputes under the Turkish Condominium Act.Real Estate Law
• Expropriation: Compensation, Challenges and Unlawful TakingHow expropriation works in Turkey: the negotiated stage, the action to determine compensation, urgent expropriation, and taking without expropriation.Real Estate Law
• The Right of Pre-emption: A Co-owner's Priority When a Share Is SoldWhen one co-owner sells their share, the others acquire a right of pre-emption. The three-month and two-year periods, depositing the price, and sham transactions.Real Estate Law
• The Written Undertaking to Vacate: When It Binds a Tenant, and When It Does NotIs an undertaking to vacate signed when the tenancy begins valid? Dates filled in later, the one-month deadline, and the defences available to a tenant.Real Estate Law
• Rent Determination ActionsHow rent is redetermined after five years, the thirty-day notice that decides which period the judgment applies to, and what the court weighs.Real Estate Law
• Compensation for Unauthorised OccupationClaiming for property used without permission: the five-year look-back, how the amount is assessed, and the notice required between co-owners.Real Estate Law
• Commercial LeasesThe increase cap, the ten-year rule, eviction grounds and the right to assign a commercial lease under Turkish law.Real Estate Law
• An Excessive Rent IncreasePay the lawful amount, never stop paying: the statutory cap, what to do if the landlord refuses the money, and how to reclaim an overpayment.Real Estate Law
• Defective Homes and Developer LiabilityThe five-year liability period, when it extends to twenty years, how to give notice of a defect, and which remedy to choose.Real Estate Law
• Property Tax, Duty and Capital GainsThe four fiscal obligations attaching to property in Turkey, the five-year capital gains rule, indexation of the acquisition cost, and rental income.Real Estate Law
• Construction in Return for a Share of the Flats: A Landowner's RisksThe required form of the contract, delay in delivery, a contractor who abandons the work, defective construction, and the remedies available to the landowner.Real Estate Law
• Urban Regeneration: Entitlement, the Two-Thirds Majority and How to ObjectHow to object to a determination that a building is at risk, what the two-thirds majority means, what happens to a dissenting owner's share, and the rights of tenants.Real Estate Law
• Construction ServitudeWhat a construction servitude title actually gives you, how it becomes condominium ownership, what happens without an occupancy permit, and why the land share matters.Real Estate Law
• Building Management and Owners' AssembliesMeeting and voting thresholds, why service charges cannot be refused, and the one-month deadline for annulling an assembly resolution.Real Estate Law
• Shared and Joint OwnershipWhy an inherited share cannot be sold, how to convert joint ownership into shared ownership, the voting rules, and the right of pre-emption that follows.Real Estate Law
• Usufruct and Bare OwnershipHow a usufruct is created, what the holder and the bare owner may each do, who pays for what, and how it differs from a right of habitation.Real Estate Law

Tax Law

• Challenging a Tax Penalty: Three Routes, One Thirty-Day WindowWhat to do when an assessment and penalty notice arrives: settlement, reduction of the penalty, correction of errors, and proceedings in the tax court.Tax Law
• False Invoices and Tax Evasion: Where the Defence Actually LiesThe offences under Article 359, the difference between a false document and one misleading as to its content, the requirement of an opinion, and effective remorse.Tax Law

Technology Law

• Content About You Online: Blocking, Removal and the Right to Be ForgottenThe twenty-four hour blocking order under Act no. 5651, when the right to be forgotten applies, the right of reply, and how these run alongside criminal and civil claims.Technology Law
• Personal Data: What to Do If Yours Is Processed Without ConsentThe order of steps if you believe your personal data is being processed unlawfully: the application to the controller, the complaint to the Board, the deadlines and damages.Technology Law
• Images Shared Without Consent: Your Rights Over Your Own PictureImages recorded or shared without your consent: privacy offences, recording images and sound, having content removed, and claiming damages.Technology Law