Recent Alterations in Legal Interest and Delay Hike Rates

With the Regulation amending the Regulation on the implementation of Law No. 6306 (“Regulation”) entered into force after being published in the Official Gazette on 21.05.2024, a number of significant changes have been made in urban transformation practices.

Amendments have been made to the Turkish Commercial Code, the Act No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Act”) and other legislation with the Law No. 7511, which has been under preparation for some time.
With Law No. 7511, the right to the first written defense granted to parties in investigations initiated by the Competition Board ("Board") was abolished, and amendments were made to Articles 34, 43, and 45 of the Act.

General Assembly of Civil Chambers ("GACC") has issued a guiding decision dated 24.01.2024 with the file number 2023/588 E. – 2024/22 K., concerning the scope of similarity between brands, criteria for distinctiveness, and the concept of entirety.

The Ministry of Trade announced that export restrictions had been imposed on fifty-four product groups exported from Turkey to Israel, effective from April 9, 2024.

In the Official Gazette of 22 March 2024, number 32497, was published the decision of the Constitutional Court of 13 February 2024, number 2020/36976, regarding the claim that the right to request the protection of personal data had been violated due to the lack of an effective criminal investigation into the complaint that personal data had been unlawfully obtained.

In our 2023 Corporate Tax Reservation and Litigation note; we have examined the issues of "application of reduced corporate tax rate to earnings from services provided to foreigners in Türkiye (accommodation, health, etc.)" and "excess profit declared due to not subjecting the assets sold in 2023 to inflation adjustment".

Law Numbered 7499 on the Amendment of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Certain Laws introduced long-awaited amendments to the Law Numbered 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data ("KVKK"). Law Numbered 7499 was published in the Official Gazette dated March 12, 2024 and numbered 32487. The provisions amending the KVKK will enter into force as of June 1, 2024.

Communiqué (No: 2024-32/69) ("Communiqué") amending the Communiqué (Communiqué No: 2008-32/34) on Decree No: 32 on the Protection of the Value of the Turkish Currency was published in the Official Gazette dated February 28, 2024 and numbered 32474. The Communiqué introduced some exceptions to the prohibition of payment in foreign currency in certain agreements.

As of 10.01.2024, the authority to cancel trademarks, which was temporarily given to the courts by Article 26 of the Industrial Property Law No. 6769 ("IPL"), which entered into force on 10.01.2017, has been given to the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office ("TPTO"), whose founding purpose is to contribute to the effective protection and commercialization of industrial property rights by increasing industrial property awareness in all segments of society.

The "Regulation Amending the Regulation on Principles and Rules to be Applied in Retail Trade" ("Regulation"), which has been subject to a long period of study by the Ministry of Trade, was published in the Official Gazette dated December 14, 2023 and numbered 32399.

With the amendment published in the Official Gazette on December 19, 2023, effective as of 01.01.2024, the Regulation Amending the Price Labeling Regulation ("Regulation") introduced the obligation for establishments providing food and beverage services such as restaurants, cafes, patisseries, etc. to display tariffs and price lists in places where consumers can easily see them. The primary objective of the Regulation is to ensure that consumers are informed in a correct and transparent manner.

With the Law No. 7471 on the Amendment of the Law to the Transformation of Areas under Disaster Risk and Certain Laws and the Decree Law No. 375 (the “Law”), which was published in the Official Gazette on November 9, 2023, a number of significant amendments were made in urban transformation practices.