Laws and regulations applicable to Turkish online trading market

E-commerce regulation in Turkey must be examined by foreign companies providing services in the borders of Turkey.

The body of current e-commerce law under Turkish jurisdiction should be pre-examined and understood well by companies who are intended to operate in Turkish online trading market. The legal infrastructure of an online trading project should be competent in respect to Turkish laws and regulations which governs e-commerce. Therefore; it is our belief that companies who are in the field of e-commerce should become empowered through knowledge related to the body of current e-commerce law during their operation in Turkey.

As there are many small and medium sized enterprises who are adapting their sale channels to digital platforms, e-commerce law is now on their agenda as a matter of compliance. At this point, we would like to gather some of the main laws and related secondary legislations below in order to create a framework of the applicable rules to an e-commerce activity. While some of such applicable rules are only specific to online trading of goods and services, others are related to the content itself, data protection, rights of consumers,  and general activities of enterprises.

List of some important applicable laws and secondary legislation

1. Law on Regulation of Electronic Commerce Nr. 6563

2. Law on Consumer Protection Nr. 6502

3. Law on Regulation of Content Published on the Internet Nr. 5651

4. Law on Electronic Signatures Nr. 5070

5. Law on the Protection of Personal Data Nr. 6698

6. Law on Payment and Security Settlement Systems, Payment Services and E-Money Institutions Nr. 6493

7. Regulation on Service Providers And Intermediary Service Providers

8. Regulation on Content Published on the Internet of 30 November 2017

9. Regulation on Distant Contracts of 27 November 2014

10. Regulation on Commercial Communication and Commercial Electronic Messages of 15 July 2015

11. Communique on Electronic Trade Trust Certification of 6 June

12. Communique on Electronic Trade Information System of 11 August 2017