The Legal 500

Employment Contract Types & Terms and Conditions Permitted by Law

By Lina Simonyte
ADMD Law Office, Istanbul TURKEY

By İlayda Balkan

Adoption subject is regulated between the Articles 305-320 of the Turkish Civil Code dated November 22, 2001 (TCC) and the statute titled 'Execution of Interventions Regarding Adoption’ based on Council of Ministers Decision No. 2009/14729 (Adoption Statute). 

The main purpose of this brief information note is to indicate the regulations of healthcare services and health insurances available for foreigners in Turkey.

After Bulgaria became a member of the European Union at 2007, EU acquis became part of Bulgarian domestic law and although Turkey is not a member to EU, accession process as a candidate country covers legal compatibility therefore making both these jurisdictions closer to each other, however, still not fully compatible.

Legislation regarding purchasing of real estate in Turkey by foreign investments have changed many times over the past years. Supreme Court decisions, international or political developments and economic necessities are some of the pushing factors of such amendments.

By means and tools of the global information age, terrorist organizations are broadening their reach in gathering financial resources to fund their operations.

The main purpose of this brief information note is to discuss the issue of work and residence permits required for foreigners in order to reside and work in Turkey along with some information regarding permanent immigration regulations.

On June 30th, 2010, a new chapter of the accession negotiations between the European Union and Turkey was opened, on the very last day of the Spanish presidency.

Termination of employees, employee reinstatement claims and procedure under Turkish Labor Law will be summarized in this brief information note.

There are different types of commercial companies that are available to establish by investors in Turkey in accordance with the Turkish Commercial Code (TCC).

In the past decade purchasing property in Turkey became very popular through holiday home owners and investors worldwide. The first time that it was permitted to foreign buyers to purchase real estate in Turkey was in the year of 1934 with the Property Act. At the present day the real estate market in Turkey is developing and becoming one of the prominent markets among the Mediterranean countries. The main purpose of this brief article is to explore the legal structure and the procedure of purchasing real estate in Turkey for foreigner. 

Suretyship is a kind of security commonly used in business transactions in order to protect creditors from damages providing that debtor fails to fulfill obligations. It is a unilateral contract by which the surety undertakes the obligation of the debtor for the payment of the debt. According to Turkish law, suretyship contracts are subject to the provisions set out in Articles 483-504 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (“TCO”).

Foreign judgments including the ones from arbitration courts or tribunals become recognizable under Turkish law via separate judgment of the Turkish Courts called ‘recognition and enforcement decisions’(in Turkish the procedure is named ‘tenfiz’). Following such decisions by Turkish Courts, the foreign judgment or arbitral award becomes enforceable in Turkey as a Turkish Court decision and any monetary debt may be collected accordingly through execution filings dependent on the execution (bailiff) offices of the Courts.

Activities such as production, presentation, sales, insurance, distribution, and payment of goods and services are possible via computer networks with e-commerce. E-Commerce presents major physical differences from conventional commerce, and therefore many arguments have been raised regarding the problems of regulating and taxing e-commerce under the old commercial and tax regimes applicable.

The free trade zones (FTZ’s) of Turkey allow investors to access a broad range of markets, participate in international business, and avoid the impediment of customs and legal restrictions on trade. They are geopolitically part of Turkey, but retain special status as sites beyond the custom borders and the Turkish laws that govern tax, duties, levies and foreign currencies. As small enclaves “abroad,” free trade zones allow foreign companies to participate in all areas of business that private Turkish companies do.

When a doctor makes an error in your treatment, what legal compensation will be available? This is the central question in current medical malpractice litigation, one that is not easily answerable and that depends largely on the country in which you live. In the United States the past several decades have seen a rise in the number of medical malpractice suits, and escalating insurance premiums for healthcare providers amidst continued reports of medical error. In recent years the increase in medical malpractice litigation has been coupled with larger non-economic damage awards, reflecting concerns with maintaining quality care and holding healthcare professionals to acceptable standards of conduct. At the same time, such high awards have led state legislatures nationwide to respond with statutory limits on punitive and non-economic medical malpractice damages, in part due to concern that the risk of prohibitive legal expenses will drive competent, needed doctors out of the profession.

According to Article 38 of the Turkish Constitution (TC) “No one shall be punished for any act, which does not constitute a criminal offence under the law in force at the time committed; no one shall be given a heavier penalty for an offence other than the penalty applicable at the time when the offence was committed.” In addition, a new clause has been added to 38th Article with the amendment No.4709 dated October 3, 2001. As per this clause “No one shall be deprived of his liberty merely on the ground of inability to fulfill a contractual obligation.”

At the Helsinki European Council in December 1999, the Republic of Turkey was officially recognized as an accession candidate country to join the European Union. Negotiations pertaining to accession talks include Turkey’s competition policy. The 2005 accession talks in Brussels required Turkey to align itself with the European Union Legislation.

European Union Directive No.104 is accepted and enforced by European Union Council in 23.11.1993 furnished a flexibility to work hours and this flexibility is supported with the codes accordingly. Turkey which is in the process of entering to European Union has made some important changes and accommodated to innovations in Labor Law in order to adapt EU’s standards and updates. During Turkey’s adaptation process, overtime which is a fundamental part of Labor Law has also been subject to mentioned changes and innovations. The provisions regarding overtime and overtime wage of Turkish Labor Code No.4857 which is arranged in compliance with European Union Directive No.93/104, dated May 22, 2003, and published at the Official Gazette June 10, 2003 will be examined below

As the real estate market develops in Turkey the Condominium Law is becoming the center of attention. Turkish Parliament amended the Condominium Law No. 634 with a new Law No. 5711 and it was published in the Official Gazette at November 28, 2007 (‘Turkish Condominium Law’ or ‘TLC’).

Apart from loan contracts designated for financial entities, Articles 306 – 312 of the Turkish Code of Obligations (TCO) define money lending contracts (individual loan contracts). Although seemingly unpopular, the contract type for money lending becomes center of attention for shareholder and inter-company loans since that is their only legal ground when inspected thoroughly.

Competition (anti-trust) law was first established with Law No. 4054 titled ‘The Law on the Protection of Competition’ in Turkey. The fourth article of such law titled “Agreements, Concerted Practices and Decisions Limiting Competition” sets different types of principles for purpose.

Quick and mass trading in securities and other instruments of the capital market requires a special regulation concerning the organization of the market, intermediation in transactions as well as facilitating the investment decision making process. With the new regulations on Capital Markets Law several amendments were made by the communiqués, regarding the principles on intermediary activities and intermediary institutions.

As Turkey maintains economic stability and growth for almost five years, the confidence of the foreign investors raised and new direct investments are executed more often. In this context employee related issues are of consideration to foreign investors and significance of the Turkish Labor Code (‘TLC’) elevate accordingly. Therefore we would like to briefly inform foreign investors regarding the precautions that shall be thought over while hiring and firing employees in Turkey.

As demand for energy increases in Turkey, investments in this sector is boosting with the help of the government. Incentives focus on renewable energy resources for obvious efficiency and environmental considerations and specifically wind energy investments had been very popular due to vast resources of Turkish geography. Therefore the government is trying to optimize financing conditions to attract more investment in the field.