As it is known, in order to apply for Turkish Citizenship through purchase of property, the property must first be examined by the Land Registry Office.  If the property complies with the provisions of the relevant guideline, the Land Registry Directorate gives approval that the immovable property is eligible for citizenship. This approval was called “Conformity Letter” before the changes in the guideline, but with the new amendments, the name of the relevant document has been changed to “Property Investment Determination Certificate”. In this article, we have published the Circular Amendment No. 2019/5. Amendments made within the scope of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law are contained.  In the article, the relevant amendments will be mentioned article by article.

1. The name of the document called “CONFORMITY LETTER” in the latest guideline published on 01/02/2023 has been changed to “PROPERTY INVESTMENT DETERMINATION CERTIFICATE”.

Former Article – For applications regarding the acquisition of Turkish citizenship exceptionally based on the purchase of property, the determination of our Directorate General is essential in accordance with the legislation determined and a certificate of conformity will be issued within this framework.

New Article – In the applications regarding the acquisition of Turkish citizenship exceptionally based on the purchase of property, the determination of our Directorate General is essential in accordance with the legislation determined and “Property Investment Determination Certificate” will be issued within this framework. Acquisition of citizenship based on this document depends on the evaluation and decision of the relevant Authority.

2. In the article under the title of BASIS, the phrase “property” is clearly stated as “property with condominium ownership or construction servitude or property with a building on the land“.

Former Article – Within the scope of subparagraph (b) of paragraph 2 of Article 20 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law; “The property in the amount of at least 400.000 US Dollars or equivalent foreign currency has been purchased with the condition that the title deed records are annotated not to be sold for three years, or a condominium or condominium easement has been established, at least 400. 000 US Dollars or equivalent foreign currency amount is deposited in advance and it is determined by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change that the sale of the immovable is promised with a notarised contract on the condition that the commitment that it will not be transferred and abandoned for three years is annotated in the land registry.” foreign persons may acquire Turkish citizenship with the Presidential decision.

New Article – Within the scope of subparagraph (b) of paragraph 2 of Article 20 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law; “The property with condominium ownership or construction servitude or property with a building on the land in the amount of at least 400.000 US Dollars or equivalent foreign currency has been purchased with the condition that the title deed records are annotated not to be sold for three years, or a condominium or condominium easement has been established, at least 400. 000 US Dollars or equivalent foreign currency amount is deposited in advance and it is determined by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change that the sale of the immovable is promised with a notarised contract on the condition that the commitment that it will not be transferred and abandoned for three years is annotated in the land registry.” foreign persons may acquire Turkish citizenship with the Presidential decision.

3. An addition has been made to the provision titled “PREREQUISITE FOR APPLICATION”:

Former Article – Since the Regulation includes the personal property purchases of foreign real persons, the property purchases made on behalf of the spouse, child, etc. or on behalf of the legal entity of the company which they are a manager/partner will not be evaluated within this scope.

New Article – Since the Regulation includes the personal property purchases of foreign real persons, the property purchases made on behalf of foreign real persons, such as their spouses, children, etc. will not be taken into account in the calculation of the value sought in the Regulation. In addition, property purchases made on behalf of the legal entity of the company in which these persons are managers or partners will not be evaluated within this scope.

4. New provisions have been added to the article titled “NATURE OF THE PROPERTY”:

Former Article – There is no restriction on the nature of the immovable property that can be purchased through sale (residence, workplace, land, field, yard, etc.). 

The applications to be made based on the preliminary sales contracts issued by the notary public are valid for the immovables for which condominium ownership or construction servitude has been established. 

Rights registered in the land registry as timeshare cannot be subject to acquisition of Turkish citizenship through a purchase of property.

New Article – As of 12/12/2023, the immovables to be purchased for the purpose of acquiring citizenship; Within the scope of the Property Ownership Law No. 634, it must be reserved as an independent section in the registry or, in the case of land-qualified immovables, the immovable must be registered as land and the existence of a permanent structure in accordance with the legislation with a certificate of occupancy permit must be determined.

