Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors’ decision for some additional measures are taken to minimize the risks of the pandemic. (30.03.2020)

• Accordingly; all hearings, negotiations, and discoveries of the first-instance judicial and administrative courts, as well as the regional courts of justice and regional administrative courts with the exception of detention, investigation and prosecution files with a short statute of limitation, requests for suspension of execution, and other works and proceedings to be considered urgent are postponed until (including) 30.04.2020
• The parties of the dispute must be notified by carrying out the procedures for postponing the proceedings, negotiations, and discoveries over the paperwork and without opening the hearing, meeting the new hearing day and the time of the discovery, the expense advance or the public budget, and benefiting from all means of communication,
• In cases where the detention is mandatory according to the Criminal Procedure Law, the detainees and counsel should be heard through the SEGBIS application and continue the hearings,
• During the adjournment, the failure to comply with the target periods in the judiciary should not be evaluated against the promotion and during the inspection,
• The delay of postponement is not evaluated against the promotion of judges and public prosecutors,
• Appeals against detention, appeals to suspension of execution and objections to enforcement judges and negotiations should be realized by making use of communication and UYAP opportunities,
• The opening of the public trials are postponed until 30.04.2020, except for the detainees and emergency jobs,
• In case of need, legal judges working in the first regions are also included in the criminal courts' watch list until 30.04.2020,
• Precautionary measures and objections to this process should be evaluated by respecting the measures to prevent the epidemic during the adjournment period,
• Measure decisions made under Law No. 6284 should be evaluated in a way that does not threaten the health of the obligations under the coronavirus,

Statement by the Digital Transformation Office of the Presidency about Travel Permits (30.03.2020)

• Citizens who will travel within the scope of coronavirus measures can now appeal for Travel Permit via e-Government application.

Statement by the Presidency (30/03/2020)

• President Erdoğan announced a nationwide fundraising campaign to help citizens financially affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Turkish Republic Ministry of Interior issued a circular as part of COVID 19 Measures about taxies (29.03.2020)

• Starting from 00.01 on 30.03.2020, the driving restriction will be applied according to the last digit of the license plate of the commercial taxis registered in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir provinces.
• From the first day of Monday, 30.03.2020, 00.01 to 30.03.2020, Monday, 24.00, commercial taxis with the odd number of their license plates will be able to traffic.
• After the specified hour, commercial taxis with an even number in the last digit of the license plate can be trafficked. This determined system will continue sequentially for the following days.
• In the provinces other than Istanbul, Ankara, and İzmir, the subject can be evaluated by Governors and implemented by taking decisions within the scope specified if necessary.

Ministry of Internal Affairs published the Additional Circular regarding the Flight/Bus Services within the scope of Measures Against COVID-19 (“Additional Circular “) (28.03.2020)

• Passengers will not be able to travel without a Travel Permit starting from 06:00 tomorrow.
• It will be essential for all citizens to stay in the city they are in, however, those who have been dispatched by the doctor's decision due to their treatment needs, whose first-degree relatives have died or have a severe illness, and especially citizens who have not had a place to stay in the last fifteen days will be able to travel via Travel Permit received from the Travel Permit Boards.
• There will be no restrictions for senior public officials and public service providers whose services are needed to travel within the framework of their duties.
• Those who document from the relevant professional chambers that basic human needs are included in the production and supply processes, limited to air transport, will be able to travel between cities if approved by the Travel Permit Boards.
• The established boards will begin to issue Travel Permit Certificate to the citizens who meet the conditions specified starting from 20:00 on 28.03.2020.
• At the airports where flight services continue, Travel Permit Boards will be established under the lead of airport civilian administrators and representatives of the Turkish Airlines, Police Department and airport operator.

Ministry of Internal Affairs published the Additional Circular regarding the Inter-city Passenger Transportation within the scope of Measures Against COVID-19 (“Additional Circular “) (28.03.2020)

• Individuals willing to travel on inter-city buses must obtain a permit by applying to the Travel Permit Boards established in coordination with the governorships and district governorships.
• Individuals who are referred by the decision of a doctor, whose immediate family member passed away, who are seriously ill, or who arrived to the place of departure within the last 15 days and have no accommodation in that place are eligible for travel permits.
• Individuals who are traveling with a permit may be subject to various checkpoints and inspections, and if necessary, quarantine.
• Bus service planning will be made by the Travel Permit Board taking into consideration the individuals’ applications.
• Health checkpoints will be established at the bus terminals in order to carry out the health checks of the passengers and staff on the buses that are allowed to travel, and the bus will start traveling after the health checks of the passengers are made.
• In-city shuttle services of bus companies will be banned during the process.
• Necessary measures will be planned at the road control points by the Governorships to prevent unauthorized trips.

