Companies exporting to the Turkish market must submit evidence of conformity with the European standards (CE Mark) either by providing a notarized conformity certificate from a notified body or a manufacturer’s issued certificate of conformity, which declares compliance with all relevant directives. For products falling outside of the scope of the EU directives and where the Government of Türkiye has established a directive or standard, the current standard or directive would apply. At this point, certification of compliance with TSE standards would be required.

According to the Communique on Import Surveillance No. 2020/6, in May 2020, the Turkish Ministry of Trade issued a licensing requirement on the imports of mobile phones.

According to the Communiqué on Implementation of Tariff Quota in Imports of Printed Circuit Boards with Led Diodes Used in the Production of Backlight Units, in October 2014, the government of Türkiye announced an altered import quota on printed circuit boards with led diodes used in the production of backlight units.

According to the Regulation on After-sale Service, products requiring after-sales service such as such as advanced data processing equipment. office equipment and computers, cash registers, TV and video equipment, and wireless equipment require an import permit from the Ministry of Trade. To obtain such a permit, importers must guarantee that they will provide service and spare parts either by establishing offices or by signing agreements with existing service/parts firms. Complaints have been raised by some companies in 2014 that a lack of transparency in Türkiye‘s import licensing system results in costly delays, demurrage charges, and other uncertainties that inhibit trade.

According to the Communique on Import Surveillance 2019/4, in September 2019, the Turkish Ministry of Trade imposed a licensing requirement on the imports of LED lamps.

The indicator "6.2.4 - Government Internet shut down in practice" of the V-Dem Dataset, which measures whether the government has the technical capacity to actively make internet service cease, thus interrupting domestic access to the internet or whether the government has decided to do so, has a score of 3 in Türkiye. This corresponds to "Rarely but there have been a few occasions throughout the year when the government shut down domestic access to Internet."

According to the Regulation on the Presentation of Radio, Television, and On-Demand Broadcasts on the Internet, all online radio, television, and on-demand streaming services such as YouTube and Netflix, and online news sites, are required to obtain a license from the government-controlled state television and radio regulator, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK). The regulation makes RTÜK responsible for monitoring their online content and requires content providers to abide by RTÜK’s standards or face revocation of their license and blocking their platforms.

It is reported that Türkiye imposes an identity requirement for SIM registration. Anyone wanting to purchase a SIM card has to provide their national ID card, or a passport in case of foreigners, to activate a new prepaid SIM card. In addition, SIM cards cannot be activated without biometric identification

Law No. 5651 on Regulating the Internet was amended in March 2015, broadening the scope of administrative blocking. As a result, Türkiye’s regulator may ban content to secure the protection of life and private property, protection of national security and public order, prevention of crimes, and protection of public health without a prior court order.

Türkiye has reportedly blocked more than 130 social networking and news sites over the years, including independent news sites such as Bianet.org. In addition, major social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Periscope, and online tools such as Google Docs, Translate, Books, Analytics, and DropBox have also been blocked at some point.
In addition, the Turkish government reportedly banned access to 712,000 websites in 2022. Nearly 500,000 of these blocks were carried out by the Turkish Information and Communications Technology Authority (BTK). Some 150,000 URLs were banned from access, in addition to 9,800 Twitter accounts, 55,500 tweets, 16,585 YouTube videos, 12,000 Facebook posts, and 11,150 Instagram posts.
Furthermore, in August 2023 access to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in Türkiye was blocked for the second time in the month. It is reported that in Türkiye Internet service providers cooperate with the government and block certain websites when the government deems it necessary.

According to Art. 6 of Law No. 2937, intelligence services are entitled to request any type of document/information from individuals and private/public entities while performing their duties. It is not clear whether a court order is needed.

The Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Suppression of Crimes Committed by means of Such Publications establishes a safe harbour regime for intermediaries for copyright infringements. According to Art. 4 of the law, a content provider is not responsible for the link to the content that belongs to someone else. However, if it is clear from the format of the presentation that the content in question it links to is embraced and intended to be reachable, the content provider is responsible according to the general provisions.

The Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Suppression of Crimes Committed by means of Such Publications establishes a safe harbour regime for intermediaries for copyright infringements. According to Art. 4 of the law, a content provider is not responsible for the link to the content that belongs to someone else. However, if it is clear from the format of the presentation that the content in question it links to is embraced and intended to be reachable, the content provider is responsible according to the general provisions.

According to Article 11 of the Regulation on the Registry of Data Controllers, a contact person must be appointed if the data controller is a legal entity located in Türkiye and is not exempt from registration with the Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority. Additionally, if the data controller is not located in Türkiye, it must appoint a representative who must be either a Turkish legal entity or Turkish citizen.
The data controller’s contact person or representative is responsible for managing communications with the Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority and data subjects. Data controllers remain liable for compliance with the Protection of Personal Data Law regardless of the appointment of a contact person or a representative.

Pursuant to Art. 5 of Law No. 5651, all data stored by hosting providers, which are defined as real persons or legal entities who provide and operate the systems which host services and content, must be made available to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority upon request, without the need for a court order. Failure to comply can result in fines ranging from 10,000 liras (approx. USD 1,300) to 100,000 liras (approx. USD 12,800).