Data Protection Law Is Approved By The Turkish Grand National Assembly

The Law on Protection of Personal Data ("Data Protection Law"), which is mainly based on Directive 95/46/EC, is approved by the Turkish Grand National Assembly ("TGNA") on March 24, 2016. Data Protection Law will now be sent to the President for approval and publication. The President will have fifteen (15) days to publish the law approved by the TGNA, unless he has any objections that compel him to return the law to TGNA for reevaluation.

Once the Data Protection Law is published in the Official Gazette it will enter into force, with the exception of certain provisions which will become effective after the transition periods regulated under the law.

This is the first separate and dedicated general data protection legislation of Turkey. Data Protection Law introduces and imposes new obligations on the data processors and data controllers operating in Turkey. It introduces various provisions on processing and protection of personal data and sets out the principles