Starting a Business - Turkey

FDI Law No. 4875 guarantees equal treatment for foreign and domestic investors. Foreign nationals may own 100% of a Turkish company with no local-partner requirement; sector-specific exceptions apply only to TV/radio broadcasting, maritime cabotage, and civil aviation.

Turkey operates a notification-based FDI regime. No prior governmental approval is required to establish a company; foreign investors submit post-establishment notifications to the General Directorate of Incentive Implementation and Foreign Investment for statistical purposes only.

Effective 1 January 2024 (Presidential Decree), minimum share capital is TRY 50,000 for a Limited Liability Company (LTD ŞTİ) and TRY 250,000 for a Joint-Stock Company (AŞ). At least 25% must be deposited into a Turkish bank account before trade registry submission; the balance may be paid within 24 months.

Steps are: (1) obtain a Foreign Identification Number (YKN) from a Turkish tax office; (2) reserve company name and draft Articles of Association through MERSIS (mersis.gtb.gov.tr); (3) notarise documents in Turkish; (4) deposit minimum capital in a Turkish bank; (5) file with the relevant Trade Registry Directorate; (6) complete tax office and social security (SGK) registration.

Document preparation — including passport translations, apostilles, and notarisation — takes 1–2 weeks for foreign nationals. Trade registry processing and tax registration add approximately 5–10 business days. Total end-to-end timeline for a foreign founder is typically 3–4 weeks.

Beyond the default open regime, majority ownership or operational licences in TV/radio broadcasting require Turkish citizenship; maritime cabotage and civil aviation impose nationality conditions on operators. All other commercially significant sectors permit unrestricted 100% foreign ownership.