New restrictions will be placed on property sales to foreigners in Turkey following the Constitutional Court's latest verdict cancelling the government's previous legal arrangement. On a district basis, the land appropriated for sale to foreigners must not exceed 10 percent of the overall land included in the development plan for a district. The parliamentary Justice Commission has approved a bill that includes an amendment to article 35 of Turkey's existing Land Registry Law.
The Republican People's Party (CHP) criticized the bill during discussions in Parliament. Zeki Adlı, director of the Turkish Land Registry Directorate, said that the amount of land allowed to be sold to foreigners has been decreased by one third since the government took the Constitutional Court's latest verdict into account. In compliance with the new legal amendment accepted in Parliament, foreign nationals will be allowed to purchase immovable property of a maximum of 10 percent of a district's appropriate land. For instance, while the total amount of land to be sold to foreign nationals in Antalya was 10,363 hectares according to the government's previous amendment, it decreased to 3,607 hectares with the new amendment accepted by Parliament. The amount decreased to 2,022 hectares in Muğla district.
Meanwhile, Osman Ertuğrul from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), in his statement regarding the disadvantages of property sales to foreigners, alluded to the establishment of the state of Israel through land purchases from Palestinians. Halil Ünlütepe from the CHP and Faruk Özak, the public works minister, repeated the fierce discussion they had had in Afyon in 2005. “You keep doing this. You did the same three years ago in Afyon, too,” said Özak, who criticized Ünlütepe's remarks accusing the government of acting heedlessly. However, Özak and Ünlütepe were reconciled after hugging each other at the end of the parliamentary meeting.
What will the new bill bring?
The cabinet will have the authority to restrict foreign purchases in water, energy, mining, agricultural lands and areas protected due to their historic, religious and cultural characteristics, according to the new bill. In addition, the cabinet will be responsible for restricting foreign purchases of immovable property on sites protected for their special flora and fauna, and lands with strategic importance because of national security interests.
Considering a district's status in terms of its infrastructure, economy, energy capacity, environmental condition, culture, agriculture and security condition, the cabinet is to have the authority to determine a different percentage for property sales to foreigners, under the condition of it being no more than the set 10-percent level.
The governor's office will report any changes in area size of a district