President Erdoğan Announces Additional Measures in Fight Against COVID-19 Pandemic (28.03.2020)

• The private sector will complete transition to work remotely operating with a minimum number of employees, in a similar fashion to the public sector;
• Inter-city travels will be subject to the approval of each area’s governorship;
• All international commercial passenger flights are suspended;
• A pandemic board will be established in each city, led by the governor, that will monitor the enforcement of the measures;
• Soldiers will be subject to 14 days of quarantine following their summoning and discharge;
• Public access to picnic areas, forests, cultural sites, and similar locations will be prohibited during the weekends and group gatherings will be prohibited during the weekdays; and
• Distant seating arrangements will be imposed in all public transportation

Statement by the Ministry of Commerce about “Contactless Commerce” (27/03/2020)

• With the disinfection of transport vehicles and Customs gates, "Contactless Foreign Trade" activities carried out at customs gates for the new type of coronavirus (Kovid-19) have increased.

Law No. 7226 on the amendment of certain laws was published in the Official Gazette on 26 March 2020 (26/03/2020)

• The Omnibus Law introduced many protective measures including the prevention of forfeiture and precautions against rental payment-related evictions from workplaces in an effort to ease the difficulties caused by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey.
• Until 30 June 2020, in order to make an application for short-term work allowance due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, workers must have been subject to a service agreement for 60 days prior to the date of commencement of the short-term work and must have worked for 450 days with insurance and have had his/her unemployment insurance premium paid in the last three years. The requirements to benefit from short-term working allowance have been simplified in favour of the employee by this provision, decreasing the requirement from 120 days prior to the date of commencement of the short-term work to 60 days and decreasing the requirement to have worked for 600 days with insurance to 450 days. The employer will make the application for short-term work allowance, and in order to benefit from this regulation, the employer must not have dismissed the worker, except for rightful dismissals due to breaches of moral principles and good faith. The President has been authorized to extend the application date within the scope of this Article until 31 December 2020 and may amend the number of days.
• The payment periods for rent, final assignment and permit procurements, rights to use servitude, utilization rights, additional utilization costs, and revenue shares that should be collected from investors and managers certified by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and payments that must be collected due to use of the Treasury’s property without permission, during the period between 1.04.2020 and 30.06.2020 is postponed for six months without the need for an application.
• The effective date of the Accommodation Tax introduced by Law No. 7194 on the Digital Service Tax and the Amendment of Certain Laws and Decree-Law No. 375 that entered into force on 01.04.2020 has been postponed until 01.01.2021 within the scope of the financial precautions taken against the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• According to the new regulation if work is paused for compulsory reasons, the workplace is closed before or after national holidays and general holidays or, due to the similar reasons, if the time worked has been considerably lower than normal working hours or if work has been completely suspended or if employees are granted leave days upon his/her own request, the 2 months period applicable for compensatory work granted for employers has been extended to 4 months. The President has also been authorized to extend this period up to two times.
• The records of persons who have failed to make payments regarding bad cheques, protested bills, credit card debt, and other credit debt which were due before 24 March 2020 and were reported to the Turkish Banks Association Risk Centre, will not be taken into consideration if the delayed amount of the said debt is paid before 31.12.2020 or is restructured.
• All-time limits regarding the origination, exercise, and termination of any rights, including but not limited to the statute of limitations, peremptory terms for filing legal actions, commencing enforcement proceedings, warnings, notices, submissions, complaints and objections; time limits regulated under the Code of Administrative Procedure (“CAP“), the Criminal Procedure Law (“CPL“) and the Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP“); and time limits in mediation and reconciliation proceedings are suspended as of 13.03.2020 to 30.04.2020.
• Time limits specified in the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law (“EBL“) and other laws related to enforcement proceedings, and time limits determined by judges or enforcement and bankruptcy offices within this scope; and all pending enforcement and bankruptcy proceedings, expect those commenced for child support payments, new enforcement, and bankruptcy proceedings and interim attachment proceedings are suspended from 22.03.2020 until 30.04.2020.
• The deadlines will start to run the day after the suspension period ends on 30.04.2020 (May 1, 2020). The deadlines that expire in 15 days or less as of the suspension period (March 13 or March 22), will end in 15 days as of 30.04. 2020.
• The following time limits are excluded from the Law’s scope: (i)deadlines stipulated under the relevant laws for crimes and punishments, misdemeanours and administrative sanctions, and disciplinary imprisonments and preventive detentions; (ii) deadlines provided under the CPL for precautionary measures; and (iii) deadlines provided under the CCP for transactions regarding the completions of interim injunctions.
• Payments made during the suspension period will be accepted and the parties can request that actions in favour of the other party be taken.
• If the sales (sale of seized assets) day declared by the enforcement and bankruptcy offices regarding goods or rights correspond to date during the suspension period, then, after the suspension period ends, the enforcement and bankruptcy offices will announce the sales day without the need to have any party’s request.
• The composition periods will continue to bear their legal results on the creditors and debtors throughout the suspension period.
• As per Temporary Article 2 of the Omnibus Law, failure to rents for workplaces during the period between 01.03.2020 and 30.06.2020 would not constitute a reason to terminate the agreement or to the eviction of the tenant.

The Ministry of Commerce Announces Additional Measures in Fight Against COVID-19 Pandemic about respiratory equipment (26/03/2020)

• In the export of respiratory equipment, preliminary permission must be obtained from Turkey Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency.