Cartel Enforcement Regime in Turkey

The Turkish Competition Authority (Authority) enforces the cartel prohibition and other provisions of Law. No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (Law No. 4054) in Turkey. Cartel enforcement in Turkey is akin to that of European Commission and is civil, not criminal, in nature.

The applicable provision for cartel-specific cases is Article 4 of Law No. 4054, which lays down basic principles of cartel regulation. There are no industry-specific offences or defenses that lead to particular scrutiny. In terms of cartel enforcement, food, cement, information and communication technology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, medical equipment, household appliances, building material, automotive, and retail have recently been under investigation for cartel allegations.

Law No. 4054 provides vast investigative powers to the Authority, such as the power to conduct dawn raids and to apply other investigatory tools (e.g., formal information request letters). The prevention or hinderance of a dawn raid, failure to respond the requests for information served by the Authority in due time or providing incorrect or incomplete information to the Authority’s requests for information could result in the imposition of an administrative monetary fine.

For more information on cartel enforcement regime in Turkey, please feel free to reach out to ELIG Gurkaynak at +90 212 327 1724 or through gonenc.gurkaynak@elig.com.