Criminal Defence Lawyer in Istanbul & Ankara, Turkey

A suspect may be assisted by one or more lawyers at every stage, and up to three lawyers may be present while a statement is taken during the investigation (CMK Article 149). The lawyer's right to meet the client in private and to be present during the statement cannot be blocked or restricted. The only exception is a restriction of up to 24 hours that a judge may order for certain terrorism and state security offences and organised drug trafficking, during which no statement can be taken (Article 154).

If the suspect says he or she is unable to choose a lawyer and asks for one, the bar association appoints one (Article 150). A lawyer is appointed even without a request when the suspect is a child or is disabled to a degree that prevents self-defence, and in every investigation and trial for an offence whose minimum penalty is more than five years' imprisonment.

A person who does not speak enough Turkish to explain himself or herself is entitled to an interpreter. At the investigation stage the interpreter is appointed by the judge or prosecutor, and at trial by the court; the essential points of the accusation and the defence are translated (CMK Article 202). Interpreters' costs for people who do not speak Turkish are paid by the State and are not charged to the defendant (Article 324).

The record of a statement is read to the person before it is signed (Article 147), which for a non-Turkish speaker happens through the interpreter. The signed record later becomes part of the evidence. A defendant may also choose to make the oral defence, after the indictment is read and after the prosecutor's final opinion, in another language with an interpreter of his or her choice from the official list; that interpreter is not paid by the State.

Before questioning, the person must be told the accusation and that he or she has the legal right not to make any statement about it (CMK Article 147). Questions about identity are the exception: they have to be answered truthfully. The suspect can also ask for specific evidence to be collected in his or her favour.

A relative or another person chosen by the suspect is informed of the arrest without delay on the prosecutor's order (Article 95). If the person arrested is a foreign national, the consulate of his or her country is informed unless the person objects in writing (Article 95/2). This reflects Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and exists alongside, not instead of, the right to a lawyer.

A statement (ifade) is taken by the police or the prosecutor; questioning (sorgu) is carried out by a judge, for example when detention is requested or at trial. Statements obtained by prohibited methods such as ill-treatment, torture, deception, threats or exhaustion cannot be used as evidence even if the person consented (CMK Article 148). A statement taken by the police without a lawyer present cannot be the basis of a judgment unless the suspect confirms it before a judge or court (Article 148/4).

Statements given at different stages are compared with each other. In practice, contradictions between the first police statement and later accounts are among the points most often relied on against a defendant.

The person in custody, the lawyer, the legal representative, the spouse or a first or second-degree blood relative (such as a parent, child, sibling or grandparent) can apply to the criminal judgeship of peace against the arrest, the custody order or its extension, asking for immediate release. The judge examines the application on the papers and decides immediately, and in any case before 24 hours have passed (CMK Article 91/5).

A person released because custody expired or by the judge's decision cannot be arrested again for the same act unless new and sufficient evidence is obtained and the prosecutor so decides (Article 91/6).

The same custody limits apply to Turkish citizens and foreigners; there is no separate, longer custody period for foreign nationals. In practice, language barriers and the time needed to reach a consulate make this short window particularly important. Special rules exist for certain offences caught in the act and for terrorism offences, which are outside the scope of this page.

For offences listed in Article 100/3, a ground for detention can be presumed where there is strong suspicion based on concrete evidence. The list includes, among others, intentional killing, aggravated forms of intentional injury, sexual assault, child sexual abuse, theft, robbery, drug manufacturing and trafficking, migrant smuggling and human trafficking, and intentional injury against a woman.

Detention cannot be ordered for offences punishable only by a judicial fine, or for offences whose maximum prison penalty is two years or less, except for intentional offences against bodily integrity (CMK Article 100/4). In these files, judicial control can still be imposed.

For cases outside the assize court's jurisdiction, detention may last at most one year, which can be extended by six months in compulsory cases. For assize court cases the limit is two years, which can be extended with reasons, but the extensions may not exceed three years in total, or five years for terrorism and certain state security offences (CMK Article 102).

At the investigation stage the limits are shorter: six months for cases outside the assize court's jurisdiction and one year for assize court cases, with longer limits for terrorism, state security and collectively committed offences. Time spent in custody and detention is deducted from any final prison sentence (Article 63 of the Turkish Penal Code, known as TCK).

A suspect or defendant may ask for release at every stage of the investigation and trial (CMK Article 104). During the investigation, the criminal judgeship of peace must review, at intervals of no more than 30 days, whether detention should continue, after hearing the suspect or the lawyer (Article 108). At trial the court decides on continued detention at every hearing and, where needed, between hearings.

In practice, new facts such as a fixed address, regular work or family ties in Turkey are put forward in these reviews, together with a proposal for a less restrictive measure such as judicial control.

The State can be asked to pay pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages in situations listed in CMK Article 141, for example where a person was arrested or detained outside the conditions set by law, was not brought before a judge within the legal custody period, was not told the reasons for the arrest, or was lawfully detained but later received a non-prosecution decision or an acquittal.

The claim must be made within three months of being notified that the decision has become final, and in any event within one year of the date it became final (Article 142). Since Law No. 7499 of 2024, claims based on lawful detention followed by non-prosecution or acquittal, and certain related claims, are decided by the Compensation Commission (Tazminat Komisyonu) under Law No. 6384 rather than by the assize court.

Turkish law does not use the word bail in the common-law sense, but one judicial control obligation is to deposit a security (güvence) fixed by the judge at the prosecutor's request, taking the suspect's financial situation into account and payable in one go or in instalments (CMK Article 109/3-f).

The security has two parts. The part that secures attendance and compliance with the obligations is returned when the obligations are met. The other part can be used for the victim's losses, public costs and fines if there is a conviction, and is returned on non-prosecution or acquittal (Articles 113 to 115).

Time spent under judicial control is in principle not deducted from a later prison sentence. Two exceptions exist: the treatment obligation and the obligation not to leave the home. For house arrest, every two days are counted as one day when the sentence is calculated (CMK Article 109/6).

If a suspect or defendant deliberately fails to comply with judicial control obligations, the competent judge or court can immediately order detention, whatever the length of the prison sentence that could be imposed (CMK Article 112). For this reason, the exact terms of an order, such as reporting days and places, matter in practice.

A defendant who has already been questioned by the court can be excused from attending later hearings on request (CMK Article 196/1). Where a defendant abroad would find it difficult to attend on the hearing date, the questioning can be carried out at an earlier hearing or through another court by letters rogatory (istinabe) (Article 196/6). In practice the defence lawyer then follows the hearings and keeps the client informed.

If the evidence is not sufficient to justify a public prosecution, the prosecutor issues a decision of no grounds for prosecution (kovuşturmaya yer olmadığına dair karar, often called KYOK) (CMK Article 172). The victim can object to it within two weeks of notification before the criminal judgeship of peace (Article 173). If there is sufficient suspicion, the prosecutor files an indictment (iddianame) with the competent court.

For offences punishable by a maximum of three years or less, other than those subject to conciliation or advance payment, the prosecutor may instead postpone the public prosecution for five years if the conditions of Article 171 are met, including the full repair of the damage. If no intentional offence is committed during that period, a decision of non-prosecution follows.

The trial begins once the court accepts the indictment. The court hears the defendant, witnesses and experts, and the parties discuss the evidence at hearings. Defence counsel's principal tasks at this stage include contesting the evidence, examining witnesses, challenging expert reports and presenting evidence favourable to the defendant. From the acceptance of the indictment the lawyer can examine the whole file and the secured evidence (CMK Article 153/4).

A trial can end in a conviction, an acquittal, a deferral of the announcement of the verdict (HAGB), a decision that no penalty is to be imposed, or the dismissal of the case, for example after a successful conciliation or the withdrawal of a complaint for an offence subject to complaint. Each of these has different effects on the criminal record and, for foreigners, on immigration files.

