Legal Bulletin
Turkey Legal News — 8 June 2026: Alimony, Law 7582 & Airbnb
Published 8 June 2026·8 min read
The week of 8 June 2026 brought a cluster of significant developments in Turkish law. The Constitutional Court struck down the provision allowing open-ended spousal support, a ruling that will reshape divorce litigation. Law 7582 — extending the Wealth Amnesty scheme and introducing a new qualified service centre model for multinationals — was published in the Official Gazette. The Council of State suspended the Tax Authority's circular that classified Airbnb-style short-term rentals as commercial activity.
Legal Profession News
140 New Courts to Be Established — Specialisation Expands
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced the creation of 140 new courts aimed at reducing caseloads and deepening judicial specialisation. The plan includes 46 civil courts of first instance, 36 general civil courts, 24 labour courts and 16 consumer courts, alongside additions in criminal, juvenile and commercial jurisdiction.
What it means in practice: For litigants, more specialised courts should translate to faster and better-reasoned decisions. For lawyers, correctly identifying the competent court before filing becomes more important than ever — a mistaken filing to the wrong venue results in a referral or dismissal for lack of jurisdiction.
Tax Authority: Reconciliation Minutes Under Lawyers' Act Exempt From Stamp Duty
The Revenue Administration (GİB) issued guidance clarifying that reconciliation minutes drawn up by lawyers under Article 35/A of the Bar Act (Law 1136) — which carry the force of a court judgment — are not subject to stamp duty.
Legal background: Article 35/A allows a Turkish lawyer to mediate a binding settlement between parties and record it in a document equivalent to a court judgment for enforcement purposes. Whether stamp duty applied to these documents had been a grey area in practice.
What it means in practice: Lawyers can now issue these instruments without triggering an additional tax cost for clients. For commercial disputes in particular, this makes the 35/A route more attractive relative to full litigation or standard mediation.
KVKK: Biometric Data Cannot Be Processed for Attendance Tracking
The Personal Data Protection Board (KVKK) issued a principle decision holding that employers may not process biometric data solely for the purpose of tracking employee working hours.
Legal background: Biometric data — fingerprints, facial recognition, retinal scans — is classified as sensitive personal data under the KVKK, equivalent to special-category data under the EU GDPR. Processing requires either explicit consent or a specific statutory basis. The Board's decision makes clear that operational convenience alone does not provide adequate justification.
What it means in practice: Factories, retail chains and healthcare providers that use fingerprint or facial-recognition clocking systems must urgently review their data-processing arrangements. Non-compliance risks administrative fines. Employment and data-privacy lawyers should flag this to clients with biometric HR systems as a priority compliance issue.
Official Gazette
Law 7582: Wealth Amnesty Extended, Lawyer Qualification Clause Revised
Law 7582 on Amendments to Certain Laws was published in the Official Gazette. Three provisions stand out:
Wealth Amnesty extension: Assets declared domestically or abroad by 31 July 2027 will not be subject to tax investigation. The previously expiring Wealth Amnesty has now been extended, giving individuals and companies additional time to regularise undeclared assets.
Tax instalment relief: The maximum instalment period for public debts has been extended from 36 to 72 months, while the threshold for unsecured instalment arrangements has been raised to TRY 1,000,000. This eases the restructuring path for taxpayers with outstanding tax debt.
Legal services qualification clause: Following objections raised by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) and regional bars, the law was amended to clarify that "legal advisory services" within the scope of the legislation must be provided by a lawyer or law firm licensed under the Bar Act (Law 1136) and may cover only matters of Turkish law or domestic activities.
Qualified Service Centre: The law also inserted a new supplementary article into the Foreign Direct Investment Act (Law 4875) establishing the Nitelikli Hizmet Merkezi (Qualified Service Centre) model. To qualify, a centre must serve affiliated entities in at least three countries and derive at least 80% of its revenues from non-Turkish affiliates. The Ministry of Industry and Technology is developing the implementing regulations, including potential tax incentives.
Council of State Suspends Airbnb Commercial-Activity Circular
The Council of State (Danıştay) suspended the enforcement of the Revenue Administration's circular classifying Airbnb-style short-term rental arrangements as commercial activity.
Background: Under the GİB circular, individuals who let out their properties on a short-term basis more than once per month were required to register as commercial taxpayers and comply with the associated obligations — VAT registration, invoicing, bookkeeping.
