Digital Markets Competition Law Enforcement in Turkey

Currently, there is no primary legislation specific to competition in digital markets in Turkey. The primary competition legislation in Turkey is Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (Law No. 4054) and this law applies to competition in every market, including digital markets. In this respect, there are no special rules or exemptions with respect to competition in digital markets in Turkey. However, recently, the Ministry of Trade prepared a Draft Regulation on Amending Law No. 4054 (Draft Amendment) and shared the draft with certain institutions to receive comments before its enactment. The Draft Amendment aims to update existing competition rules in order to establish and preserve competition in the digital markets. The proposed changes through the Draft Amendment are in parallel with the recently implemented Digital Markets Act in the European Union and the German digital markets regulation.

The Turkish Competition Authority (Authority) enforces antitrust rules in Turkey’s digital markets. The Authority has launched several digital sector inquiries in recent years (such as E-Marketplace Sector Inquiry, Mobile Ecosystems Sector Inquiry, Online Advertising Sector Inquiry, Study on the Refections of Digital Transformation on Competition Law), serving as preparatory components facilitating legislative actions within the scope of its rapidly increasing scrutiny into big tech aimed at identifying behavioural and structural issues surrounding these sectors and offering solutions accordingly.

The Turkish Competition Board’s intention to put the digital economy, including big tech platforms, under scrutiny in the near future can also be observed in its enforcement track record in recent years concerning platforms (e.g., Nadirkitap (07.04.2022; 22-15/273-122), Trendyol (30.09.2021; 21-46/669-334), Google Local Search (08.04.2021; 21-20/248-105), Facebook Interim Measures (11.01.2021; 21-02/25-10), Google Search and AdWords (12.11.2020; 20-49/675-295), Kitapyurdu (05.11.2020; 20-48/658-289), Google Shopping (13.02.2020; 20-10/119-69), Google Android (19.09.2018; 18-33/555-273), Çiçek Sepeti (08.03.2018; 18-07/111-58), Yemek Sepeti (09.06.2016; 16-20/347-156)).

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