Buying, accepting or possessing drugs for personal use, or using drugs, is punishable by two to five years' imprisonment (TCK Article 191/1). The penalty is increased by half where the act takes place in public places within 200 metres of schools, dormitories, hospitals, barracks, places of worship and similar buildings (Article 191/10).

In an investigation for personal use, the prosecutor postpones the public prosecution for five years, without requiring the general conditions of CMK Article 171 (TCK Article 191/2). During this period the suspect is placed under probation (denetimli serbestlik) for at least one year, which can be extended by six-month periods for up to two more years, and may be required to undergo treatment; testing is ordered at least twice a year (Article 191/3).

If the person complies until the end of the five years, a decision of non-prosecution is issued. If the person persistently breaches the obligations, or again buys, accepts, possesses or uses drugs during the period, the public prosecution is brought (Article 191/4).

A person who uses drugs and applies to the authorities or a health institution for treatment before an investigation is opened is not punished, and public officials and health professionals are not obliged to report that person (TCK Article 192/4). A person who reveals, before the authorities learn of it, from whom, where and when the drugs were obtained, and thereby helps catch the suppliers or seize the drugs, is also not punished (Article 192/2).

Selling, offering, giving, transporting, storing, buying or possessing drugs without a licence within the country, where this amounts to trafficking, is punishable by no less than ten years' imprisonment and a judicial fine (TCK Article 188/3); importing or exporting is punishable by twenty to thirty years (Article 188/1). The penalty is increased by half for substances such as heroin, cocaine, synthetic cannabinoids or amphetamines (Article 188/4).

The special five-year deferral for personal use does not apply to trafficking, and detention is more likely, since drug trafficking is among the offences for which a ground for detention can be presumed. The first defence question in many drug cases is therefore the legal classification of the act.

Separately from the criminal case, the migration authorities may treat a drug case as a threat to public order or public health and cancel a residence permit or issue a deportation decision (Law No. 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Article 54). This administrative route runs independently, even where the prosecution has been deferred. A deportation decision can be challenged before the administrative court within seven days of notification (Article 53).

Simple fraud, deceiving someone through fraudulent conduct to obtain a benefit to that person's or another's detriment, is punishable by one to five years' imprisonment and a judicial fine of up to 5,000 days (TCK Article 157).

Qualified fraud, for example using information systems, banks or credit institutions as a tool, or pretending to be a public official or a bank, insurance or credit institution employee, is punishable by three to ten years' imprisonment and a judicial fine (Article 158). In those situations the minimum prison term is four years and the fine cannot be less than twice the benefit obtained. The penalty increases by half where three or more people act together, and doubles where the offence is committed within a criminal organisation.

Many foreigners are surprised to learn that handing over a bank account, a card or the information needed to use an account, often for a small payment, can lead to an investigation for participation in fraud when the account is used to move fraud proceeds. Under Article 158/4, added by Law No. 7589 of 16 July 2026, where a person's participation is limited to giving such payment instruments or account access details to someone else in order to obtain an unjust benefit, the penalty is reduced by half.

The reduction lowers the penalty but does not make the conduct lawful, and the account is usually frozen as well. The banking side of these files is covered in Crypto P2P and Binance: Bank Account Frozen in Turkey.

A complaint can be made to the chief public prosecutor's office (Cumhuriyet Başsavcılığı) or to the police or gendarmerie, either in writing or orally to be recorded (CMK Article 158). The material usually attached includes transfer receipts, the IBAN of the receiving account, messages, screenshots showing names, numbers and dates, and the names of witnesses.

For offences committed through information systems, banks or cards, the courts of the victim's place of residence are also competent (Article 12/6). Complaints about offences committed abroad that must be prosecuted in Turkey can also be filed with Turkish embassies and consulates (Article 158/3).

