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acquisition of real estate and limited rights
in rem
and their use by legal
entities established in or associated with Turkey by foreign investors. In the
Current Regulation, a new paragraph concerning Turkish citizens residing
abroad was added to this article. Companies established in or associated
with Turkey by Turkish citizens residing abroad, by Turkish citizens who
lost their citizenship by a permit of alienage, and by their children subject
to the same process can acquire real property and limited rights
in rem
,
provided that the company does not have a foreign shareholder. In this
way, a subject that causes problems in practice was clarified.
Who are Foreign Investors?
In the Former Regulation, foreign investors were not defined. This gap
is filled by the Current Regulation. Pursuant to Article 3 of the Current
Regulation, a foreign investor is a natural person with foreign citizenship
who establishes a new company or who forms an association with an
existing company by the acquisition of shares outside the stock exchange
markets, by the acquisition of 10% of the shares, or by acquisitions that
grant the same percentage of voting rights, or is a legal person established
in compliance with foreign legislation or an international organization.
The Application Procedure and the Evaluation of Applications
Pursuant to Article 4 of the Current Regulation, companies wishing
to acquire real property need to apply to the Provincial Planning and
Coordination Directorate for the district where the real estate is located and
must provide the information and documents as stated in Article 4 of the
Regulation. The Current Regulation abolished the system concerning the
review of the company’s real estate acquisition request in terms of the
company’s main field of activity. From now on, the entire review will be
handled by the Coordination Directorate. The documents stated in the
aforesaid article are listed as
numerus clausus
. The investors cannot be
requested to provide additional documents. This clause is relevant for
avoiding some public institutions from arbitrary treatment. On the other
hand, the application documents need to be whole and complete. The
proceedings concerning the application are initiated under this condition.
If the application is intended for the establishment of a mortgage, the
application needs to be made to the Land Registry Office Director where
the real estate is located.