It is not possible to acquire unstructured properties specified in the fourth paragraph of Article 35 of the Land Registry Law No. 2644 and immovable properties with the obligation to develop a project within two years and agricultural lands in order to acquire citizenship.

The applications to be made based on the preliminary sales contracts issued by the notary public are valid for the immovables for which condominium ownership or construction servitude has been established. 

Properties subject to timeshare rights cannot be subject to acquisition of Turkish citizenship through purchase of property.

5. The following additions have been made to the article titled NUMBER OF PROPERTY:

New Article – In the applications made based on the preliminary sales contract, the amount sought in the Regulation must be provided with a single contract and the properties subject to the promise must be determined in this contract. Within this framework, it is possible to subject more than one property to preliminary sales contracts under a single contract. However, applications made based on more than one preliminary sales contracts will not be taken into account. In cases where the purchased in accordance with the provisions of this Guideline do not meet the amount required for the acquisition of citizenship, it is not possible to complete the remaining amount with a preliminary sales contract.

6. The following article has been added to the article 1 of the provision titled “DETERMINATION OF THE INVESTMENT AMOUNT” which is the PROPERTY VALUATION REPORT provision:

New Article – Reports other than the reports uploaded to the system and taken as basis for the transaction during the annotation of the sale or preliminary sales contract and the valuation reports issued by the instruction of our Institution are not taken into account in the determination of value.

7. The following phrase has been added to the 2nd article of the provision titled DETERMINATION OF INVESTMENT AMOUNT, “FOREIGN EXCHANGE CERTIFICATE”:

New Article – The foreign currency certificate must include at least the name and surname of the person on whose behalf the foreign currency is exchanged, passport number or foreign ID number, propery number, the US Dollar equivalent of the foreign currency purchased and the phrase stating that this transaction was carried out within the scope of the acquisition of Turkish citizenship or Article 13 of the Capital Movements Circular. In cases where the propery number cannot be obtained, the block and independent section number information should be included, if any.

8. The following article has been added to the article titled “BANK RECEIPT”:

New Article – On the receipt, it is required to include the property information in the foreign exchange certificate or to refer to the transaction in the relevant foreign exchange certificate.

9. The following article has been added to the 3rd article of the SALE PROMISE TRANSACTION under the provision titled “INSTALLMENT SALES”:

New article – The receipts paid before 07.12.2018 and the receipts regarding the payments made after the contract date for the amount to be paid in advance will not be taken into consideration.

10. An additional phrase has been added to Article 3 of the provision titled “CONDITIONS REGARDING THE PARTIES”:

New Article – The second-hand property(ies) subject to sale or promise to sell must not be property that has been transferred to a Turkish citizen/company within the last three years by a foreign natural person or a person who has acquired citizenship within the scope of subparagraph (b) of paragraph 1 of Article 12 of the Turkish Citizenship Law. Acquisitions arising from work contracts are excluded from the scope of this article.

11. Article 6 of the provision titled “CONDITIONS REGARDING PARTIES” has been amended: 

New Article – For the property/properties registered in the name of the legal entity of the company (with foreign/international capital) within the scope of Article 36 of the Land Registry Law and subject to sale or sales promise, provided that the condominium servitude/ownership is established in the name of the owner company and the independent section has not been subject to any transfer process before; The owner company will be accepted as the investor company in cases where the construction investment is documented by the construction license that the entire construction investment is made by the owner company (the owner and contractor is the owner company from the date the construction license is first obtained), or in cases where the construction license holder and the contractor are different, the owner company will be accepted as the investor company in cases where the construction investment is documented by the service contract that the entire construction investment is made by the owner company.

the owner company.If these conditions are met, the independent sections registered in the name of the owner company may be subject to citizenship acquisition under this article. However, in cases where the construction license holder and the contractor are different and it is documented that the construction is carried out by the contractor company with a work contract in the form of a construction contract in return for flat, the independent sections registered in the name of the contractor company can be subject to investment under this article.