Since Law No. 7571 of 24 December 2025, where there is reasonable suspicion of theft through information systems, fraud through information systems or banks, fraud by impersonating officials or bank staff, or misuse of bank cards, a bank, payment institution or crypto-asset service provider can suspend the account used in the offence for up to 48 hours and must report it to the prosecutor immediately (CMK Article 128/A). The account holder is informed and can apply to the prosecutor to lift the suspension; the prosecutor decides within 24 hours.

Within the suspension period the money can be seized by a judge's decision, or by the prosecutor's written order in urgent cases, which has to be approved by a judge. Seized proceeds that are found to belong to the victim are returned during the investigation or trial. Outside this fast-track route, the seizure of accounts follows the general rules of Article 128.

If the offender personally shows remorse and fully compensates the victim, by returning the property or paying for the damage, after the offence but before the trial stage begins, the penalty is reduced by up to two-thirds. If this happens after the trial has begun but before judgment, the reduction is up to one-half (TCK Article 168). Partial compensation counts only with the victim's consent. The same rules apply to fraud, breach of trust and damage to property, so the timing of compensation can change the outcome considerably.

A theft from a shop can look minor, but for a foreigner it can be relied on as a public order ground to cancel a residence permit or issue a deportation decision, even where the criminal case ends with a lenient outcome. Simple theft is among the offences subject to conciliation (CMK Article 253).

If the injury is committed against a parent or grandparent, a child or grandchild, a spouse, a former spouse or a sibling, against a person unable to defend themselves, or with a weapon, the penalty is increased by half and prosecution does not depend on a complaint (TCK Article 86/3). For this reason, a spouse's withdrawal of a complaint does not end such a case. Intentional injury against a woman is also among the offences for which a ground for detention can be presumed (CMK Article 100/3).

In injury cases, the degree of injury recorded in the forensic medical report determines the legal classification and the penalty. A report obtained soon after the incident therefore carries particular weight, as injuries are harder to prove once they have healed. Women facing violence can also apply for protection orders under Law No. 6284 on the protection of the family and the prevention of violence against women, alongside a criminal complaint.

Ordinary insult is prosecuted only on complaint. The complaint must be filed within six months of learning of the act and the offender, and for insult in any case within two years of the act (TCK Article 73, as amended in 2024). Insult is excluded from conciliation (CMK Article 253/3); instead, since 2024 most insult offences fall within advance payment, where paying the amount notified by the prosecutor ends the matter without a public prosecution (TCK Article 75).

Publicly spreading false information about the country's internal or external security, public order or public health, solely to create anxiety, fear or panic among the public and in a way capable of disturbing public peace, is punishable by one to three years' imprisonment (TCK Article 217/A). Sharing rumours in group chats can raise the same question, and such files can also come up in a foreigner's residence assessment.

Separately, the former procedure for blocking online content on personal-rights grounds under Article 9 of Law No. 5651 was annulled by the Constitutional Court, with effect from 10 October 2024; the procedure for violations of private life under Article 9/A remains.

Online offences are usually proven with screenshots showing the name, number and date, and the prosecutor may ask for the phone itself to be examined. The original conversation therefore remains relevant even after a complaint has been filed. Searching and copying computers and digital records during an investigation is subject to the conditions of CMK Article 134.

Foreign property owners are sometimes targeted with forged identity documents or a forged power of attorney used to sell their property at the land registry. Forging an official document, or using a forged one, is punishable by two to five years' imprisonment, and the penalty increases by half where the law treats the document as valid until its forgery is proven (TCK Article 204).

The criminal complaint runs alongside a civil action to cancel the title transfer; both are covered in Property Sold Without My Knowledge in Turkey.

Allowing a foreigner who has no valid travel document, foreigner identity card, residence permit or travel permit to enter or leave the country, travel within it, stay or be accommodated, or renting property to such a person, is subject to an administrative fine for each foreigner under Law No. 6458 (Article 102/2), unless the act is defined as a separate crime. In practice, landlords and accommodation providers therefore check the documents of foreign tenants and guests.

