Official Gazette / March 9 - 15, 2026

A principle decision dated 26.02.2026 was published regarding immovable properties that are registered as cultural assets requiring protection but are located outside of protected areas and for which protection zones have not yet been determined by the High Council for the Protection of Cultural Assets. It has become mandatory to obtain the opinion of the Regional Council for the Protection of Cultural Assets prior to any zoning implementation on parcels adjacent to these plots and on surrounding parcels that are in direct interaction with them.

With the Presidential Decree on the Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use, the value used in drug pricing, calculated based on the average euro exchange rate of the previous year, has been increased, effective from April 1, 2026. To encourage domestic drug production, a 3-year incentive has been provided to enable the market entry of the first generic products. The price protection practice, which aims to support traditional medicines used in modern medicine and covers products launched before 1987, has been moved to the year 2000 through a legislative amendment. Products manufactured in Turkey account for 87% of the products within this scope.

The 2017 Regulation on the Tendering of Mining Sites was repealed and the Regulation on the Tendering of Mining Sites was renewed. According to the new regulation, mining sites can now be tendered through open tender procedures and closed bid methods. The General Directorate of Mining and Petroleum Affairs (MAPEG) will be able to designate unlicensed vacant areas as tenderable sites and put them up for tender.

By Presidential Decree, the tourism center designation (status) of İzmir İnciraltı was canceled.

The Constitutional Court;

- Found the appointment restriction applied to public workers (4/D permanent workers who transitioned from subcontracting to permanent staff) who were brought into the staff via Decree-Law No. 696 to be unconstitutional and canceled it, effective in 9 months. The decision concerns more than 1 million workers.

- Canceled the article arising from the Civil Servants Law No. 657 that regulates the calculation of on-call fees to be paid to healthcare workers. The regulation had a 130-hour limit for on-call fee payments. The court had previously canceled the on-call duty limit in a 2023 decision based on the same grounds. Now, with this decision, the active on-call limit has also been removed. From now on, the fee for every hour will be paid separately even if this limit is exceeded.

The 5th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation published a decision for reversal in the interest of law, stating that economic fluctuations and variability in interest and inflation data do not justify claims for damages exceeding default interest (supplementary damages), and that all of these must be proven with concrete data. Although precedent decisions previously issued by the General Assembly of Civil Chambers of the Court of Cassation, as well as a pilot decision recently published by the 6th Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Court, are in direct opposition to this newly published decision, it is understood that the Chambers of the Court of Cassation conduct examinations in favor of the state in supplementary damage cases where public institutions are the defendant/party.