The independent sections remaining in the name of the owner company will not be subject to investment (acquisition for citizenship purposes). The registration made in the name of the contractor within the scope of the work contract is considered as the establishment of the condominium servitude/ownership in the name of the contractor company.

12. Article 8 of the provision titled “CONDITIONS REGARDING PARTIES” has been amended:

New Article – In the event that foreign real persons who have acquired Turkish citizenship through purchase of property transfer the property to the previous owner after the expiry of the commitment period, the General Directorate is notified to be transferred to the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs in order to review the citizenship acquisition process.

13. An additional sentence has been added to Article 2 of the provision titled “PROPERTY WITH LIMITATION”:

New Article – Mortgaged or attached properties may be subject to sale or sale promise agreements, and the prices herein shall not be taken into account in the calculations regarding the property investment determination certificate. In the event that the properties acquired with mortgage or lien are disposed of through forced sale, the property investment determination certificates issued shall be notified to the General Directorate in order to be canceled and transferred to the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs.

14. Article 3 of the provision titled “PROPERTY WITH LIMITATION has been amended:

New Article – Legal mortgages arising from previous acquisition will be evaluated in the same way. Properties with legal mortgages will not be subject to citizenship acquisition. 

If there are any encumbrances on the property subject to sale or promise of sale that may cause a change of ownership (promise of sale, 150-c, defendant, etc.), it will not be subject to citizenship acquisition. In case of hesitation, the matter will be referred to the Department of Foreign Affairs and the process will be directed in line with the opinion to be received.

15. An addition has been made to the article titled “COMMITMENT AND PROPERTY INVESTMENT DETERMINATION CERTIFICATE”:

New Article – In the event that a commitment is requested together with the sale transaction, a commitment is established by the title deed directorate that made the sale transaction, regardless of the number of property purchases in other directorates. In cases where the commitment statement is requested with a different application on the date after the sale transaction, in case there is more than one property purchase, the commitment is taken by the land registry directorate where the highest number of properties have been purchased; in case of equality, the commitment is taken by any land registry directorate where there is a purchase.

The property investment determination certificate shall be issued by the authorized regional directorate to which the directorate that issued the commitment statement is affiliated. In cases where properties in different directorates are subject to the commitment statement together and the regional directorate to which the title deed directorate that made the transaction is affiliated does not have the authority to examine the property investment determination, it is made by the authorized regional directorate to which the title deed directorate that acquired the highest number of properties or made the previous sale/promise to sell annotation transaction is affiliated.

Land registry offices, during the process of obtaining the commitment, the transactions are met by carefully examining the total amount(s) in the valuation report, the sales amounts in the official deed(s) and the amounts in the receipts, the authorization in the power of attorney, the acquisition of unstructured real estate, the purchase of real estate subject to permission, the reasonable interest and approvals in the receipts, the documents related to the determination of property investment and the documents taken as the basis for identification.

Necessary measures are taken by the title deed manager/authorized assistant manager to prevent transactions with incomplete information and documents.

16. Article 3 of the provision titled “REVIEW OF DETERMINATION OF PROPERTY INVESTMENT” has been added to the article Transactions for the conversion of sales promises into sales: 

New Article – Transactions of Conversion of Sales Promises into Sales: It is essential to sell the ownership of the property of the property subject to the sales promise of foreign real persons who have acquired Turkish citizenship through the preliminary sales contract to the promise creditor.

17. An addition has been made to the article titled “COMMITMENT CANCELLATION”:

New Article – Within the scope of the Regulation, the declaration of commitment entered in the declarations section shall be canceled upon the request of the owner upon the expiration of the three-year period. However, the declaration will not be canceled before the sale transaction is made on behalf of foreign real persons who have acquired Turkish citizenship through a sales promise annotation.

