Developments On Vertical Agreements In Turkey: Draft Guidelines Are Open To Public Consultations

Introduction

On 20 July 2017, the Turkish Competition Authority ("TCA") announced its draft amendments to the Guidelines on Vertical Agreements ("Draft Guidelines") on its website and provided the opportunity to the interested parties, including both the consumers and the undertakings, which are active in the markets that the amendments relate to, either to explain the market structure for better approach to be pursued or to raise the competitive concerns which may occur as a result of such amendments. In this regard, any comments, recommendations and/or evaluations may be submitted to the TCA until 11 September 2017 via e-mail.

Having stated that this is particularly crucial for ensuring the proper functioning of the relevant markets as well as avoiding ambiguities in the implementation of provisions of Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition ("Competition Law") on anticompetitive agreements.  Additionally, the Draft Guidelines take