OWNERSHIP AND REAL PROPERTY ACQUISITION :

The ownership is anchored in article 35 of the Turkish Constitution. This article stipulates that anyone is entitled to own a property and that these rights can only be restricted by other legal stipulations.
The ownership regulations are elaborated in the Turkish Civil Code. This Code describes how ownership is acquired. It is necessary to register at the land register in order to be owner of a real property for both Turkish people and foreigners. Therefore, in Turkey the ownership of real estate is obtained by entry in the land register (article 633 Turkish Civil Code) and the simultaneous delivery of the real estate. These two steps must be taken in the way described in the Turkish Civil Code; moreover, all formalities must be fulfilled.

Real Property Acquisition Of Foreign Real Person and Legal Entity :

It used to be stipulated to acquire real property and to have limited real rights in Turkey for foreign companies until the article 35 of the Land Registry Act was re-arranged by the article 4916 on 03 July 2003. So foreign companies have a right of acquiring a real property and having limited real rights in Turkey since that re-arrangement.

The article 35 has stated that : “ On the condition that to be mutual and to obey stipulations of Turkish Law, foreign real persons and companies which has legal entity and established according to Turkish Law can acquire real properties in the Republic of Turkey.”

The mutuallity principle depends on two conditions :
1. The Turkish citizens must have the same rights which are supported by the laws in foreign country.
2. This right must be put into practice actually.

Legal Stipulations :

The last paragraph of the article has stated a general stipulation : “ Council Of Ministers is authorized to determine places which don’t not enforce this article in respect of public interest and public security.”

In addition, Millitary Forbidden Regions Act and Security Regions Act have stated some stipulations : There are first and second degree millitary forbidden regions. First degree millitary forbidden regions composed of lines are supposed to be connecting points of minnimum 100 meters maximum 400 meters from millitary facilities and regions; second degree millitary forbidden regions composed of lines are supposed to be from the borders of the first degree forbidden regions to 5-10 kilometers. Foreigners can’t acquire real properties in both regions.

The article 35 has stated that foreign real persons and companies which have legal entity cannot acquire more than 30 hectare property, but they can be acquired only by Council Of Ministers. Legal inheritance is out of this law.

After the re-arrange of the act on 03 July 2003, foreigners also can acquire real properties in villages, there is only 30 hectare stipulation since then.

Exceptions :

“Directly Foreign Capital Act” and “Tourism Encouragement Act” have guarantied some more rights for foreign investors and tourism managers.

- According to “Directly Foreign Capital Act”, article 3/d: Companies, which are legal entity, which foreign investors set up in Turkey or they are partner of them, are entitled to acquire real property and to have limited real rights everywhere Turkish people can.
- It is necessary to get “Tourism Invesment Document” or “Tourism Management Document” from the Ministry to benefit from encouragement statements and also exceptions, exemptions and rights which are stated in “Tourism Encouragement Act” and the other acts. The article 2634 has stated all places which belong to tresure and forests are assigned to the Ministry.

According to this article, relevant real properties will be nationalized and assigned to the Ministry in order to assign them to native and foreign investors.

Legal Procedure For Real Property Acqusition :

Transfer of a real property is fulfilled by title-deed officials at a government office is called “title-deed registration office” where the real property is. If the reason of transfer is a sale, the purchaser and the vendor or their representatives apply to the title-deed registration office with all necessary documents and the real property is registered on behalf of the purchaser in the presence of the purchaser and the vendor or their attorneys.

Foreign people must get a permission from The Agean Army Commandership before register. The Millitary Service search if the real property is in any millitary forbidden regions and if it is suitable to acquire by a non-citizen person or company and if so, arrange a permission document and send it to title-deed registration office. Therefore, first of all, every required documents are completed and applied to The Millitary Service for this permission document. The permission is received in 1-3 months as from date of application.

Since the registering cannot be completed immadiatelly, it is safe to consult a lawyer and sign an appropriate agreement, parties can be the purchaser and the vendor or the real estate agency. Also, a power of attoney regarding buying a real property can be arranged by a public notary and so whole procedure can be carried out by the lawyer and registered the real property on behalf of the foreigner purchaser as soon as the permission document is received.

The Countries Can Acquire Real Property In Turkey :