After the issuance of the “Property Investment Determination Certificate” and before the expiration of the 3-year commitment period, if the owner or the sales promise creditor requests the cancellation of the commitment statement, the request of the foreigner is met and the Provincial Directorate of Population and Citizenship is informed immediately.

18. An addition has been made to the provision titled “TRANSACTIONS ON COMMITTED PROPERTY”:

New article – In the event that a transfer transaction is requested for properties with a commitment, the transaction will be fulfilled provided that the declaration of commitment is carried on behalf of the heirs.

The above-mentioned guideline provisions are effective as of 01/02/2024.

I. DEFINITION

With the Presidential Decree No. 8112 published in the Official Gazette dated 18 January 2024 and numbered 32433, with the Regulation Amending the Regulation on the Qualifications of Tourism Facilities, subparagraph (t) was added to come after subparagraph (ş) to the first paragraph of Article 4 of the Regulation on the Qualifications of Tourism Facilities (Official Gazette Date: 01.06.2019, Number: 30791). According to this amendment, mobile house is defined as ;

“A vehicle subject to the Highway Traffic Law dated 13/10/1983 and numbered 2918, which has an O2 type approval certificate in accordance with the relevant legislation, designed to be towed by a motor vehicle, arranged in the form of an accommodation unit, with a living area, bed and bathroom-toilet”

The issues related to the O2 class type approval certificate are regulated by the Regulation on Type and Market Surveillance and Inspection of Motor Vehicles and Trailers and Their Parts, Systems and Separate Technical Units (EU/2018/858) (Official Gazette Date: 19.04.2020, Number: 31104).

II. TOURISM INVESTMENT CERTIFICATES WILL NOT BE ISSUED FOR MOBILE HOUSES

Tourism investment certificate, which is the certificate issued during the investment phase for the facilities whose qualifications are specified in the Regulation on the Qualifications of Tourism Facilities, will not be issued for mobile houses. With the amendment made to the second paragraph of Article 6 of the Regulation on the Qualifications of Tourism Facilities, mobile houses were also included.

“Tourism investment certificates are not issued to private facilities, gastronomy facilities, apart-hotels, hostels, mobile houses and private accommodation facilities that are not located in buildings that are cultural properties that need to be protected”.

III. ACCOMMODATION UNITS OF ACCOMMODATION FACILITIES WILL NOT BE PARTIALLY OR COMPLETELY MADE UP OF MOBILE HOUSES, OTHERWISE CERTIFICATE REQUESTS WILL BE REJECTED

The following paragraph has been added to Article 18 of the Regulation on the Qualifications of Tourism Facilities titled “Minimum qualifications of accommodation facilities”:

“(2) Except for those explicitly permitted in the article where the qualifications of the type are specified, the accommodation units of the accommodation facilities cannot be partially or completely composed of mobile houses, regardless of whether the mobility is eliminated or not. Certificate requests for these facilities will be rejected.”

IV. QUALIFICATIONS OF FACILITIES CONSISTING OF MOBILE HOUSES TO BE ORGANISED IN AREAS RESERVED FOR CAMPING OR RURAL/ECO-TOURISM USES 

Article 35/A titled “Mobile Houses” has been added to the sixth section of the Regulation on the Qualifications of Tourism Facilities titled Rural Tourism Facilities. According to this article;

ARTICLE 35/A- (1) Mobile houses are facilities organised in areas allocated for camping or rural/eco-tourism uses in zoning plans, excluding allocated public properties, consisting entirely of mobile houses and containing at least five and at most forty-nine accommodation units. These facilities have the following qualifications:

a) At least two hundred and fifty square metres per accommodation unit.

b) Isolation of the facility area from the environment with arrangements such as fences, walls, greenery and lighting.

c) Car parking at the entrance for one vehicle per accommodation unit, reception-administration unit.

ç) The registration certificate of all mobile houses must be issued in the name of the owner or certificate holder or operator.