Helping a foreigner enter or stay in Turkey illegally, or helping anyone leave the country illegally, in order to obtain a direct or indirect material benefit, is the offence of migrant smuggling. It is punishable by five to eight years' imprisonment and a judicial fine, even if it remains at the attempt stage (TCK Article 79). Drivers who believed they were carrying ordinary paying passengers sometimes face this charge.

Buying, accepting, selling or transferring property obtained through a crime, without having taken part in that crime, is punishable by six months to three years' imprisonment and a judicial fine (TCK Article 165). An invoice or a written sales contract therefore matters in practice when buying a second-hand phone or car. This offence is subject to conciliation.

The conciliator makes an offer to the parties, who have seven days to answer; silence counts as refusal (CMK Article 253/4). The conciliator normally concludes within 30 days of receiving the documents, and the bureau can extend this twice, by up to 20 days each time (Article 253/12). Statements made during the talks cannot be used as evidence (Article 253/20).

If the suspect performs the agreed obligation at once, a decision of non-prosecution is issued; if payment is deferred, in instalments or continuous, the public prosecution is postponed and is brought if the agreement is not honoured (Article 253/19). A failed conciliation cannot be repeated (Article 253/18).

If an offence subject to conciliation is committed together with an offence outside it against the same victim, the conciliation rules do not apply. Since Law No. 7571 of December 2025 there is an exception where the other offence falls within advance payment: conciliation then still applies to the offence that is subject to it (CMK Article 253/3).

Advance payment applies, outside the offences subject to conciliation, to offences punishable only by a judicial fine or by imprisonment with an upper limit not exceeding six months, and to some specifically listed offences, including most forms of insult (TCK Article 75). The prosecutor notifies the suspect of the amount; if it is paid within ten days together with investigation costs, no public prosecution is brought. On request made within those ten days, the amount may be paid in three equal monthly instalments; if an instalment is missed, the investigation continues.

If the penalty imposed is two years' imprisonment or less, or a judicial fine, the court can defer the announcement of the verdict (hükmün açıklanmasının geri bırakılması, HAGB) (CMK Article 231, as amended by Law No. 7589 in July 2026). The conditions are that the defendant has no previous conviction for an intentional offence, the court is satisfied that he or she will not reoffend, and the damage has been fully repaired, or will be paid in monthly instalments during the supervision period.

The defendant is then supervised for five years. If no new intentional offence is committed and the obligations are observed, the verdict is set aside and the case is dismissed. A deferred sentence cannot also be suspended or converted. HAGB decisions are kept in a special register rather than the ordinary criminal record, and they can be appealed to the regional court.

A prison sentence of two years or less can be suspended, or three years or less for people under 18 or over 65 at the time of the act, provided the person has not previously been sentenced to more than three months' imprisonment for an intentional offence and the court is convinced that he or she will not reoffend (TCK Article 51). A supervision period of one to three years is set, which cannot be shorter than the sentence itself.

A prison sentence of one year or less is a short-term sentence and can be converted into a judicial fine or another alternative measure, such as full repair of the damage, a ban on going to certain places, or community work with the person's consent (TCK Articles 49 and 50). Courts can also reduce a sentence by up to one-sixth for discretionary reasons such as the defendant's background, social relations, remorse after the offence and during the trial, or the possible effect of the penalty on the defendant's future (Article 62).

As a rule, people sentenced to a fixed prison term can be conditionally released after serving half of it with good behaviour; for life imprisonment the period is 24 years and for aggravated life imprisonment 30 years (Law No. 5275 on the Execution of Sentences, Article 107). A two-thirds ratio applies to certain offences, including intentional killing, many sexual offences, torture, offences against private life and espionage, and to offences committed within a criminal organisation.

Execution rules are amended from time to time, so each case is calculated according to the offence and the date it was committed. A first estimate can be made with the conditional release calculator.

