Challenging Expropriation Compensation in Türkiye: Negotiation, Valuation Action, Urgent Expropriation and De Facto Taking

In Türkiye, expropriation compensation is challenged in different ways depending on the stage of the expropriation. If the amount offered by the authority in the negotiation meeting is not accepted, the authority brings an action for valuation and registration before the civil court of first instance where the property is located. The compensation is determined in that action through expert examination, and the owner can ensure that it reflects the true value of the property by submitting evidence, objecting to the expert report and appealing. The expropriation decision itself may be challenged by an annulment action before the administrative courts within thirty days.

This article covers the stages of the expropriation process, the negotiation meeting, the action for valuation and registration, the calculation of compensation, partial expropriation and the expropriation of easements, urgent expropriation, the remedies against the expropriation decision and the action available where property is taken without expropriation. The special rules on expropriations carried out by the General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSI) for dams, ponds and irrigation canals are explained under the relevant headings. The remedies available where land is reorganised through consolidation rather than expropriated are examined in our article DSI Land Consolidation.

What Are the Stages of the Expropriation Process?

Expropriation is the acquisition by the authority of privately owned real property, where the public interest so requires, against payment of compensation and without the owner's consent. It is governed by Expropriation Law No. 2942. The process begins with a public interest decision. The authority then prepares a plan showing the boundaries of the properties to be expropriated, identifies the owners from the land registry and tax records, and has the expropriation decision annotated in the land register. If it is not documented within six months of the annotation that a valuation action has been brought, the land registry removes the annotation of its own motion.

The authority then determines the estimated value of the property through a valuation commission formed from its own staff and offers to purchase the property from the owner by agreement. If no agreement is reached, the compensation is determined by the court. Ownership passes to the authority only with the court's registration decision, and the owner's rights of use, such as new construction or planting, end from the date of that decision.

The Negotiation Meeting and the Amount Offered

In expropriating property registered in the land register, the authority must first apply the purchase procedure. Without disclosing the estimated value set by the valuation commission, the authority notifies the owner by official registered letter that it wishes to purchase the property by negotiation or to acquire it in exchange for another property it owns. If the owner applies to the authority within fifteen days of service of this letter, negotiations are held with the negotiation commission.

The amount the authority may offer in the negotiation meeting is capped at the estimated value set by the valuation commission. If agreement is reached, the record signed by the owner and the commission members takes the place of the owner's declaration of transfer at the land registry. The authority makes the amount available within forty-five days of the record at the latest, and the compensation is paid to the owner after the property is registered in the authority's name.

The most important point at this stage is that, once the settlement record is signed, the property is deemed to have been acquired by expropriation and no action may then be brought against either the expropriation or the compensation. The amount offered should therefore be compared with the value of the property based on comparable sales and income before the record is signed. Failing to respond to the invitation in time or declining the offer causes no loss of rights as regards compensation; in that case the compensation is determined by the court in the action brought by the authority.

The Action for Valuation and Registration

If no agreement is reached, the authority brings an action before the civil court of first instance where the property is located for the determination of compensation and the registration of the property in its name. The court sets a hearing date no later than thirty days after the application and sends the owner an annotated summons that also states within what time and against whom an action may be brought against the expropriation. The owner must submit all defences and evidence concerning the value of the property to the court in writing within ten days of service of this summons. What is referred to in practice as a petition objecting to expropriation compensation consists of the reply submitted within this period and the objection submitted against the expert report.

At the first hearing, the judge invites the parties to agree on the compensation. If no agreement is reached, a site inspection is carried out within ten days at the latest. The expert panel attending the inspection must have at least three members, one of whom must be a real estate valuation expert licensed by the Capital Markets Board or an expert holding a postgraduate degree in real estate development. The panel submits a reasoned report to the court within fifteen days, and the report is served on the parties. Where necessary, the judge appoints a new expert panel and, drawing on the reports and the parties' submissions, determines fair and equitable compensation.