(2) Accommodation units are organised in a way to receive natural light. They shall be decorated in a way to provide comfortable use with suitable furniture items. These units shall be equipped with a bed, one pillow per person, pillowcase, bed sheet, pique or quilt according to climatic conditions, valuables safe, minibar, equipment and service equipment allowing hot beverage preparation, general lighting, socket, trash can, curtain or similar arrangement. Bathrooms are equipped with sanitary ware, armatures, faucets, shower equipment, mirrors, sockets, trash cans, soap, shampoo, hand and bath towels. Each accommodation unit is for two persons.

(3) In the event that a restaurant, a la carte restaurant, cafeteria, bar lounge, pastry parlour, café and breakfast room are organised in these facilities within the scope of the fifth paragraph (Indoor and outdoor general spaces and their qualifications) of Article 14 (Arrangement of spaces), the total capacity of these units cannot exceed one hundred people; meeting rooms and multi-purpose halls cannot be built.

(4) Arrangements cannot be made to eliminate the mobility of accommodation units.

(5) In the application for tourism operation certificate for these facilities, the registration certificate shall be submitted. It is mandatory to have a valid technical inspection within the scope of Law No. 2918 as of the application date. After obtaining the tourism management certificate, a valid inspection certificate stating that technical inspections have been carried out shall be submitted to the Ministry.”

With the regulation published in the Official Gazette on 28/12/2023, the requirements for renting houses for less than 100 days are explained. The Regulation includes provisions regarding the rental of residences for tourism purposes for 100 days or less than 100 days at a time, licence application procedures, and the qualifications of the residences. According to the relevant law, the first application to obtain a license will be made via e-Devlet until 1 February 2024.

HOW TO OBTAIN A LICENCE FOR THE RENTAL OF RESIDENCES FOR TOURISM PURPOSES?

People who want to obtain a licence for their residences will apply via e-Devlet (https://vatandas.ktb.gov.tr/edevlet/login/konutbelge). The relevant application can also be made by proxy if a power of attorney is issued at the notary public. A single application will be made for the houses located in the same building and for which a licence certificate is requested on behalf of the same person.

After logging into the site via e-Devlet, the application documents will vary depending on whether the owner of the house is a real person or a legal entity.

The applicant’s information is filled in depending on whether the applicant is a real or legal person. At this stage, if there is a power of attorney, it is possible to make transactions with a power of attorney. The applicant must obtain a UETS address. Applications of applicants without a UETS address will not be approved. After the applicant’s notice information is entered, the application is added to the “drafts” folder for uploading the required documents.

power of attorney. The applicant must obtain a UETS address. Applications of applicants without a UETS address will not be approved. After the applicant’s notice information is entered, the application is added to the “drafts” folder for uploading the required documents.

At this stage, residence details and personal information of the applicant will be filled in.

REQUIREMENTS IF THE LANDLORD IS A REAL PERSON:

1. A copy of the Republic of Turkey ID card, a copy of the passport if he/she is a foreign national and the foreign ID number or tax identification number,

2. Signature declaration in case there is no signature in the passport or ID card.

REQUIREMENTS IF THE LANDLORD IS A LEGAL ENTITY:

1. Tax ID number and trade registry number or MERSIS number for legal entities registered in the trade registry,

2. Tax ID number for legal entities not registered in the trade registry,

3. Signature circular for the persons authorised to represent

A copy/record of the current title deed showing the ownership rights and other real rights on the residence, and a building registration certificate issued as a residence for independent sections that do not have a condominium servitude or condominium for residential purposes in the title deed must also be included in the application.

If the residence is located in an apartment building, a notarised copy of the decision taken unanimously by the condominium owners of all residential independent sections in the building where the independent section is located that it is deemed appropriate to carry out tourism rental activities in the residence will be required.

WHAT TO DO AFTER THE LICENCE APPLICATION IS APPROVED?

