Mandatory Mediation for Rental Disputes in Turkey

If you are involved in a rental dispute in Turkey — whether you are a foreign tenant trying to recover your deposit or a landlord seeking to reclaim your property — you now have an extra step to complete before you can walk into a courtroom. Since September 1, 2023, mandatory mediation has been a legal prerequisite for virtually all rental lawsuits under Turkish law. Skip it and the court will dismiss your case on procedural grounds before even reading the merits.

This article explains what this requirement means in practice, which disputes it covers, and how the process works for landlords and tenants in Antalya and elsewhere in Turkey.

What Changed in September 2023

Turkey's Law on Mediation in Civil Disputes (Law No. 6325) was amended in April 2023 by Law No. 7445. The amendment added Article 18/B, which lists categories of civil disputes that must go through mediation before a court case can be filed. Rental disputes entered that list, with the new rules taking effect on September 1, 2023.

The core principle is simple: a rental lawsuit is only admissible if the party filing it can show that mediation was attempted first and no agreement was reached. This is called a dava şartı — a precondition to filing a lawsuit. Courts do not have discretion here; if the mediation step is missing, the case is dismissed automatically.

Which Rental Disputes Are Covered

Article 18/B covers all disputes arising from a rental relationship (kira ilişkisinden kaynaklanan uyuşmazlıklar). In practice, this sweeps in most of the common conflicts between landlords and tenants:

• Claims for unpaid rent
• Deposit (güvence bedeli) disputes
• Eviction cases, including personal need and reconstruction evictions under the Turkish Code of Obligations (Law No. 6098, Art. 350)
• Rent determination (kira tespiti) proceedings
• Early termination claims
• Damages for breach of lease terms

There is one notable exception: eviction proceedings pursued purely through summary enforcement under the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law (Law No. 2004) — the so-called ilamsız icra route — are excluded. A landlord using that specific enforcement pathway does not need to go through mediation first. But as soon as a dispute moves into court litigation, the mediation requirement kicks in.

How the Mediation Process Works

The process is straightforward, though it does involve a set sequence of steps:

Step 1 — Application. The party wishing to bring a claim applies to the mediation bureau (arabuluculuk bürosu) attached to the courthouse in the relevant jurisdiction. This can be done in person, or in many locations online.

Step 2 — Session. An accredited mediator (arabulucu) is assigned. Both parties are invited to attend. The mediator does not decide anything — the role is to facilitate a conversation. Sessions are confidential.

Step 3 — Outcome. If the parties reach an agreement, they sign a settlement document that can be given the force of a court judgment (an icra edilebilirlik şerhi) by the local civil court of peace (sulh hukuk mahkemesi). If no agreement is reached, the mediator issues a final non-agreement certificate (son tutanak). This certificate is what you attach to your lawsuit filing.

The entire mediation phase is currently free of charge — costs are met from the Ministry of Justice budget rather than by the parties.

One timing point matters: a landmark Yargıtay (Court of Cassation) ruling from May 2025 clarified that the mediation application must be filed after the right to sue has arisen. For eviction cases with a statutory filing window, that means you cannot pre-emptively start mediation before the lease period ends and the lawsuit right crystallises. Do it at the right time or the whole step has to be repeated.

What Happens If You Skip Mediation

If a claimant files a lawsuit without first completing the mediation step, the court will dismiss it on procedural grounds (dava şartı yokluğu sebebiyle usulden red). The dismissal is without prejudice — you can still start the mediation process and re-file — but it costs time and money. More importantly, lease termination deadlines and other statutory filing windows can be tight, so losing weeks to a procedural rejection may put your substantive rights at risk.

Good news on one point: while mediation is ongoing, statutory time limits and lapse-of-rights periods are frozen. Article 18/A of Law 6325 explicitly suspends these time limits from the moment you file at the mediation bureau until the final certificate is issued.

Practical Tips for Foreign Tenants and Landlords in Antalya

Foreign nationals renting property in Antalya face a few extra considerations:

• Language: Mediation sessions are conducted in Turkish. There is no automatic right to an interpreter provided by the state, so budget for one or bring a bilingual legal representative.
• Internal links: A rental agreement in Turkey should ideally name Antalya courts as the jurisdiction, which determines which mediation bureau you apply to.
• Deposit disputes: If your landlord is withholding your deposit, that claim is subject to mandatory mediation before you can take it to court. See our guide on security deposits in Turkish rentals for what the law says about return timelines.
• Rent determination claims: If you believe your rent is being set above the statutory increase cap, the rent determination lawsuit process also now requires a prior mediation attempt.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does the mediation requirement apply to disputes that started before September 2023?

No. The mandatory mediation rule applies only to lawsuits filed on or after September 1, 2023. Disputes that were already in court before that date are not affected.

Q: What if the other party refuses to attend mediation?

Attendance is not compulsory. If the other party does not show up or simply refuses to engage, the mediator records this in the final certificate. That certificate is enough to satisfy the dava şartı — you can then file your lawsuit.

Q: Is an agreement reached in mediation legally binding?

Yes. If both parties sign a mediation agreement and the civil court of peace endorses it with an icra edilebilirlik şerhi, it has the same legal force as a court judgment and can be enforced directly.

Q: Can I start mediation before the lease ends to save time?

Under current case law, no. The Yargıtay ruled in 2025 that mediation must begin after the right to sue has arisen. Starting the process too early means the mediation does not satisfy the dava şartı and must be repeated.

Q: Does this apply to commercial leases too?

Yes. Article 18/B covers rental relationships broadly, including commercial (işyeri) leases, not just residential ones.

How Mona Hukuk Can Help

Our Antalya-based team advises both landlords and tenants on navigating the mandatory mediation step and any subsequent court proceedings. We can represent you at the mediation bureau, help prepare or respond to a non-agreement certificate, and handle the litigation phase if the dispute proceeds to court.

Contact us at contact@monahukuk.com or call +90 (242) 606 14 32 to schedule a consultation in Antalya.