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area desired for purchase is within the borders of a military forbidden
zone or military security zone, foreigners cannot acquire an immovable
there.
Moreover, it should also be noted that Article 35/3 of the Land
Registry Law states that
“in case the country’s benefits necessitate,
the Council of Ministers is authorized to determine the acquisition of
immovable property or limited rights in rem of foreign real persons
with regard to country, person, geographical area, duration, number,
proportion, qualification, area meter and quantity, limit the acquisition,
cease it entirely or partially or forbid it”.
Matters to be considered by Foreign Real Persons when Acquir-
ing Immovable Property
First, it should be emphasized that, an immovable property sale is
only valid if the agreement is concluded pursuant to the official form
and registered according to Article 237 of Turkish Code of Obligations
No. 6098. Similarly, the official form is also required for the immovable
property’s sale commitment agreement, which can be defined as a pre-
agreement for the sale of the immovable property.
In order to fulfill the official form requirement in a contract concluded
for a sale of immovable property, the contract should be prepared as an
authenticated document by the Land Registry Directorate where such
immovable property is situated. The official form requirement of an
immovable property’s sale commitment agreement is fulfilled when it
is executed before a notary public. Pursuant to Article 26 of the Land
RegistryLaw, it is possible to annotate sale commitment agreements in land
registries. Similarly, rights of easement can be also annotated. Pursuant
to the same Article
“if, within five years as of the annotation, the sale is
not effectuated or the right of easement is not granted and postponed by
the Land Registry, this annotation shall be automatically removed by the
director or other officials of the Land Registry Directorate”.
In case the acquired immovable property is unconstructed, pursuant
to Article 35 of the Land Registry Law, foreign real persons should submit
their project that will be developed on the unconstructed property to the
relevant Ministries for approval within two years.