Amendments to Turkish Civil Procedure Rules:

PARLIAMENT BROADENS PRESIDENT’S AUTHORITY TO EXTEND THE TERM OF TERMINATION PROHIBITION UNTIL 30 JUNE 2021:

As the Labour law currently stands, termination prohibition will end on 17 August 2020. However, the extension of the president’s authority to extend the term of the prohibition for almost a year can be interpreted as a sign that the term of termination prohibition and unpaid leave is likely to be extended further.

COMPETITION LAW AMENDED TO FURTHER HARMONIZE IT WITH EU LAW:

The Law Amending the Law on the Protection of Competition was published in the Official Gazette dated 24 June 2020 and numbered 31165 and entered into force on the same day. The preamble of the Amending Law provides that the amendments aim to harmonize the Law on the Protection of Competition numbered 4054 with the European Union laws and to establish a modern competition legislation.

TERMS OF TERMINATION PROHIBITION, MANDATORY UNPAID LEAVE, AND SHORT-TERM WORKING EXTENDED:

The terms of the prohibition on termination of employment contracts, mandatory unpaid leave, and the financial aid for employees on mandatory unpaid leave have been extended for 1 month.

THE DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION WITH DATA CONTROLLERS’ REGISTRY HAS BEEN EXTENDED DUE TO COVID-19:

The Data Protection Board has announced that it has extended the deadline for registration with the Data Controllers’ Registry Information System (“VERBIS”) with its decision 2020/482.

WEEKLY REPORTING REQUIREMENT FOR SOME TURKISH BORROWERS IMPOSED BY THE CENTRAL BANK OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY:

GOVERNMENT RAISES TAX ON FOREIGN CURRENCY PURCHASES FROM 0.2% TO 1%:

Effective from the date of publication of the decree, the BITT rate will be increased from 0.2% to 1%

DEADLINES FOR THE CENTRALIZED COMMERCIAL MESSAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ARE EXTENDED:

The Ministry of Commerce extended the deadline for registering the opt-in consents of recipients with IYS until 31 August 2020 with an announcement on the Ministry’s website on 23 May 2020. Accordingly, the recipients will need to check the opt-in consents registered in their names by 1 December 2020.

GOVERNMENT PUBLISHES EXCEPTIONS TO RESTRICTIONS ON DISTRIBUTION OF PROFITS:

Exceptions to restrictions on companies’ distribution of their net profits in 2019 was published in the Official Gazette on 17 May 2020 through the Communiqué on the Principles and Procedures of Implementation of the Temporary Article 13 of the Turkish Commercial Code and entered into force the same day.

MAJOR REVISIONS INTRODUCED TO TURKISH INSURANCE PRACTICE: EXTENSION OF THE RIGHT TO ACT AS INSURANCE BROKERS AND THE SCOPE OF ELECTRONIC PLATFORMS: