September 2025 – In August, the Turkish Competition Authority ("TCA") maintained its proactive stance, launching investigations across diverse sectors including cement, food, shipbuilding, and digital markets. Alongside these new probes, recently published reasoned decisions further reflect the TCA's firm commitment to safeguarding competition. Notably, the TCA issued significant rulings on anticompetitive agreements in labour markets, while also reaffirming its strict approach to resale price maintenance and obstruction of on-site inspections. These developments highlight once again the TCA's determination to preserve competition and its effective oversight across industries. This issue of Quick Read provides you with a concise overview of the most notable competition law developments in Türkiye during August.
Dive into August Case Updates
1. No-Poach No More: TCA's crackdown on anticompetitive hiring
The TCA recently issued decisions targeting anticompetitive labour market practices, signalling a strong focus on no-poach agreements. These rulings stem from investigations in the software1 and maritime2 sectors, providing key insights into the TCA's enforcement approach.
In the software sector, the TCA found 13 undertakings engaged in "gentlemen's agreements" restricting employee mobility. Administrative fines were imposed, with five undertakings settling.3 Importantly, similar to its earlier landmark decision concerning the labour market4, the TCA held that certain non-solicitation clauses contained in vertical agreements did not satisfy the criteria for ancillary restraints, and these restrictions were therefore assessed as cartel conduct. Dissenting opinions argued that such practices should instead be classified as "other violations" as the agreement in question was between undertaking operating at different levels of the market. As in its previous decision, the TCA calculated fines not based on total turnover but on the share of employee costs within turnover.
In the maritime sector, the TCA examined alleged
non-solicitation agreements among four undertakings. Two shipping
companies opted for settlement5, while two human
resource service providers were found not to have violated the law,
given their limited role in following client instructions. Still,
the TCA cautioned that HR service providers must avoid conduct that
could facilitate anticompetitive coordination.
2. Competition concerns in the cinema exhibition market allayed with commitments
The TCA concluded its investigation into alleged abuse of dominance in the cinema exhibition market with a commitments package.6 The probe concerned Mars, a leading cinema chain in Türkiye, and its affiliated distributor CJ ENM, focusing on practices that favoured in-house distributed films.
Under the commitments, the first-week seat capacity for films distributed by Mars's subsidiary CGV Mars will be capped at 20%. A film's continuation in cinemas will be determined by four objective criteria, namely average viewers per screening, occupancy rate, opening weekend attendance, and week-on-week drop in audience, of which at least two must be met for the film to remain on screen across all Mars locations, regardless of distributor. Additional commitments ensure that third-party films are available at high-traffic Mars locations and that CGV Mars is excluded from the programming process. CJ ENM has also pledged to maintain independence from Mars and to uphold equal treatment of third-party distributors.
3. Canon fined for resale price maintenance
The TCA imposed an administrative fine of TRY 38.3 million (approx. EUR 798,269)7 on Canon, a professional imaging products and consumer electronics supplier, for engaging in resale price maintenance.8 The TCA found that Canon intervened to raise resale prices set below its preferred thresholds, closely monitored electronics retailers' pricing, and sought to discipline resellers by reducing support payments. These practices were deemed as unlawful attempts to fix resale prices.
4. Price fixing cartel in the second-hand automobile retail sector
An investigation into alleged coordination of resale prices for second-hand Honda S2000 vehicles among used automobile dealerships Canatar Auto, Özgen Gallery, and ERY Motors has been concluded.9 Özgen Gallery and Canatar Auto admitted to the allegations and reached a settlement with the TCA, while ERY Motors underwent the standard investigation process. The TCA classified the conduct of Özgen Gallery and Canatar Auto as a cartel. However, no infringement was found against ERY Motors, as its pricing practices diverged from the cartel members' and its mere presence in a WhatsApp group containing price discussions was not considered sufficient to establish participation.
