Application form for TAIEX Study Visit

Project title: Study Visit on property acquisition of foreigners

N.B.: only type-written and fully completed applications will be accepted

Beneficiary country: Turkey Beneficiary Ministry/Service: General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre Date of submission: 17.09.2007 Objective of the Study Visit:

To obtain short term technical assistance and advice on the transposition of EU legislation regarding property acquisition of non-nationals (foreigners) into the national legislation of Turkey and implementation and enforcement of such legislation.

Following goals are wished to achieve by attending the study visit; 1) how and to which extend remove the restrictions on the acquisition of real estate by foreigners in Turkey. 2) how to ensure equal treatment between Turkish and EU citizens 3) how to improve the implementation capacity of new law.

1. Authorisation from Hierarchy (Head of EU integration department or technical dept.) Title1: Legal Advisor First name: Müge Surname: Selçuk Function: Head of EU Relations Branch Office Tel.: +90 312 413 68 85 Office Fax: +90 312 413 68 52 E-mail: [email protected] Date of consultation: August 2007 Supporting comments: Our DG of Land Registry and Cadastre is the responsible body for adopting the acquis regarding property acquisition of non-nationals (foreigners) in Turkey which is the one of the priorities in the chapter of free movement of capital. Therefore getting assistance and guidance about how member states harmonize their respective legislation and how they manage to improve the implementation capacity is required.

1 Personal data contained in this document will be processed in accordance with the privacy statement of the TAIEX instrument (See http://taiex.ec.europa.eu/privacystatement) and in compliance with the Regulation (EC) N° 45/2001.

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Please complete and return to: European Commission , Institution Building unit (TAIEX) Rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Brussels Fax: +32-2-296 76 94 E-mail: [email protected]

2. Study Visit Content a) What will be the task of the host institution concerned? Legislation Implementation Institutional development b) EU legislation concerned (please give reference to regulations, directives etc.) and chapter of the Acquis and details of provisions for discussion

CELEX N°/Natural number: 31988L0361 Type of legislation: Council Directive Screening chapter: Free Movement of Capital c) Outline of your current situation concerning the EU legislation indicated and mention any recent developments that may be relevant in this regard (e.g. give details of the stage of preparation of the legislation, outline the timetable for the adoption of the legislation etc.) Property acquisition of foreigners in Turkey is regulated by the article 35 of Land Registry Law no.2644. According to Turkey’s current legislation there are some restrictions namely;

- Foreign real persons may acquire property in Turkey for either business or residential use, on the basis of reciprocity and in compliance with legal restrictions, provided that these properties are designated and registered for the said purposes in the zoning plans or local zoning plans. The sum total area of property that may be acquired by foreign real person in Turkey shall not exceed 2,5 hectares.

- Companies with legal personality established in foreign countries in accordance with their respective national legislation may acquire property according to the provisions of special laws.

- The Council of Ministers is authorized to determine areas where foreigners can not acquire property due to public interest or national security

In Turkey‘s 2003 National Program for adopting acquis one of the priorities in the chapter of Free Movement of Capital was “Removing all restrictions affecting the acquisition of real estate in Turkey by EU citizens and legal persons”.

Besides in Turkey’s Progress Report 2005 it has been stated that “Despite some progress, Turkey’s overall alignment with the acquis under this chapter (free movement of capital) remains low. Further progress is needed in removing all restrictions affecting the acquisition of real estate by EU citizens and legal persons as well as sectoral and structural barriers. Moreover, the implementation and enforcement of the legislation needs seriously strengthening.”

Furthermore, in Turkey’s Progress Report 2006 it has been stated that “In the area of real estate, recently adopted legislation was a step backwards. The amended Land Registry Law introduces the principle of reciprocity for acquisition of real estate in Turkey by foreigners and it brings stricter limitations to this right, concerning, inter alia, the maximum size of land that can be owned by foreigners, and the location of the property. As conclusion, very limited progress has taken place. Important restrictions exist in the area of movement of capital, including on acquisition of real estate by foreigners.”

Also in the Accession Partnership with Turkey 2006, under the heading of short term priorities, removing all restrictions affecting foreign direct investments originating from the EU in all economic sectors are envisaged.

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According to the EU acquis; Articles 56-60 of Treaty Establishing the European Community together with Nomenclature of Capital movements (Annex to Directive 88/361/EEC of 24 June 1988), member States must remove all restrictions in national law on the movement of capital between themselves, but also with third countries (with some exceptions), and adopt EU rules to guarantee the proper functioning of cross-border payments and transfers of all forms of capital. Every restriction on the basis of nationality is prohibited. The acquis also includes harmonized rules on property acquisition.