The court gives the authority fifteen days to deposit the compensation with a bank in the name of the entitled person; once the deposit is documented, it orders the registration of the property in the authority's name and the payment of the compensation to the owner. The registration ruling is final, while the parties retain their rights of appeal and appeal on points of law regarding the compensation. The Constitutional Court has annulled the wording that makes the registration ruling final, with effect from 21 February 2027. The costs of the site inspection, expert fees and land registry fees are paid by the authority.

Objecting to the Expert Report

The most effective stage for challenging the compensation is the objection to the expert report. Objections to the report must be submitted in writing, with reasons, within two weeks of service of the report. The following points in particular should be examined:

• Whether the property has been correctly classified as building land or agricultural land
• Whether the sales used as comparables are comparable to the property in terms of location, size and characteristics
• For agricultural land, whether crop pattern, yield and price data are consistent with official records
• Whether trees, wells, irrigation facilities and buildings have each been valued separately
• In a partial expropriation, whether the loss in value of the remaining part has been taken into account

How Is Expropriation Compensation Calculated?

The expert panel inspects the property on site and separately determines its type, surface area, all characteristics affecting its value, any tax declaration and any official valuations, and prepares a reasoned report in line with the valuation standards of the Capital Markets Board. The valuation date is the day on which the authority files its petition and documents with the court. The method used depends on the nature of the property:

• Agricultural land: The annual net income the land would yield if used as it is, according to its location and conditions, is taken as the basis and converted into a value by capitalisation. Features such as proximity to settlements and main roads may additionally be taken into account as an objective increase in value.
• Building land: Comparable sales made before the expropriation without any special purpose are taken as the basis. Whether property qualifies as building land is assessed by criteria such as its location within municipal or adjacent area boundaries, its zoning status and its proximity to infrastructure.
• Buildings: Official unit prices and construction cost calculations are used, and a deduction is made for depreciation.

The increase in value created by the project requiring the expropriation, and any profit that might be obtained from using the property differently in the future, are disregarded. In major projects such as dams, irrigation networks and pipelines, the public interest decision is posted for fifteen days at the office of the village or neighbourhood headman where the property is located. For five years from the end of that posting period, the value of fixed facilities built and trees planted on the property is disregarded in determining the compensation.

Partial Expropriation, Easements and Property Around Dams

Where only part of a property is expropriated, any loss in value of the remaining part is also determined and added to the compensation. If the value of the remaining part increases because of the expropriation, the increase is deducted from the compensation, but this deduction may not exceed fifty percent of the compensation. The costs of restoring walls, water, electricity and similar installations on the remaining part to their former use are also added. If the remaining part cannot reasonably be used, the owner may apply in writing within thirty days of service of the expropriation decision at the latest and request that this part also be expropriated.

In projects such as irrigation canals and pipelines, the authority may, where sufficient for its purpose, establish an easement by expropriation over a specific section of the property instead of acquiring full ownership. In that case the compensation is the loss in value of the property caused by the easement, and the expert report must state its reasons.

In expropriations for dam construction, owners of neighbouring properties whose social, economic or settlement conditions have been disrupted may apply in writing to the commission formed at the governorship within one year of the removal of the notice announcing the completion of the expropriation. If the commission decides that the property can no longer be used, it is expropriated. An application to the commission is a precondition for bringing an action on this matter.

Urgent Expropriation

In cases of national defence needs, cases whose urgency is decided by the President and extraordinary situations provided for in special laws, the authority may resort to urgent expropriation. Under this procedure, which is frequently used in major dam and irrigation projects, all steps other than valuation are completed later, and the court, at the authority's request, determines the value of the property through experts within seven days. Once this amount is deposited with a bank in the owner's name, the authority may take possession of the property; the possession order is annotated in the land register and the property is vacated.

