What it means for you
If you have signed anything in Türkiye, this is the law that decides what the words mean, when you may walk away, what you owe if you break it, and how long you have to sue. It also carries the tort rules that govern accidents and professional negligence.
Commonly confused with
Not the Commercial Code. TTK governs merchants, companies and commercial paper; TBK is the general private law underneath it. Where TTK is silent, TBK fills the gap.
Where you meet this word
In almost every Turkish contract, in the article numbers your lawyer cites when explaining a remedy, and in any damages claim.
How the Code is laid out: which subject sits where
Law No. 6098 was passed on 11 January 2011, published in Official Gazette No. 27836 of 4 February 2011, and — under its own Article 648 — entered into force on 1 July 2012. It runs to 649 articles. Article 646 states that the Code is the Fifth Book of the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721 and completes it; Article 647 repealed the former Code of Obligations No. 818 of 1926.
The Code has two parts. General Provisions (arts. 1-206) hold the rules that apply to every obligation; Special Types of Obligation (arts. 207-649) deal with individual contract types. Whether the rule you need is a general one or specific to your contract is decided by that split.
| Part / chapter | Articles | What it governs |
|---|---|---|
| Part One — General Provisions (arts. 1-206) | ||
| Sources of obligations | 1-82 | Obligations from contract (1-48), tort (49-76), unjust enrichment (77-82) |
| Effects of obligations | 83-130 | Performance (83-111), consequences of non-performance (112-126), effect on third parties (127-130) |
| Extinction and time bar | 131-161 | Ways an obligation ends (131-145), limitation periods (146-161) |
| Special situations | 162-182 | Joint liability, conditions, earnest money, forfeit money, contractual penalty |
| Change of parties | 183-206 | Assignment of a claim, assumption of a debt, transfer of a contract |
| Part Two — Special Types of Obligation (arts. 207-649) | ||
| Sale | 207-281 | Sale of movables (209-236), sale of immovables (237-246), particular types of sale (247-281) |
| Barter, donation | 282-298 | Exchange of goods and gift |
| Lease | 299-378 | General provisions (299-338), residential and roofed business premises (339-356), agricultural lease (357-378) |
| Loan contracts | 379-392 | Loan for use and loan for consumption |
| Service contracts | 393-469 | General service contract (393-447), sales representation (448-460), homeworking (461-469) |
| Contract for work | 470-486 | Contractor and employer, defective work |
| Publishing contract | 487-501 | Author and publisher |
| Agency and mandate | 502-525 | Mandate (502-514), letter of credit and credit order, brokerage |
| Agency without authority, commission | 526-546 | Acting for another without a mandate; commission agency |
| Commercial representatives and agents | 547-554 | Scope, limitation and termination of authority |
| Assignment of payment, deposit | 555-580 | Payment assignment (555-560), deposit and warehousing (561-580) |
| Suretyship | 581-603 | Form, spousal consent, the surety's liability and recourse |
| Gaming and betting | 604-606 | Claims that cannot be sued on or enforced |
| Life annuity, maintenance until death | 607-619 | Form and termination of both contracts |
| Ordinary partnership | 620-645 | Contributions, management, dissolution and liquidation |
| Final provisions | 646-649 | Relation to the Civil Code, repealed statute, entry into force |
The articles people actually ask about
These are the articles most questions about this Code actually end at. The wording in quotation marks is the statute's own — in practice the exact verb is what decides the outcome.
- Art. 49 — the basis of liability in tort. "A person who causes loss to another by a faulty and unlawful act is obliged to compensate that loss."
- Art. 72 — time bar in tort. Two years from the date the injured party learns of the loss and of the person liable, and in any event ten years from the date of the act; if the act is a criminal offence for which the criminal law sets a longer period, that longer period applies.
- Art. 77 — unjust enrichment. "A person who is enriched without just cause at the expense of another's property or labour is obliged to return that enrichment."
- Art. 82 — time bar in unjust enrichment. Two years from learning of the right to claim restitution, and in any event ten years from the date the enrichment occurred.
- Art. 146 — the general limitation period. "Unless the law provides otherwise, every claim is subject to a ten-year limitation period."
- Art. 147 — the five-year period. Rent, interest on principal, wages and similar periodic performances; hotel and restaurant charges; claims under mandate, commission and commercial agency contracts; claims under a contract for work other than where the contractor's non-performance was grossly negligent.
- Art. 231 — defects in the thing sold. Unless the seller has assumed a longer period, any action based on liability for defects is time-barred two years after the thing is transferred to the buyer, even if the defect appears later; a seller who is grossly at fault cannot rely on that two-year period.
- Art. 315 — unpaid rent. The landlord gives the tenant a written period and states that the contract will be terminated if payment is not made within it. The period is at least ten days — and at least thirty days for residential and roofed business premises.
- Art. 344 — rent increases. An agreement on the rent for a renewed term is valid only up to the rate of change in the twelve-month averages of the consumer price index for the preceding lease year.