Prisoners in an open prison with good behaviour who have one year or less left until their conditional release date can ask to serve that remaining part outside under probation, on a decision of the enforcement judge (Law No. 5275, Article 105/A). Since June 2025 the prisoner must also have served in prison at least one-tenth of the period to be spent there until conditional release, and not less than five days. Longer windows apply to women with children aged up to six and to seriously ill, disabled or elderly prisoners.

A prison year in Turkey is a full calendar year. A day is 24 hours and a month 30 days, and years are calculated according to the official calendar (TCK Article 61/6). There is no shortened prison year; the reduction in time actually spent inside comes from conditional release and supervised release, not from a shorter year.

An open prison (açık ceza infaz kurumu) has no high-security perimeter. Under the relevant regulation, sentenced persons can be transferred there after a period in a closed prison with good behaviour, and some short sentences start there directly; people convicted of certain serious offences are excluded.

Some decisions are final at first instance, such as convictions to a judicial fine of up to 15,000 Turkish lira, other than fines converted from prison terms, and acquittals for offences punishable by a judicial fine of no more than 500 days (CMK Article 272/3). Prison sentences of 15 years or more are reviewed by the regional court of its own motion (Article 272/1).

An appeal to the Court of Cassation is not available against many regional court decisions, for example where the regional court rejected on the merits an appeal against a prison sentence of five years or less (Article 286/2). For the defendant, failing to state reasons in the appeal does not prevent the examination (Article 273/4).

For the ordinary naturalisation route, applicants must be of good moral character and must not pose an obstacle in terms of national security and public order (Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, Article 11). A criminal file can therefore be relevant to a citizenship application, and its practical effect depends on the offence, the outcome and whether the matter has concluded.

Not always. The migration authorities assess the public order risk independently and may rely on the facts rather than on the type of criminal decision alone. This is why the criminal defence and the residence situation are usually considered together from the start.

Extradition is refused, among other grounds, where the person is a Turkish citizen; where there are strong reasons to believe the person would be prosecuted or punished because of race, ethnic origin, religion, nationality, membership of a social group or political opinion, or would face torture or ill-treatment; where the offence is a thought crime, a political offence or a purely military offence; where it is time-barred or covered by an amnesty; where the person has already been acquitted or convicted in Turkey for the same act; or where the offence carries the death penalty or a penalty incompatible with human dignity, unless sufficient assurances are given (Law No. 6706, Article 11). The court may also refuse where extradition would be disproportionately harsh because of personal circumstances such as long residence in Turkey or marriage.

A person can be provisionally arrested before the formal request arrives, at the requesting state's request and with the Ministry's approval (Law No. 6706, Article 14). The person is brought before a criminal judgeship of peace within 24 hours at the latest and is informed about extradition by consent and its consequences; judicial control can be ordered instead of detention. Under the principle of reciprocity, provisional detention lasts at most 40 days if no extradition documents arrive; under a treaty, the treaty period applies.

A challenge to the Red Notice itself is a separate procedure before Interpol's Commission for the Control of Files, independent of the extradition case in Turkey.

A victim without a lawyer can ask the bar association to appoint one in cases of sexual assault, child sexual abuse, stalking, intentional injury against a woman, torture or torment, and offences punishable by a minimum of more than five years' imprisonment. For child victims and victims unable to express themselves, a lawyer is appointed without a request (CMK Article 234). Compensation for the harm suffered is in practice claimed before the civil courts, where the criminal file is often used as evidence.

A complaint and the subsequent case can be followed through a lawyer acting under a power of attorney, which can be issued before a Turkish consulate abroad, so personal travel is not needed at most stages.

A criminal lawyer's role extends well beyond speaking at hearings: examining the evidence in the file, securing evidence favourable to the defence, properly challenging expert reports, making sure no time limit is missed and keeping the client informed make up most of the work. A suspect or defendant is legally entitled to act without a lawyer, except where a lawyer is mandatory, but given the complexity of files and the strict time limits this choice can lead to a serious loss of rights.