Fırat Gültekin & Partners Turkish company formation lawyers are always present to submit legal support about the foundation of a company to you in Turkey.

Our company formation lawyers are experienced in foundation of branch office, joint stock company, joint venture, liaison office, holding company and company management, and have done several foundations.

Fırat Gültekin & Partners maintain practice counseling regarding entity formation and corporate governance matters, and provide our clients tailor-made solutions.

With the adoption of the Foreign Direct Investment Law No. 4857 in 2003, foreign investors and domestic investors were treated equally, unless otherwise stipulated by international agreements and special law provisions, and foreign investors were given the opportunity to establish all companies permitted by the legislation in Turkey.

General Characteristics of the Types of Companies Foreign Persons Can Establish in Turkey

1- Incorporated Company

It is a capital company in which the company is responsible for its debts only with its own assets, the shareholders are not directly responsible, and the shareholders are responsible only to the company and for the capital shares they have committed. The minimum capital amount is 50,000-Turkish Lira. It is possible to be established with at least one real person or legal entity. It is also possible that all of the partners are foreigners. In addition, it is not necessary for the members of the board of directors to be Turkish citizens or to be residents in Turkey.Any foreign company is able to set up branch entities in Turkey. These can be set up as separate entities from the parent company (Turkish companies having the foreign company as shareholder) or extensions of the parent-company in Turkey.

2- Limited Company

Limited companies are capital companies whose capital is determined and divided into shares and whose debts are only liable with their assets. A limited liability company can be established with one partner. The number of partners cannot exceed fifty. Limited company partners can be natural persons or legal persons. The basic capital of the limited company is at least 10.000 Turkish Liras. The partners are not responsible for the debts of the company, they are only obliged to pay the basic capital shares they have committed and to fulfill the additional payment and ancillary performance obligations stipulated in the company contract. All of its partners can be foreign nationals. In addition, there is no requirement for the Directors to be Turkish citizens or to be resident in Turkey.

3- Establishment Procedures of Companies

The establishment of a company in Turkey by foreign real and legal persons is subject to the same rules as domestic investors.

In the establishment, the title of the company, the scope of its field of activity, its headquarters, who will be the manager/representative, capital and shares should be determined by the management. Subsequently, an articles of association must be prepared in accordance with the provisions of the legislation on joint stock, limited liability companies. The articles of association are signed by the partners or by their representatives pursuant to the notarized power of attorney of the partners and the signatures of the partners or their representatives are certified by the notary public. For documents issued outside of Turkey, the apostille annotation must be obtained and approved by the consulate or notary public.

The signatures of the persons authorized to represent the company under the company title must be approved by the competent authority and their signature statements must be prepared. For documents issued outside of Turkey, the apostille annotation must be obtained and approved by the consulate or notary public.

Upon the application of the founders to the registry office with the relevant documents, the trade registry office completes the registration process. In addition, in the establishment of joint stock and limited companies, the commercial books they will keep are approved by the trade registry directorate and given to the person concerned after registration. The company acquires legal personality upon registration in the trade registry. Afterwards, it may be necessary to obtain a work permit for foreign partners.

Please contact our Turkish company formation lawyers for more detailed informations.