Turkey’s system of competition law has been updated since the mid-1990s, perhaps mainly as a consequence of the ties Turkey has been forging with the European Union (EU) and the country’s ambition to be admitted as a member state of the Union. The ongoing modernisation efforts of Turkey’s competition watchdog are also intended to address the needs of a changing economic environment, to reduce the burden on the Competition Authority which resulted from the bureaucratic notification system and to focus on more serious competition issues.

Relevant legislation and statutory standards

The principal legislation for merger control in Turkey is the Law on the Protection of Competition (Law No 4054) dated 1994 (‘the LPC 1994’ or ‘the Law’). The LPC 1994 prohibits, among other things, ‘all kinds of operations and practices which are considered to be a merger or an acquisition’ which result in the creation or strengthening of a dominant position and significantly impede competition in the relevant market.