The Regulation on the Organization of the Competition Authority (“Regulation”), which sets out the organizational structure, exercise of powers, functioning, management, duties, powers and responsibilities of service units and working procedures and principles of the Turkish Competition Authority (“Authority”), entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette dated 21.04.2025. The Regulation on the Working Procedures and Principles of the Competition Authority, which was put into force by the Council of Ministers Decision dated 23.5.1997 and numbered 97/9468, was repealed.
The Regulation redefines the internal structure of the Authority and envisages a comprehensive restructuring that will have a direct impact on the implementation of competition law.
The regulations introduced by the Regulation are as follows;
Establishment Administrative and Legal Structure
The headquarters of the Authority is located in Ankara. However, the Authority may open offices or representative offices wherever it deems necessary. The organization of the Authority consists of the Competition Board (“Board”), the Presidency and service units.
Duties and Powers of the Board
The duties and powers of the Board are determined as follows;
a) To conduct examinations, investigations and inquiries, upon application or ex officio, regarding the activities and legal transactions prohibited by the Law, and upon determining that the provisions of the Law have been violated, to take the necessary measures to put an end to these violations and to impose administrative fines on those responsible for this.
b) Evaluating the exemption and negative determination requests of the parties concerned and granting exemption and negative determination certificates to the agreements that are appropriate.
c) Continuously monitoring the markets to which the exemption decisions and negative determination certificates are related and re-evaluating the applications of the parties concerned in case of changes in these markets or in the status of the parties.
ç) Authorizing mergers and acquisitions.
d) Appointing the Vice Presidents and the Chief Legal Counsel upon the proposal of the President.
e) To issue communiqués and make necessary arrangements regarding the implementation of the Law.
f) Providing opinions directly or upon the request of the Ministry on the necessary amendments to the legislation on competition law.
g) To monitor the legislation, practices, policies and measures of other countries in relation to agreements and decisions restricting competition.
ğ) To determine the personnel policy of the Agency, to monitor its implementation, to approve the annual budget, income and expenditure final accounts and annual work programs of the Agency prepared by the Presidency, and to decide to make transfers between accounts in the budget if necessary.
h) To publish an annual report on the status and developments in its activities and fields of duty.
ı) To discuss and decide on proposals for the purchase, sale and leasing of movable and immovable property and fixtures, and to make the necessary arrangements in this regard.
i) To decide on all kinds of transactions regarding the receivables, rights and debts of the Institution with third parties.
j) To fulfill other duties assigned by law.
Board Decisions
Board decisions are taken after a secret meeting and are publicly announced. No Board member may abstain from voting. In addition, the Chairman shall collect the votes after the issues on the agenda have been freely discussed among the participants in the meeting. The Board may decide that the voting shall be closed.
In the decisions of the Board, the evaluation of all the evidence and defenses put forward, the opinion of the rapporteur, the justification and the legal basis of the decision, the dissenting votes, if any, the duties imposed on the parties and the rights granted must be clearly written in a way that does not cause doubt and hesitation.
Board decisions are published on the Authority’s website in a manner that does not disclose the commercial secrets of the parties.
Service Units and Duties of the Authority
The service units of the Authority consist of main service units, advisory units and auxiliary service units organized as Departments.
The main service units, advisory units and auxiliary service units of the Authority are as follows:
a) Main Service Units:
- Department of Information Technologies
- Departments of Audit and Implementation
- Department of Foreign Relations and Competition Advocacy
- Department of Economic Analysis and Research
- Department of Decisions
- Department of Strategy Development
b) Advisory Units:
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- Legal Consultancy
- Press and Public Relations Consultancy
- Chief Advisors of the Agency
c) Auxiliary Service Units:
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- Human Resources Department
- Management Services Department
- Istanbul Regional Representative Office
- President’s Private Secretary Office
- President’s Professional Office
- Internal Audit Unit
- Cartel and On-Site Investigation Support Unit
With the Regulation published and entered into force on 18.04.2025, the organizational structure of the Competition Authority, Board Decisions, the establishment and structure of the main service units, advisory and auxiliary units were regulated in detail.
You may access the full text of The Regulation from the link below.
For detailed information and professional support during the compliance process, feel free to contact us.
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