The ruling: The Council of State granted a stay of execution, questioning the legal basis and proportionality of the administrative classification.
What it means in practice: Property owners who rent out holiday homes or apartments on short-term platforms are, for the duration of the stay, shielded from the commercial-activity obligations the circular sought to impose. The Council of State's substantive decision — expected later — will permanently determine how this rental model is taxed in Turkey. Property owners and their lawyers should monitor the case closely.
Constitutional Court & Judicial Rulings
Constitutional Court Strikes Down Open-Ended Spousal Support
The Constitutional Court (AYM) voted, by a majority, to invalidate the provision of the Civil Code that allowed spousal support following divorce to be awarded without a time limit.
The old rule: Under the relevant provision of the Turkish Civil Code, a divorced spouse who would otherwise face poverty was entitled to claim indefinite support from the wealthier ex-spouse. In practice, payments could continue until the recipient remarried or either party died.
The ruling: The Court held that open-ended spousal support, as structured, was incompatible with the constitutional principle of equality, and directed Parliament to enact a new provision within the prescribed timeframe.
What it means in practice: Pending Parliament's amendment, courts will continue applying the existing Civil Code provision in ongoing cases. Once the new legislation takes effect, spousal support awards are likely to be time-limited. For family law practitioners, existing cases should be reviewed for potential impact, and any strategy advice to clients should flag that the legal landscape is in transition.
Constitutional Court Limits E-Commerce Platform Immunity From Content Liability
The Constitutional Court struck down the provision that exempted e-commerce marketplace operators from liability for unlawful content, products or services offered by third-party sellers on their platforms.
Legal background: The repealed provision, part of the e-commerce regulatory framework, granted marketplace platforms near-absolute immunity from liability for seller content. It had been criticised by consumer groups as making redress impossible when consumers were harmed by counterfeit goods or misleading listings.
What it means in practice: Consumers now have stronger legal footing to pursue marketplace operators — not just individual sellers — for damages caused by unlawful listings. Platform companies will need to review their terms of service, internal monitoring procedures and insurance arrangements.
Constitutional Court Invalidates Rule Taxing Athletes for Unpaid Withholding
The Constitutional Court invalidated the provision requiring athletes to pay income tax that their clubs had failed to withhold and remit.
Legal background: Under the invalidated rule, when a club failed to deduct and pay withholding tax on an athlete's income, the liability shifted to the athlete who had filed a tax return — placing the burden of the club's default on the individual who had already declared their income correctly.
What it means in practice: Athletes who received tax assessments on this basis may have grounds to seek correction. Sports lawyers and agents negotiating contracts should ensure that tax withholding obligations are explicitly allocated in the agreement, with contractual remedies in the event of club default.
Court of Cassation: Mediation Minutes Showing Understated Claims May Be Set Aside for Unconscionability
Court of Cassation, 9th Labour Division (File 2025/9390, Decision 2026/1065, 10.02.2026):
Where a voluntary mediation settlement records an employment claim amount that is inconsistent with the worker's actual salary and seniority, the settlement may be set aside on grounds of unconscionability (aşırı yararlanma/gabin).
What changed: Mediation records had previously been treated as final and binding, with their court-judgment status creating a high bar for challenge. This ruling opens the door to annulment where the recorded amount is so far below the worker's actual entitlement that it reflects exploitation rather than genuine agreement.
What it means in practice: Labour lawyers representing employees should scrutinise mediation records carefully. Settlement amounts should be benchmarked against the worker's real salary and seniority before any document is signed. Records signed under pressure or in ignorance are now more vulnerable to challenge.
Court of Cassation: Hidden Camera in Shared Home Not Valid Evidence in Divorce Proceedings
Court of Cassation, 2nd Civil Division (File 2023/7996, Decision 2024/5004, 27.06.2024):
Footage obtained from a hidden camera installed in the shared marital home is not lawfully obtained evidence for the purpose of proving adultery in divorce proceedings.
Legal background: Turkish civil procedure and the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 8) protect the right to private life. Evidence obtained in violation of privacy rights may be excluded. Application of this principle to hidden cameras in shared homes had been inconsistent in lower courts.
What it means in practice: A party seeking to prove adultery through hidden-camera footage may find their evidence excluded — and could face a counterclaim for invasion of privacy or moral damages. Family law practitioners should advise clients that investigative methods involving covert surveillance carry serious legal risks and may undermine rather than support the client's position.