The amount deposited in an urgent expropriation is not the final compensation. The final compensation is determined in the separate action for valuation and registration brought by the authority, following the procedure described above, and the owner may raise all objections regarding the compensation in that action. The Council of State is the court of first instance for annulment actions against an urgent expropriation decision made by the President.

Annulment Actions and Actions for Correction of Material Errors

Challenging the compensation is distinct from challenging the expropriation itself. Where it is considered that there is no public interest, that procedural rules were not followed or that the expropriation boundaries were drawn incorrectly, an annulment action against the expropriation may be brought before the administrative courts. Material errors such as the surface area, parcel details or the identity of the owner are challenged by an action for correction before the civil courts.

Both actions must be brought within thirty days of the service made by the court in the valuation action or, for owners who could not be served, of the newspaper notice. In shared or joint ownership, each co-owner may bring an action alone. If it is not documented to the civil court hearing the valuation action that an annulment action has been brought, the expropriation becomes final and the property is registered in the authority's name on the basis of the compensation determined by the court.

De Facto Taking

Where the authority physically takes privately owned property without expropriation, for instance by building a road, canal or pipeline on it, this is referred to as a de facto taking. The remedy available to the owner depends on when the taking occurred:

• Takings after 4 November 1983: The owner may ask the civil court of first instance either to order the authority to cease the interference or to register the property in the authority's name against payment of its value. Under the settled case law of the Court of Cassation, this action is not subject to any limitation or preclusive period. Compensation for unlawful occupation may additionally be claimed for the period of use, for no more than the five years preceding the filing date.
• Takings between 9 October 1956 and 4 November 1983: Provisional Article 6 of the Expropriation Law applies, and a settlement procedure with the authority must be pursued before an action is brought. If no settlement is reached, an action for valuation may be brought within three months of the record of failure to settle. The compensation is determined according to the value on the filing date, based on the characteristics of the property on the date of the taking.
• Takings before 8 October 1956: Under Provisional Article 20, added to the Expropriation Law in 2026, property actually allocated to public service before that date is deemed to have been expropriated on the date of allocation, and claims for compensation raised after 12 January 1963 are not accepted.

Where property is not physically used but is designated for public services in a zoning plan, a situation referred to as a regulatory taking, different rules apply.

Payment, Instalments and the Right of Repurchase

Expropriation compensation is, as a rule, paid in cash and in advance. However, in expropriations for major energy and irrigation projects approved by the President, settlement projects, afforestation, coastal protection and tourism, the part of the compensation set out in that year's budget law, which may not be less than one sixth of the compensation, is paid in cash; the remainder is paid in equal instalments over a maximum of five years at the highest interest rate applicable to state debts. Land of a small farmer who works it directly is always paid for in cash. Compensation awarded by the court is paid within thirty days of the owner notifying the authority in writing of a bank account number, and enforcement proceedings may be initiated if it is not paid within that period.

The authority may abandon the expropriation at any stage; if it does so during proceedings, the litigation costs and attorney's fees are borne by the authority. If, within five years of the compensation becoming final, no step serving the purpose of the expropriation is taken and the property is left as it is, the owner or the owner's heirs may repurchase the property by repaying the compensation received together with statutory interest. This right lapses if not exercised within one year of arising and does not apply to expropriations, such as major energy and irrigation projects, where payment in instalments is permitted. It should also be borne in mind that if the final compensation exceeds the property tax value for the year of expropriation, property tax with a penalty is assessed on the difference.

Deadlines and the Consequences of Missing Them

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The outcome of a challenge to expropriation compensation is largely decided at the early stages of the process. No objection to the compensation is possible once the settlement record has been signed; in the valuation action, submitting the defence within ten days and scrutinising the expert report in detail with regard to the classification of the property, the comparable sales and the loss in value of the remaining part are decisive. Where property has been taken without expropriation, different rules apply depending on when the taking occurred.

If your property is subject to expropriation or a de facto taking, you can contact us to assess the process and your legal options.