5. Obstruction of on-site inspections remains a key focus
In August, the TCA published four reasoned decisions imposing administrative fines for the deletion of WhatsApp messages during on-site inspections.10
One notable case involved Kuzey Test, active in laboratory and business testing services. During the TCA's inspection, an employee admitted to deleting messages when questioned by the inspection team. Based on this admission alone, without the need for a log analysis, the TCA concluded that the on-site inspection had been obstructed and imposed a fine.
These decisions highlight the TCA's continued vigilance in ensuring full cooperation during inspections and its strict approach to obstruction.
New Investigations and Oral Hearings Announced
New Investigations:
- Google payment systems under scrutiny11: The TCA initiated an investigation into Google for allegedly abusing its dominant position by forcing developers distributing apps on the Play Store to use Google Play Billing and preventing them from informing users about alternative payment options.
- Akçansa and Kavçim under investigation12: The TCA launched an investigation into cement producer Akçansa for alleged territory/customer allocation and resale price practices in the cement sector, and Kavçim, another cement producer, for alleged price-fixing and participation in a dealer cartel. The probe also includes Kavçim dealers Acar, Cesurlar, and Doyaroğlu, suspected of agreements on pricing, employee wages, and territory/customer allocation.
- Ayca Süt faces competition probe13: The TCA launched an investigation into local dairy producer Ayca Süt for allegedly setting resale prices for its buyers, imposing regional and customer restrictions on dealers, and enforcing indefinite non-compete obligations.
- Labour market investigation in the shipbuilding sector14: The TCA opened an investigation into 33 undertakings, two associations, and one consultancy firm in the shipbuilding sector over alleged exchange of competitively sensitive information, joint determination of employee wages, participation in no-poach agreements, and facilitation or maintenance of such agreements.
Oral Hearings:
- Pharmaceutical sector labour market investigation: Oral hearings for undertakings mostly active in the pharmaceutical sector, accused of engaging in anticompetitive labour market practices were held on 2 September 2025.
- Poultry sector investigation: Oral hearings regarding alleged exchange of competitively sensitive information by undertakings in the poultry sector will be held on 9–10 September 2025.
- Adidas RPM investigation: Oral hearings for the investigation into whether Adidas violated competition through resale price maintenance will be held on 16 September 2025, following a court order to initiate the probe.
Stay tuned for our next issue of Quick Read, where we will continue to bring you the latest in competition law developments in Türkiye.
Footnotes
1 Software Companies (27.02.2024, 24-10/170-66).
2 Maritime Sector (12.05.2022, 22-21/353-151).
3 Testinium (13.04.2023, 23-18/326-111), Borusan Lojistik (30.03.2023, 23-16/287-100), İzibiz (09.02.2023, 23-07/116-36), Kafein (19.01.2023, 23-05/59-19), RDC (12.01.2023, 23-03/34-14).
4 Labour Markets – I (26.07.2023, 23-34/649-218).
5 Fatih Römorkörcülük (19.01.2022, 22-04/56-25), Atlantik Gemi (13.01.2022, 22-03/37-17).
6 Mars – CJ ENM (14.08.2025, 25-31/745-443).
7 The exchange rate used is EUR 1 = TRY 47.98.
8 Canon (12.06.2024, 24-26/640-265).
9 ERY Motors (21.03.2024, 24-14/305-121), Canatar Auto (18.01.2024, 24-05/77-30), Özgen Gallery (24-05/76-29).
10 Pirelli (28.05.2025, 25-21/497-332), Kuzey Test (18.04.2025, 25-15/350-165), Pro Yem (30.04.2025, 25-17/408-189), Panagro (30.04.2025, 25-17/407-188).
11 Google Play Billing (07.08.2024, 25-29/680-M).
12 Akçansa-Kavçim (12.06.2025, 25-22/526-M), Kavçim Dealers (14.08.2025, 25-31/722-M).
13 Ayca Süt (07.08.2025, 25-29/687-M).
14 Shipbuilding Sector (14.08.2025, 25-31/714-M).
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
