TÜRKIYE Law and Practice Contributed by: Serkan Gül, Nazım O Kurt and Türkay Avanaş, Hergüner Bilgen Üçer Attorney Partnership
( mülkiyet ). Freehold ownership gives the prop - erty owner the right to use, benefit from and dispose of a piece of property. These rights are conceptually separable from one another; more limited property rights can be created by carving out certain of these rights from simple freehold ownership. Leasehold Ownership Turkish law permits granting a third party the right to build on a piece of property ( üst hakkı ), and the holder of such a right becomes the owner of any structures that are built on this land in exercise of this right. If the right to build is intended to be independent and indefinite ( bağımsız ve sürekli ), then the holder of the right can register it in the land registry as a separate property interest, and this right is essentially treated no differently from Turkish law also recognises condominium own - ership, which allows independent units in a com - pleted structure to be owned separately from the main structure, with the common areas of the main structure remaining under joint ownership with the owners of the other independent units in the building. Usufruct/Servitude Right independent real estate. Condominium Ownership Under Turkish law, it is also possible to separate the right to use and to benefit from a piece of property from the right to disposal, and the com - plete right of use and benefit can be granted to a third party in what is called a usufruct/servitude right ( intifa/irtifak hakkı ). In a strict sense, usu - fruct under Turkish law is a personal right rather than a property right because this right cannot be alienated or divided and does not include the right to make fundamental changes to the estab - lished use of the property. Granting a usufruct
right to a third party leaves the property owner with the sole right of disposal. 2.2 Laws Applicable to Transfer of Title Transfer of title is governed by: • the Civil Code, in so far as it defines the extent of the interest that is transferred; • the Code on Land Registration, which regu - lates the procedures to be followed for the transfer and introduces restrictions against, and specific clearance requirements for, for - eign ownership of real estate; and • the Turkish Code of Obligations, which sup - plies the rules and background principles governing sales agreements. There are no specific laws that govern transfers of real estate by type of use. Residential property and commercial property alike are transferred under the same rubric. However, specific proce - dures have been put in place that determine the alienation of property rights held by the govern - ment, such as by way of usufruct. 2.3 Effecting Lawful and Proper Transfer of Title Real estate transfers become effective at the time they are registered at the Land Registry Office, which provides a definitive record of real estate ownership rooted in the Ottoman land registry system. Land records are kept in dupli - cate in the central database in Ankara and at the local Land Registry Office. These records are open to the public and are reliably accurate. Transfers of title must be recorded in order to gain effect. Similarly, all interests in real property, including mortgages, usufruct rights and rights of purchase and repurchase, must be registered to ensure validity. Given the definitive authority carried by title records, which are open to the
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