Restrictive Agreements in Turkish Competition Law
The relevant legislation for the prohibition of restrictive agreements (including cartels) and for enforcement regime in Turkey is Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (Law No. 4054
). Article 4 of Law No. 4054 prohibits the agreements and concerted practices, as well as the decisions of the associations of undertakings, which prevent, distort or restrict competition by object or by effect, directly or indirectly in a particular market for goods or services. Article 4 of Law No. 4054 applies to both horizontal and vertical agreements.
Article 4 sets out a non-exhaustive list of restrictive agreements that is, to a large extent, identical to Article 101(1) TFEU. Particular examples of such prohibited conducts can be listed as: (i) fixing the purchase or sale price of goods or services, elements such as cost and profit which form the price, and any condition of purchase or sale, (ii) allocation of markets for goods or services, and sharing or controlling all kinds of market resources or elements, (iii) controlling the amount of supply or demand for goods or services, or determining them outside the market, (iv) obstructing and restricting the activities of competing undertakings, or excluding undertakings operating in the market by boycotts or other behaviour, or foreclosing the market to potential new entrants, (v) except for exclusive dealing, applying different terms to persons with equal status for equal rights, obligations and acts, and (vi) contrary to the nature of the agreement or commercial practices, requiring the purchase of other goods or services together with a good or service, or tying a good or service demanded by purchasers acting as intermediary undertakings to the condition of displaying another good or service by the purchaser, or putting forward terms as to the resupply of a good or service supplied. The list is not exhaustive; it intends to comprise other examples of restrictive agreements as well.
For more information on restrictive agreements in Turkish competition law, please feel free to reach out to ELIG Gurkaynak at +90 212 327 1724 or through gonenc.gurkaynak@elig.com.