The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Turkey (CCRT), by its decision of 11 April 2007 has cancelled some provisions of the Title Deeds Act No:2644, regarding property sales to the foreign nationals. The CCRT’s decision was published in the Official Gazette on 16 January 2008 and came into effect three months later on 16 April, 2008.

Therefore due to the ongoing enactment of legislation regarding the acquisition of property by foreign national individuals and foreign companies, the Directorate General of Land Registry and Cadastre has issued a Circular stating that the processing of applications for land and property sale to foreign nationals and foreign companies has been suspended until further notice.

A bill has been prepared by the Turkish Government, taking into account the CCRT’s standpoints, Turkey’s international/bi-lateral agreements, and was submitted to the Parliament.

The new act, changing the relevant provisions of the Title Deeds Act, published in the Official Gazette and came into effect on July 15, 2008.

According to the Constitution, the acquired rights cannot be seized by anybody. Thus, the ownership rights of a foreign national who already owns a property (or who will own a property after the enactment of the new law) in Turkey will be preserved by the Constitution.