392 / 516
Amendments Made to the Land Registry Law
*
Att. Sedef Ustuner
Amendments made to the Land Registry Law No. 2644 (“Law”)
have been published in the Official Gazette dated May 18, 2012.
Acquisition of Immovable Properties (Land or Real Estate) By
Foreigners
With the amendments made to Article 35 of the Law, the foreign
national buyers -the list of eligible country citizens whom are to be
determined by Council of Ministers-, are entitled to acquire immovable
properties or limited rights in rem in Turkey for improved internation-
al bilateral relations and where there is a feasible benefit to the coun-
try provided that statutory restrictive conditions are fully complied.
The provisions, which lifted the existing “reciprocity principle”, intro-
duced new concepts, “better international bilateral relations and feasi-
ble benefit to country” as the standard benchmark test for the acquisi-
tion of ownership rights on properties by the foreign natural persons.
The amendments also expand the maximum size of immovable prop-
erties that can be acquired on a land and independent and continuous
limited rights in rem, permissible to be acquired by foreign natural per-
sons. As per the amendment, the maximum size cannot exceed ten per-
cent of the surface area of a municipal province where the immovable
in question is located and for each person it cannot exceed thirty
hectares (equivalence to 74.12 Acres, or 328.000 Square Feet) within
the country.
Authority of the Council of Ministers
The Council of Ministers is authorized to increase the size of area
within the country permissible for each person, up to twofold.
Furthermore, the Council of Ministers is vested with authorization
-in exceptional circumstances- to restrict, partially or fully cease or
prohibit acquisition of ownership of a land in any form, on the bases of
378
NEWSLETTER 2012
*
Article of May 2012