Two-minute Recap Of Recent Developments In Turkish Competition Law – August 2021

Turkey's Competition Authority has launched a sector inquiry into artificial intelligence. The absence of local representatives for providers such as OpenAI and Anthropic in Türkiye is being assessed in light of the findings of the Grand National Assembly's AI Commission report

The Turkish Competition Authority has conditionally approved Uber Technologies' acquisition of Getir's food and grocery delivery operations, marking a significant consolidation in Turkey's digital marketplace. As part of the approval, Uber committed to investing USD 500 million in Turkey to support employment and strengthen the country's digital technology ecosystem.

This article examines the legal structure and termination of exclusive distribution relationships affecting the Turkish market. It considers contractual classification, territorial protection, resale pricing, non-compete obligations, competition compliance, goodwill indemnity, customer information, intellectual property and dispute resolution.

The Turkish Competition Board (the “Board”) has imposed interim measures on Meta Platforms, Inc., Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, WhatsApp LLC and Meta Platforms İstanbul Bilişim Hizmetleri Limited Şirketi (collectively, “Meta”) in connection with amendment to the WhatsApp Business Solution Terms that barred third-party general-purpose generative AI chatbots and assistants from using WhatsApp where AI was the primary service offered to users.

This article examines the Turkish Competition Board’s (“Board”) Yemek Sepeti Decision[1] (“Decision”), assessing a request for the removal of commitments made binding in 2021, under the “material change” condition of Article 43(4)(a) of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”).

The Turkish Competition Board has partially lifted commitments previously imposed on Yemeksepeti, finding that the online food delivery market has evolved from a near-monopoly to a competitive multi-player environment. This decision examines how binding commitments may be reassessed when market conditions materially change, and explores the treatment of most-favoured-nation clauses under both antitrust and abuse of dominance provisions.

Welcome to the 2026 Winter edition of the Paksoy Turkish Competition Law Newsletter series. The Turkish competition landscape keeps evolving, with significant enforcement actions...

The investigation originated from a series of consumer complaints submitted from late 2023 onwards, which pointed to identical or closely aligned prices for products such as eggs, yoghurt, rice, butter and wafers across several national grocery retailers. The complaints also alleged that price increases were frequently implemented on the same or nearby dates.

Following a sector inquiry launched in December 2021 to detect structural competition concerns in the pharmaceutical sector and offer competitive solutions, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) published its Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry Preliminary Report on 10 August 2026, opening it for public consultation. The report examines the overall outlook of the sector together with quantitative and statistical data, summarises the TCA's enforcement activities in the sector over the past ten years, and assesses the competitive structure across the full supply chain: production, market entry, and distribution.

The European Commission has issued a commitment decision addressing SAP's practices in the aftermarket for maintenance and support services for its on-premises ERP software. Following preliminary findings that SAP may have abused its dominant position through restrictive contract terms and fees, the company has agreed to implement global changes allowing customers greater flexibility in choosing maintenance providers and modifying contract terms. These legally binding commitments will remain in effect for 1

With its decision No. 57/1708 dated 17.09.2026, the Capital Markets Board (the “CMB”) set out the liquidation procedures for the 131 investment funds established by Tera, A1 Capital, Atlas, Bulls, Hedef, Pardus and Pusula Portföy Yönetimi, whose liquidation had been ordered under its previous decision, and updated the relevant list of funds in the same decision.

SPK, halka açık olmayan ortaklıkların halka arz başvurularını ilan edilen sıradan bağımsız olarak önceliklendirmek üzere üç alternatif kriter belirledi

On 16 September 2026, the money market funds founded by Pusula Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş. defaulted after failing to meet the cash redemption requests received from investors, triggering a sharp sell off on Borsa Istanbul. The BIST 100 index lost 5.54% that same day and hit a circuit breaker; the selling soon spread to Tera Portföy funds as well. It became apparent that the problem was not confined to those two firms but also extended to Hedef, Atlas, A1 Capital, Pardus and Bulls Portföy.

Borsa Istanbul’s BIST 100 index came under significant selling pressure over three consecutive trading sessions between 15-17 September 2026. The index closed down 5.54% on 16 September, a move that triggered Borsa Istanbul’s index-linked circuit breaker, and negative momentum continued into the morning of 17 September. The sell-off was primarily triggered by a default at Pusula Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş., a portfolio management company, which failed to meet investor redemption requests from certain funds it manages in a timely manner. A similar liquidity problem emerged at Tera Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş., and this situation put pronounced pressure on the shares of both companies as well as on broader market indices.

The Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (“CMB” or the “Board”), through its principle decision No. i-SPK.15.2 (dated 03.09.2026 and numbered 54/1614) (“Resolution”), has lowered to 3% the minimum shareholding disclosure threshold under the Material Events Disclosure Commu-niqué No. II-15.1 (“Communiqué”). The Reso-lution will apply as from the end of the day on 11.09.2026.

Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu (“Kurul”) 17.09.2026 tarihli ve 57/1708 sayılı kararı ile, bir önceki kararında tasfiyesine karar verilen ve Tera, A1 Capital, Atlas, Bulls, Hedef, Pardus ve Pusula Portföy Yönetimi tarafından kurulmuş toplam 131 yatırım fonunun tasfiye usul ve esasları belirlenmiş, ilgili fon listesi de aynı kararla güncellenmiştir.

Presidential Circular No. 2026/9, dated 17 August 2026, was published in the Official Gazette on 18 August 2026. The Circular requires public institutions and organisations to carry out the necessary work and provide the support needed to implement the Türkiye Artificial Intelligence Action Plan (the “Plan”), which sets out Türkiye’s artificial intelligence roadmap for the 2026–2030 period.

16.09.2026 tarihinde, Pusula Portföy Yönetimi A.Ş.’nin kurucusu olduğu para piyasası fonlarının yatırımcılardan gelen nakit iade taleplerini karşılayamayarak temerrüde düşmesi, Borsa İstanbul’da sert bir satış dalgasını tetiklemiştir. BIST 100 endeksi aynı gün %5,54 değer kaybederek devre kesici uygulamasına konu olmuş, satış dalgası kısa sürede Tera Portföy fonlarında da görülmüş; sorunun yalnızca iki kurumla sınırlı kalmayıp Hedef, Atlas, A1 Capital, Pardus ve Bulls Portföy’ü de kapsadığı anlaşılmıştır.

Türkiye Emisyon Ticaret Sistemi Yönetmeliği (“Yönetmelik”), 27 Ağustos 2026 tarihli ve 33353 sayılı Resmî Gazete’de yayımlanarak aynı tarihte yürürlüğe girmiştir. Yönetmelik ile 7552 sayılı İklim Kanunu (“İklim Kanunu”) uyarınca Türkiye Emisyon Ticaret Sistemi’nin (“ETS”) kapsamı sera gazı emisyon izni, izleme, raporlama ve doğrulama, tahsisatlandırma ve piyasa işleyişine ilişkin temel kuralları düzenlemektedir.

The Türkiye Emissions Trading System Regulation (the “Regulation”) was published in the Official Gazette No. 33353 dated August 27, 2026, and entered into force on the same date. Pursuant to the Climate Law No. 7552 (the “Climate Law”), the Regulation sets out the fundamental rules governing the scope of the Türkiye Emissions Trading System (“ETS”), greenhouse gas emissions permits, monitoring, reporting and verification, the allocation of allowances, and the operation of the market.