Divorce Law

You should firstly find out if Turkish Law will apply for your divorce, if you obtained Turkish citizenship during the time of your marriage you will be subject to Turkish law. Turkish law will also apply to your divorce if you, as a couple, used to reside in Turkey. We suggest you look into the Turkish International Private and Procedures Law (No. 2675). As Article 13.

In both cases, the respective legal body containing regulations governing "divorce and separation" is the Turkish Civil Code (No. 4721).
Either you or your husband can file for divorce on the grounds that the other has committed adultery (Article 161), abuse (Article 162) or a humiliating crime (Article 163). Also, if one of the parties left home or developed a severe mental illness, the other spouse may open a court case for a divorce (Articles 164 and 165). However, the widest area of grounds for opening divorce cases is the reason of "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" (Article 166), which covers all the other issues that tend to lead to divorce.

Divorce is normally filed by the party who is less guilty in the breakdown of the marriage, if the spouse at greater fault does not want the divorce the case may be thrown out of court. If the couple have not reconciled and resumed living together within three years of the first application it will be picked up again by the court.

In the event that you do file for divorce you will always need to hire a lawyer who will start the divorce proceedings for you. Your embassy will provide you with a list of Turkish lawyers/attorneys who speak your language.

The next stage is not great, any declarations made in court to lay out the grounds of divorce have to be proven with accordance with Turkish Law, which means you, your spouse and witnesses have to report about the status of your marriage. Reports, letters, sound and visual recordings may be used as evidence for this.

In some cases if you don't want to appear in court, your case can be heard with your being there, as long as both sides agree on issues such as the custody of the children and financial matters.

It is the judge's decision if you divorce or separate, if the judge feels there is a chance of your reconciling they can give you a period of one to three years of separation before the final decision to grant a divorce is reached.

Although, if the marriage has lasted for at least one year and you both agree to a divorce, there should be no further problems. The judge will listen to both sides and approve the agreement reached by the parties regarding the custody of the children and financial affairs. However, he can by law change make changes to these arrangements. If both parties consent to these changes, the divorce is granted.

Custody and alimony
The courts also rule on child custody and alimony issues in divorce cases in Turkey. Luckily over the last few years the Turkish Civil Code has undergone some decisive changes that have helped to improve the legal position of women enormously. Women for Women's Human Rights (WWHR) have prepared some very useful publications on this topic.

The custody of the children will be granted to whichever parent the judge believes will look after the child better, although, the spouse who has not been awarded custody will still have to share the financial burden of bringing up the children, depending on their financial means. The courts will also rule on his or hers visitation rights, depending but if the grounds for the divorce are violent conduct or a dishonorable lifestyle on the part of one of the spouses, these rights will be restricted.

If you are not at greater fault in the divorce, and you find yourself in a difficult financial position, the other side will have to give a single lump sum or periodically to meet the cost of living for an indefinite period of time (article 176). The payments will also depend on what the other party can afford at the time of going to court. If the recipient remarries the payments will stop automatically.

A divorced woman in Turkey is not allowed to legally remarry within 300 days of the date of divorce, except in permission is obtained in court. If you obtained Turkish citizenship during the course of the marriage, you will go on being a Turkish citizen. However, if you only have a resident permit, you may have to give it back or, at least, change it to another "reason for visit."