Recent Development

As we mentioned in our previous legal alert published on April 21, the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning ("Ministry") was authorized to postpone sale fees and occupancy fees with the Law No. 7244 ("Law") published in the Official Gazette on April 17, 2020. Accordingly, the Ministry postponed certain sale fees and occupancy fees (ecrimisil) through the General Communiqué on the National Property Serial No. 399, published in the Official Gazette on April 22, 2020.

The postponements concern certain 2/B lands and some of the treasury's lands, such as those used for agriculture and livestock production. Within this scope, the sale fees and occupancy fees to be collected for April, May, and June 2020 are postponed for three months after their original due dates.

The Ministry exercised its new authority quickly, which may be an indication of upcoming similar actions for other sectors affected by COVID-19, such as tourism, the heavy industry and logistics. Accordingly, it is recommended that all relevant industries closely monitor the Ministry's legislative developments in the coming days.

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