Applications made via e-Devlet are evaluated within 30 days. After the application is approved, a licence is issued in the name of the applicant. The licence will include the name or trade name of the licence holder, the address of the house, the date of the licence, the licence number starting with the licence plate code of the province where the house is located, and the maximum number of people who can be accommodated in the house. The plaque issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism will be hung at the entrance of the residence to be rented. Within 30 days from the date of issuance of the licence, an inspection is carried out in the residence. In the inspection, the qualifications that the residence must fulfil are checked and if any missing features are found, the applicant is given 15 days to remedy the deficiency.

WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR A RESIDENCE?

In order to obtain a licence, residences must meet certain qualifications. These qualifications include,

• At least one bed, toilet-bathroom, kitchen
• Hot and cold water,
• Qualified bed in the bedrooms, one pillow per person, pillowcase, bed linen, pique or duvet according to weather,
• Face and bath towels per person in the bathroom,
• Smoke detector against fire in all sections (except for bathroom-toilet and chemical fire extinguishers with fixed separation)
• It will be obligatory to have a map showing the location of the escape staircase behind the door.

Each bedroom is considered to be for two people and a maximum capacity of two people will be added in addition to the number of rooms. 

Even if the number of rooms is more, there will be a maximum of 12 people in the same residence, excluding children under 3 years of age. The licence holder is obliged to have cleaning at the check-in and check-out of each guest. License applications must be made via e-Devlet until 1 February 2024. If the residence is rented out without a permit, an administrative fine will be imposed on the landlord.

Since 2024, a number of amendments have been made in Turkish citizenship and residence permit applications. When applying for Turkish citizenship by investment, firstly, residence permit application is made and citizenship application is made after the residence permit is approved. With the practice change made in February 2023, it became compulsory for the investor to provide fingerprints in Fatih Immigration Office by visiting Turkey. 

With the change in practice made in 2024, the investor is obliged to attend the appointments both the residence permit application and the citizenship application in person. For all residence and citizenship applications made after the new change, the investor and his/her spouse (if married) must provide fingerprints in Turkey and then first submit the residence application file to the Immigration Administration in person. Apart from this changes, criminal record of the applicant and spouse obtained from the country of which the person is a citizen or legally resides, which were not required in previous residence applications but are requested with the new change, are now required in residence applications. These changes are intended to provide a preliminary check for people who want to live in Turkey and become Turkish citizens.

Amendments to be applicable in residence permit and Turkish citizenship applications as of 2024:

1. A criminal record obtained from the country where the investor is a citizen or legally resides will be included in the residence permit application file.
2. Before the residence permit application, the investor and his/her spouse will come to Turkey and provide fingerprints.
3. The investor and his/her spouse shall will be in Turkey during the application for residence permit.
4. The investor and his/her spouse will be in Turkey during the application for citizenship.

If the criminal record record is obtained from countries that are parties to the apostille, it must be apostilled and its Turkish translation must be notarized. If you are a citizen of a country that is not a party to the apostille agreement, your criminal record document must be certified by the relevant country authorities. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Turkish Consulate)

The relevant amendments started to be effective as of 2024.

In the Official Gazette numbered 32417 published 02/01/2024, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey announced the the Communiqué on the Default Interest Rate to be aplied for Late Payments in the Supply of Goods and Services and the Minimum Expense Amount that can be claimed for the Collection Costs of Receivables.

According to the communiqué published in the Official Gazette, the default interest to be applied to late payments in the supply of goods and services between commercial businesses in accordance with paragraph 7 of Article 1530 of the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 is determined as %48. At the same time, the minimum expense amount that can be claimed for the costs of collection of the receivable is determined as 1.310,00 Turkish Liras (TL). This interest rate and the minimum expense amount have been effective as of 01/01/2024 and entered into force as of the date of publication.

