By the new clauses included the Guidance for the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law;

1. For the sale or promise-to-sell  of immovable / immovables between foreigners; , the phrase "Including the foreign person's spouse and children" was added to the regulation stating that foreign real persons should not be registered in the land registry instead of the current statement “only the spouse and children of the foreigner who will acquire the relevant real estate are also within this scope”

1. The Guidance states that “the property subject to sale or promise-to-sell agreement could and should not be a property that has been transferred to a Turkish citizen/company after 12.01.2017 by the foreign real person who wishes to have Turkish citizenship, or its spouse and children, or by a foreign real person of the same nationality. In other words, while the foreign person could enter to a transaction with the immovable property that he/she bought from anyone other than himself/herself and his/her children with the previous regulation, he/she  has no longer been able to trade also with a foreign real person of his/her own nationality by the new amendment.

However, if the property registered in the name of a foreign real person is transferred to a Turkish

1. It has been added that the property that the foreign real person will buy and subject to the sale or promise-to-sell agreements should not be registered;

• On behalf of a company under which the foreign real person himself/herself, his/her spouse and children has or have been a partner or a manager.
• On behalf of the company subject to Article 36 of the Land Registry Law (with foreign / international capital) where a real person from same nationality with the foreign real person is a partner.

In other words, with the previous regulation, while the foreign person could enter to a transaction with an immovable purchased from a company under which  his/her spouse and children are not shareholders, the new amendment now prevents him/her to enter a trade with a company where the a foreigner from the same nationality with the foreign real person is a shareholder.

IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE NEW ARTICLE INCLUDED TO THE GUIDANCE, IMMOVABLE PROPERTY BOUGHT IN THE PAST IN ORDER TO HAVE TURKISH CITIZENSHIP COULD NOT BEEN USED FOR A SECOND TIME TO HAVE ANOTHER TURKISH CITIZENSHIP BY ANOTHER PERSON.

As per the new examples added to this new article;

• A foreigner after obtaining Turkish citizenship by obtaining a certificate of conformity after the promise-to-sale of the real estate contract is annotated in the land registry with the commitment that it will not be transferred and abandoned for 3 years and after the end of the commitment period, it is not possible to use the same immovable property for the purpose of having another Turkish citizenship and for issuing a certificate of conformity by being subject to the preliminary sale or sale by another foreign person even if the owner changes.
• After the foreign person obtained the Turkish citizenship by giving a 3-year commitment not to sell and receive a certificate of conformity, and after the end of the commitment period, even if the shareholder of the relevant real estate has changed, the same share could not be subject to a sale or promise-to-sell transaction by another foreign person and for Turkish citizenship purposes,

However, the following exception has been provided for such article.

In existance of the following cases; the certificate of conformity that forms the basis for obtaining the Turkish citizenship for the foreign person and his/her family will be re-evaluated:

• If the foreigner who obtained the Turkish citizenship by property investment sells the property after 3 years annotation period back to the company or to the Turkish national real person that sold the property to the foreigner at first (unless the transfer is mandatory due to court decision, enforcement etc.) or
• If the foreigner who obtained the Turkish citizenship revokes the annotation of the promise-to-sell contract from land registry record of the property and sells it to a third person,

With this amendment, if the real estate with an annotation for citizenship application of the foreigner has been returned back to the real estate project, construction company or real person, then such real estate could be re-used for Turkish citizenship applications.

As a summary, the Guidance provided detailed information regarding  the conditions of purchasing immovable properties  (via direct sale or promise-to-sell mechanisms) by the foreign investors for obtaining Turkish citizenship.