- Art. 347 — fixed-term residential and business leases. Unless the tenant gives notice at least fifteen days before the term ends, the contract is deemed extended for one year on the same conditions, and the landlord cannot end it merely because the term expired. At the end of a ten-year extension period the landlord may terminate without giving any reason, on notice at least three months before the end of each following extension year.
- Art. 478 — defective work. Actions are time-barred two years after delivery for works other than immovable structures, five years for immovable structures, and twenty years regardless of the nature of the work where the contractor was grossly at fault.
- Art. 583 — form of a suretyship. Invalid unless made in writing and unless the maximum amount for which the surety is liable and the date of the suretyship are stated; where the surety is jointly liable, the surety must record that capacity in their own handwriting.
- Art. 584 — spousal consent. Unless there is a court separation order or a legal right to live apart has arisen, a spouse may act as surety only with the other spouse's written consent, given no later than the moment the contract is concluded. Suretyships given by the owner of a registered commercial enterprise, or by a partner or director of a company in connection with that business, are among the listed exceptions.
Limitation periods, with the article behind each
There is no single answer to "what is the limitation period under Turkish contract law": it depends on the type of claim, and each period sits in its own article. Every row below comes from the current text of Law No. 6098.
| Period | What it runs on | Article |
|---|---|---|
| 10 years | Every claim, unless the law provides otherwise | 146 |
| 5 years | Rent, interest on principal, wages and other periodic performances; mandate, commission and agency claims; contract-for-work claims (absent gross fault) | 147 |
| 2 / 10 years | Tort damages — 2 from knowledge, 10 from the act in any event | 72 |
| 2 / 10 years | Restitution for unjust enrichment — 2 from knowledge, 10 from the enrichment | 82 |
| 2 years | Actions for defects in the thing sold, from transfer | 231 |
| 2 / 5 / 20 years | Defective work: 2 for movable works, 5 for immovable structures, 20 on gross fault | 478 |
| at least 10 days (30 for residential / roofed business premises) | Period the landlord must give a tenant who has not paid | 315 |
| 15 days | Tenant's notice not to extend a fixed-term lease | 347 |
| 3 months | Landlord's notice after the ten-year extension period | 347 |
Limitation periods cannot as a rule be varied by agreement; the Code's limitation section is arts. 146-161, which also cover suspension, interruption and how the period is counted. You can get a rough first read on whether your own claim is still in time with the limitation deadline checker, by entering the type of claim and the date of the event; what it returns is a date to check, not legal advice.
Whatever you opened the Code for
If you have met this abbreviation on a document, the subject you are really looking for is probably one of these:
- Unjust enrichment under Turkish law — arts. 77-82 in practice, including the two- and ten-year periods.
- Remedies for breach of contract — what the Code gives you when the other side does not perform.
- Lease agreements and landlord and tenant disputes — arts. 299-356.
- Eviction after the ten-year extension period — the second sentence of art. 347.
- The two statutes read alongside it: TTK (merchants and companies) and HMK (how a case is heard).
Frequently asked questions
What is the TBK?
TBK stands for Türk Borçlar Kanunu, the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098. It governs contracts, liability in tort, unjust enrichment, and contract types such as lease, service, work, mandate and suretyship. Under its own art. 646 it is the Fifth Book of the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721 and completes it.
How many articles does the Turkish Code of Obligations have?
649. Articles 1-206 are the General Provisions and arts. 207-649 the Special Types of Obligation; the last four (646-649) deal with the relation to the Civil Code, the repealed statute, entry into force and execution. Transitional articles added later are outside that count.
When did the Turkish Code of Obligations enter into force?
It was passed on 11 January 2011 and published in Official Gazette No. 27836 of 4 February 2011; under art. 648 it entered into force on 1 July 2012. Which code applies to a relationship formed before that date is settled by a separate statute, Law No. 6101 on the Entry into Force and Application of the Turkish Code of Obligations.
What happened to the old Code of Obligations No. 818?
Article 647 of the current Code repealed the Code of Obligations No. 818 of 22 April 1926. The article numbers of the two codes do not line up, so if an older contract or pleading cites “the Code of Obligations” without a number, check the date of the document to see which statute is meant.
What is the limitation period under the Turkish Code of Obligations?
There is no single period. The rule in art. 146 is ten years (“unless the law provides otherwise”); the claims listed in art. 147 run for five years; tort (art. 72) and unjust enrichment (art. 82) run for two years from knowledge and ten years in any event. Defects in goods sold are two years (art. 231) and defective work two, five or twenty years (art. 478).
In a commercial dispute, does the TBK or the TTK apply?
They are read together. Under art. 1 of the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102, that Code is also an integral part of the Turkish Civil Code, and special provisions on transactions concerning a commercial enterprise are commercial provisions. Its second paragraph adds that in commercial matters for which there is no commercial provision the court decides according to commercial custom and usage, and failing that according to the general provisions — so the Code of Obligations is reached when there is neither a commercial provision nor a commercial usage.
Statute: Turkish Code of Obligations (TBK) No. 6098
How we help with this: Commercial & Contract Law
