Bribery and Corruption in Türkiye: A Risk Guide for Foreign Companies

If your company operates in Türkiye, bribery (rüşvet) is one of the most serious criminal risks you carry — and one of the easiest to walk into without intending to. Under the Turkish Criminal Code (Türk Ceza Kanunu No. 5237, or "TCKTCKTurkish Criminal Code No. 5237The statute that defines crimes and their penalties in Türkiye — including fraud, breach of trust, forgery, laundering and offences committed through an organisation.Glossary →"), bribery is defined broadly in Article 252: it covers an agreement between a person and a public official to secure an improper benefit in connection with the official's duties. Both the person who offers or gives the benefit (the "active" side) and the official who solicits or accepts it (the "passive" side) commit the offence. The law also reaches related conduct — influence peddling (nüfuz ticareti) under Article 255 and extortion-type abuse by an official (irtikap) under Article 250 — and, importantly, it extends to the bribery of foreign public officials in international business. This guide explains what counts as bribery, where corporate exposure comes from, why a compliance programme matters, and how the active and passive sides differ. It is general information, not legal advice for your situation; the penalties below are described in qualitative terms only and any decision should be checked with a Turkish lawyer against the current statute.

What counts as bribery under Turkish law?

Bribery (rüşvet) is defined in Article 252 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK No. 5237). At its core, bribery is an agreement between a private person and a public official under which the official secures — directly or through an intermediary — an improper benefit in connection with the performance or non-performance of a duty.

Three points surprise foreign businesses most often:

• You do not need to hand over cash. The benefit can be money, but it can also be a gift, hospitality, a favour, a discount, a job for a relative, or any other advantage. What matters is that it is improper and tied to the official's function.
• The agreement itself can be the crime. Turkish law treats the bribery offence as complete once the corrupt agreement is reached. A promise, an offer, or a request can be enough — the money does not have to change hands for liability to arise.
• It is two-sided. Both the person who offers or gives the benefit and the official who solicits or accepts it commit bribery. These are usually called the active and passive sides (explained below).

The active side and the passive side

Turkish bribery law looks at both ends of the transaction.

The active side — giving or offering

This is the side most foreign companies and their staff fall on. It covers offering, promising, or giving an improper benefit to a public official (or to a third party at the official's direction) so that the official acts, or refrains from acting, in connection with their duties. A sales manager who suggests a "facilitation payment" to speed up a permit, or a consultant who quietly pays an inspector, is on the active side.

The passive side — soliciting or accepting

This is the public official who requests, agrees to, or accepts the benefit. From a company's perspective, the danger is that an official's solicitation does not make your payment lawful — agreeing to the demand still places your employee on the active side of the offence.

Bribery of foreign public officials

A common and costly misconception is that Turkish bribery law only protects Turkish officials. It does not. Article 252 TCK extends the offence to the bribery of foreign public officials in the context of international commercial activity — reflecting Türkiye's commitments under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.

For a foreign company this has two practical consequences:

• Double exposure. Conduct involving a non-Turkish official connected to international business can still engage Turkish criminal law, on top of any exposure under your home-country regime (for example the US FCPA or the UK Bribery Act).
• Group-wide risk. Payments made by a subsidiary, agent, or joint-venture partner to officials in third countries can have consequences that reach back to the Turkish operation if there is a sufficient connection to Türkiye.

Related offences: influence peddling and irtikap

Prosecutors do not always charge straight bribery. Two related offences appear frequently in business cases, and understanding them helps you read your own risk.

Influence peddling — nüfuz ticareti (TCK 255)

Article 255 TCK covers "trading in influence": securing or providing a benefit on the claim of being able to influence a public official's decision — whether or not that influence is real. The classic scenario is a fixer or intermediary who says, "Pay me and I'll make sure the right person says yes." Companies are exposed here through agents, consultants, and "local facilitators" who promise access. Paying such a person for influence over an official can itself be criminal.

Abuse of office to extract a benefit — irtikap (TCK 250)

Article 250 TCK targets the public official who, abusing their office, compels or induces a person to provide a benefit. This is primarily an offence committed by the official, but it matters to companies because it shapes how an official's demand is characterised — and how your own response is judged.

Corporate exposure: can the company itself be liable?

Under Turkish criminal law the actual offenders are individuals — the employees, managers, agents, or intermediaries who give, offer, solicit, or accept the bribe. A company is not sent to prison. But it is wrong to conclude that the company is safe.

Turkish law provides for security measures (güvenlik tedbirleri) against legal entities where a bribery offence is committed in their favour. In practical terms these can include:

• Confiscation of the benefit obtained and of instrumentalities connected to the offence;
• Cancellation of permits or licences tied to the wrongdoing; and
• Knock-on consequences such as exclusion from public tenders and reputational damage that can be more damaging than any fine.

Individual exposure also climbs the chain. Directors and senior managers can face personal criminal liability where they ordered, participated in, or knowingly tolerated the conduct — a theme we cover in our guide on the criminal liability of company executives.

How a compliance programme protects you

You cannot guarantee that no one in a large operation will ever do the wrong thing. What you can do is build a programme that prevents most exposure, detects the rest early, and demonstrates that the company did not authorise or condone wrongdoing. A credible Turkish anti-bribery programme usually includes:

• A clear gifts and hospitality policy with monetary thresholds, a register, and an outright ban on anything offered to influence an official decision.
• Third-party due diligence. Agents, consultants, customs brokers, and "facilitators" are the most common channel for corrupt payments. Vet them, contract for audit and anti-bribery warranties, and watch for vague "success fees."
• Books-and-records discipline. Accurate accounting is both good governance and a defence — it removes the disguise that bribery depends on and reduces exposure under the Tax Procedure Law (No. 213).
• A confidential reporting channel so staff can flag solicitations and pressure without fear.
• Training in plain language for the people who actually meet officials — sales, logistics, regulatory affairs — not just the legal team.
• An escalation and response plan for the moment an official asks for something, and for the moment you discover a payment has already happened.

What to do if bribery is alleged or discovered

If your company receives a demand, uncovers a suspicious payment, or learns it is under investigation, the early steps matter a great deal.

• Do not destroy or alter records. Preserve documents, communications, and accounting entries; tampering creates fresh, often more serious, exposure.
• Get Turkish criminal counsel involved immediately. Investigations are governed by the Criminal Procedure Code (Ceza Muhakemesi Kanunu No. 5271, "CMK"), which sets the rules for statements, searches, and the rights of those involved. The first statement an employee gives can shape the entire case.
• Run an internal review under legal direction rather than an informal one, so the work is structured and its purpose is clear.
• Manage the parallel tracks. A bribery matter can run alongside tax and anti-money-laundering inquiries; coordinating them avoids contradictory positions.

Frequently asked questions