With the “Communiqué on Administrative Fines to be Implemented in 2024 Pursuant to Article 77 of the Law No. 6502 on the Law on the Protection of Consumers” published in the same Official Gazette, the administrative fines regulated in Article 77 titled “Penalty Provisions” of the Law No. 6502 on the Law on the Protection of Consumers were increased by 58.46% (fifty-eight comma forty-six percent), which was determined as the revaluation rate for 2023 as of 1/1/2024.

The amounts of administrative fines to be implemented between 1/1/2024 and 31/12/2024 are determined as follows:

With the “Communiqué Regarding the Increase of the Lower Limit of the Administrative Fine Stipulated in the First Paragraph of Article 16 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition to be Valid until 31/12/2024 (Communiqué No: 2024/1)”, the lower limit of the administrative fine stipulated in the first paragraph of Article 16 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition was increased by 58.46% (fifty-eight comma forty-six), which is the revaluation rate for 2023, to be valid from 1/1/2024 to 31/12/2024. 473 TL (one hundred and sixty-seven thousand four hundred and seventy-three liras).

Administrative Fine

Article 16 

1) The Board may authorise natural and legal persons and associations of undertakings or members of such associations

a) Providing false or misleading information or documents in exemption and negative determination applications and applications for authorisation for mergers and acquisitions,

b) Mergers and acquisitions subject to authorisation are carried out without the permission of the Board,

c) Providing incomplete, inaccurate or misleading information or documents in the application of Articles 14 and 15 of the Law, or not providing the information or document within the specified period or not at all,

d) Preventing or making physical site inspection difficult,

For the cases specified in subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c), the Board shall impose an administrative fine at the rate of one per thousand of the annual gross revenues of the undertakings, associations of undertakings or members of such associations, which are calculated at the end of the financial year preceding the decision, or if it is not possible to calculate the same, at the end of the financial year closest to the date of the decision and which shall be determined by the Board; and for the cases specified in subparagraph (d), the Board shall impose an administrative fine at the rate of five per thousand of the gross revenues determined in the same manner. However, the fine to be determined on this basis may not be less than one hundred and sixty-seven thousand four hundred and seventy Turkish Liras. The administrative fine pursuant to subparagraph (b) of this paragraph shall be imposed on each of the parties in merger transactions and only on the transferee in acquisition transactions.

2) Carrying out the physical site inspection by a court decision shall not prevent the imposition of the administrative fine stipulated in this Law in relation to the prevention or obstruction of the physical site inspection.

3) Those who engage in the behaviours prohibited under Articles 4, 6 and 7 of this Law shall be imposed an administrative fine up to ten percent of the annual gross revenues of the undertakings and associations of undertakings or members of such associations, which occurred at the end of the financial year preceding the final decision, or if it is not possible to calculate the same, which occurred at the end of the financial year closest to the date of the final decision and which shall be determined by the Board.

4) In case the administrative fines specified in the third paragraph are imposed on undertakings or associations of undertakings, the managers or employees of the undertaking or association of undertakings whose decisive influence on the infringement is determined shall be imposed an administrative fine up to five per cent of the fine imposed on the undertaking or association of undertakings.

5) While deciding on the administrative fine pursuant to the third paragraph, the Board shall take into consideration, in the context of the second paragraph of Article 17 of the Law on Misdemeanours No. 5326 dated 30/3/2005, the repetition of the breach, its duration, the power of the undertaking or association of undertakings in the market, its decisive effect on the realisation of the breach, whether or not it complies with the commitments given, whether or not it assists in the examination, and the gravity of the damage incurred or likely to be incurred.

6) The penalties specified in the third and fourth paragraphs may be waived or the penalties to be imposed according to these paragraphs may be reduced for undertakings or associations of undertakings or their managers and employees who actively cooperate with the Authority for the purpose of revealing the violation of the Law, taking into account the nature, effectiveness and timing of the cooperation and clearly showing the justification.

