This Legal Alert aims at providing brief information regarding the newly introduced amendment to the Communiqué on Decision No. 32 Regarding the Protection of the Value of Turkish Currency (Communiqué No: 2008-32/34) (“Communiqué“) published in the Official Gazette dated March 6th, 2025.

Background Information

With the amendment made on September 13th, 2018 to the Decree No. 32 on the Protection of the Value of the Turkish Currency, it was stipulated that the contract price and other payment obligations in certain types of contracts to be concluded between residents in Türkiye could not be determined in foreign currency or indexed to foreign currency, and the exceptions to this provision were regulated in the Communiqué.

By virtue of the amendment made to Communiqué on April 19th, 2022, it was made obligatory to accept and fulfil payment obligations arising from movable sales contracts in Turkish currency. After the amendment, while movable sales contracts could be concluded in foreign currency or indexed to foreign currency, the payment obligations subject to the contract were started to be fulfilled and accepted by converting them into Turkish lira at an exchange rate agreed by the parties.

Changes Introduced

The aforementioned Turkish lira payment obligation introduced in the Communiqué for movable sales contracts has been abolished on March 6th, 2025. In this context, it is now possible to fulfil payment obligations in foreign currency or indexed to foreign currency in movable sales contracts (other than vehicle sales contracts).

According to the announcement made by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, the aim of this recent amendment is to eliminate the costs incurred by companies, especially those with foreign trade transactions, as a result of foreign currency purchases and sales, to ease the functioning of commercial life and to reduce the inflationary effects in the economy.

On the other hand, the Communiqué prohibits the conclusion of real estate leasing, real estate sales, employment, service, work and financial leasing contracts in foreign currency or indexed to foreign currency, save for the exceptions specified therein.