Property acquisition of foreigners is one of the benchmarks for Turkey in the chapter of free movement of capital. In order to fulfill the first opening benchmark, improvements in the related legislation is considered.

Besides Constitutional Court of Turkey has annuled some of the paragraphs of the national legislation which gives us the opportunity to rearrange the current legislation according to EU acquis.

Therefore guidance is required about how member states harmonize their respective legislation and how they manage to improve the implementation capacity of harmonized legislation. d) Is there any planned or currently running PHARE/CARDS/TWINNING or other project that is dealing with the issues covered by the request? Yes No If yes, please indicate details:

e) Draft programme for the study visit: Please list in detail the issues you would like to discuss with the experts of the Member State administration, such as implementing regulations, infrastructure, strategies, training and any other elements of relevance:

1 - What are the situations of member states in terms of alignment with the acquis of property acquisition? 2 -What are their national legislation regarding the acquisition of real estate? Are the exemptions, if any, applied only to foreigners or are they applied to both foreigners and citizens? 3 - What do the terms “public policy” and “public security” stated in article 58 of the Treaty refers to?

Article 58 1. The provisions of Article 56 shall be without prejudice to the right of Member States: (a) to apply the relevant provisions of their tax law which distinguish between taxpayers who are not in the same situation with regard to their place of residence or with regard to the place where their capital is invested; (b) to take all requisite measures to prevent infringements of national law and regulations, in particular in the field of taxation and the prudential supervision of financial institutions, or to lay down procedures for the declaration of capital movements for purposes of administrative or statistical information, or to take measures which are justified on grounds of public policy or public security.

4 - What are the treatments to specific areas in terms of; - irrigation - energy - mining - belief and cultural featured areas - special protection areas and sensitive areas due to flora and fauna features, - strategic areas due to public interests and country security and/or security areas/zones - agricultural land and forests - military zones - other category, if any

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5 - Is there any difference in terms of application between real and legal entities? 6 - Are these treatments announced to the public and/or known by the public and/or are the definitions of those special areas available to public?

7 - Taking into consideration member countries’ examples/implementations, is there any difference between; i. A company established in a member state and a company established in another member state regarding acquisition of real estate in any one of them? ii. A company established in a member state and a company or affiliate of a company established in the same state but headquarters of which are established in another member state regarding acquisition of real estate in the fore- mentioned member state? iii. A company established in a non-member state and a company in a member state regarding acquisition of real estate in any other member state? iv. A company or affiliate of a company established in a member state but headquarters of which are in a non- member state and a company or affiliate of a company established in the same member state but headquarters of which are established in another member state regarding acquisition of real estate in the fore-mentioned member state?

8 - Detailed definitions of - property rights - real estate - secondary residences - agricultural land and forests - acquisition right of real estate - limited real rights (the rights which do not grant their holders the full acquisition possibility while providing utilization rights).

To ensure the evaluation of the related Turkish legislation english version is as follows;

REAL PROPERTY ACQUISITION OF FOREIGNERS IN TURKEY

The article 35th of the Land Registry Law No 2644 has been rearranged by the Law No 5444 published in the Official Gazette on January 7, 2006. According to the new article;

Article 35- With the reservation of reciprocity and compliance with legal restrictions, foreign real person can acquire real estates for the purposes of using as residence or business aims in Turkey that are separated and registered for these purposes in the implemented development plans or localized development plans. The same conditions shall be stipulated in the establishment of limited real rights on real estates. The total area of the real estates and limited real rights on real estates that a real person of foreign nationality can acquire all over the country can not exceed 25.000 m2. Within the same conditions set out in this paragraph Council of Ministers is authorized to increase the area up to 30 hectares.

Companies having legal personality established in foreign countries according to the laws of these countries can acquire real estates and limited real rights on real estates in Turkey according to the provisions of special laws.

In case of establishing mortgage in Turkey in favor of foreign real persons and trading companies having legal personality established in foreign countries according to the laws of these countries the conditions and restrictions set out in first and second paragraphs shall not be applied.

With the exception of foreign real persons and trading companies having legal personality established in foreign countries according to the laws of these countries, no one can acquire real estates and limited real rights on real estates in Turkey.

For the real estates acquired through legal inheritance by citizens of a country that have reciprocity with Republic of Turkey, the conditions and restrictions set out in the first paragraph shall not be applied. For the real estates acquisition by means of transactions depending on death apart from legal inheritance, the conditions and restrictions set out in the above paragraphs shall be applied. Real estates and limited real rights on real estates acquired through legal inheritance by citizens of countries that do not have reciprocity with Republic of Turkey shall be liquidated after their transfer

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De jure and de facto circumstances shall be taken as basis in determination of reciprocity. In implementation of this principle for the citizens of countries that have not granted land ownership rights, it's stipulated that the rights granted by a foreign country for real estate acquisition to its own citizens should also be granted to citizens of the Republic of Turkey.

The Council of Ministers is authorized to determine the places where foreign real persons and trading companies having legal personality established in foreign countries according to the laws of these countries can not acquire real estates and limited real rights on real estates within the areas in terms of irrigation, energy, agriculture, mine, and protected areas, and belief and cultural featured areas and special protection areas and touchy areas due to flora and fauna features, strategic areas due to public interests and country security by means of the proposals of relevant public institutions and organizations with registry based coordinated maps and plans, and the rate of the areas where foreign real persons can acquire real estates not more than 5 per thousand according to the provinces and provinces’ areas. Proposals of the public institutions and organizations within these scope shall be examined, appreciated and submitted to the Council of Ministers by means of a commission that carries out studies within the authority set out in this paragraph and constitutes of relevant representatives of administration in the structure of the ministry that General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre is related to.

Map and coordinate values concerning the military forbidden zones, military and private security zones and strategic zones that are determined after the enforcement of this law and their alterations shall be given without any delay by the Ministry of National Defense to the ministry that General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre is related to.

The parcels needed to be expropriated or to be annotated on land register due to be in the areas determined in the above paragraphs shall be notified by relevant institutions to relevant Land Registry Offices.

The real estates and limited real rights on real estates acquired contrary to the provisions of this article or determination of misuse according to the purpose of acquisition without legal necessity shall be converted to value and paid to owner of unless the real estates liquidated by the owner within the period given by Ministry of Finance.

3. Logistical aspects a) Is there a Member State administration/organisation that you wish to visit? (this information is mandatory for applicants from beneficiary Member States) Preferred Country (choice cannot always be guaranteed)

Hosting Member State Authority/Institution (if known)

Do you know the person from whom you wish to receive expertise? Title: First Name: Surname: Ministry or Institution: Department: Function: Office address (street/number/office number) Post code: City: Office Tel: Office Fax: E-mail:

Have you had previous contact with your selected host Institution/Organisation/Expert? Yes No b) Preferred date of the Study Visit (indicate week number and proposed duration of the visit) Year: 2007 Calendar week: 45 Duration (maximum 5 working days): 3

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1. Details of the applicant acting as main co-ordinator requesting the Study visit Title (Mr., Mrs.)2: Mrs First Name: Müge Surname: selçuk Ministry or Institution: General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre Department: Foreign Affairs Function: head of EU Branch Office address (street/number/office number): Dikmen Cad.No:14 Post code: 06100 City: Ankara Office Tel: +90 312 413 68 85 Office Fax: +90 312 413 68 52 Email: [email protected] Will you also participate to the Study Visit? Yes No

2. Details of the person(s) participating in the Study visit a) Title (Mr., Mrs.) : Mr First Name: Şinasi Surname: Bayraktar Ministry or Institution: General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre Department: Function: Vice General Director Office address (street/number/office number): Dikmen Cad.No:14 Post code: 06100 City: Ankara Office Tel: +90 312 413 61 10 Office Fax: +90 312 413 61 13 E-Mail: [email protected] b)

2 Personal data contained in this document will be processed in accordance with the privacy statement of the TAIEX instrument (See http://taiex.ec.europa.eu/privacystatement) and in compliance with the Regulation (EC) N° 45/2001.

Rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Bruxelles/Wetstraat 200, B-1049 Brussels - Belgium - Office: CHAR 03/149 Telephone: switchboard +32-2-296 73 07 Fax: +32-2-296 76 94 Page 6 of 7 Title (Mr., Mrs.) : Mr First Name: Barış Surname: Kahrıman Ministry or Institution: General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre Department: Foreign affairs Function: Expert Office address (street/number/office number): dikmen Cad.No:14 Post code: 60100 City: Ankara Office Tel: +90 312 413 68 87 Office Fax: +90 312 413 68 52 E-Mail: [email protected] c) Title (Mr., Mrs.) : First Name: Surname: Ministry or Institution: Department: Function: Office address (street/number/office number): Post code: City: Office Tel: Office Fax: E-Mail:

Please note: The information contained in this form will be made available on-line to the Mission and the Embassy of your country in Brussels.

All applications received directly from the Western Balkans' administrations will be forwarded to the EU Delegation in the country concerned, and in the case of Kosovo to the EC-Liaison Office, for a preliminary evaluation.

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