7) The matters taken into account in the determination of the administrative fines to be imposed pursuant to this article, the conditions of exemption or reduction from fines in case of co-operation, and the procedures and principles regarding co-operation shall be determined by regulations to be issued by the Board.

The “Communiqué on Increasing the Monetary Limits in Article 68 of the Law No. 6502 on the Protection of Consumers and Article 6 of the Regulation on Consumer Arbitration Committees” prepared by the Ministry of Trade was published in the Official Gazette dated 20/12/2023 and numbered 32045. According to the Communiqué, the compulsory monetary limits to be complied with in the applications to be made to the consumer arbitration committees were increased by 58.46% (fifty-eight comma forty-six percent), which was determined as the revaluation rate for 2023, to be applied as of 1 January 2024.

For 2024, applications can be made to Provincial or District Consumer Arbitration Committees in consumer disputes with a value below 104,000 (one hundred and four thousand) Turkish Liras.

Applications can be made to the Consumer Arbitration Committee in the place where the consumer’s place of residence is located or where the consumer transaction is made.

If the Consumer Arbitration Committee has not been established in the district where the application can be made, applications can be made to the district governorship of that district. The applications will be recorded in the Consumer Information System without delay by the district governorships and sent to the authorised Consumer Arbitration Committee determined by the Ministry.

With the Official Gazette announcement numbered 32397 published on 12/12/2023, the statement in subparagraph (b) of the second paragraph of Article 20 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law has been amended.

In order to acquire Turkish citizenship, Article 20 of the regulation states that “The property of at least 400.000 US Dollars or equivalent foreign currency must be annotated in the Directorate of Land Registry records that will not be sold for 3 years.”   With the regulation published on 12/12/2023, the statement “property in foreign currency” in the relevant article has been changed as “property with condominium ownership or construction servitude or property with a building on the land”.

Before the amendment of the relevant article, it was allowed to apply for Turkish citizenship with the purchase of land on which there was no building and whose sales price was more than 400.000 USD. However, with the new regulation, it is required to have a building on the land to be purchased as of 12/12/2023.

The point to be understood from this statement is that if there is no building or construction servitude on the land to be purchased as of the effective date of the relevant law, the land cannot be subject of the application for Turkish citizenship.

Click for detailed information about Turkish citizenship through investment!

Pursuant to the Presidential Decree No. 7887 published in the Official Gazette dated 25/11/2023, it has been decided to increase the minimum capital amounts of joint stock and limited liability companies to be effective as of 01/01/2024.

Minimum capital amount pursuant to the relevant decision;

• From 50.000 TL to 250.000 TL for joint stock companies
• From 10.000 TL to 50.000 TL for Limited Liability Companies 
• For non-public joint stock companies that have accepted the registered capital system, the minimum initial capital of 100.000 TL has been increased to 500.000 TL.

According to the statement made by the Ministry of Trade, the increase in the minimum capital amounts will be valid for companies to be established as of 1 January 2024. Companies established before this regulation do not require to a capital increase. However, in the statement made by the Ministry of Trade, it was stated that although there is no capital increase obligation for joint stock and limited liability companies, it would be beneficial for companies to increase their capital amounts to the amounts mentioned above in order to strengthen the equity structures of the company.

As it is known, according to the Turkish Commercial Code, the capital of joint stock and limited liability companies cannot be below the legal minimum amount. However, the Presidential Decree does not explicitly state that “previously established companies do not require capital increase.” According to the statement of the Ministry of Trade, it is considered that capital increase is not obligatory for present companies for the moment. In this regard, it is thought that the Ministry of Trade will publish a communiqué containing more comprehensive and detailed information in December.

As stated above, although there is no certainty, even if there is no obligation to increase the capital for the present established companies, we recommend capital increase in order to avoid any negative situation in the future. In terms of the implementation of the relevant decision, it is thought that a situation contrary to the principles of equality between companies will arise. For this reason, the Ministry of Trade may require present companies to increase their capital in order to prevent this inequality.