Competition Law Lawyer in Bursa

Competition law infringements can have serious consequences for companies, including high administrative fines, invalid contracts and reputational damage. From our Bursa office, Neka Legal provides corporate clients, including Turkish subsidiaries of foreign groups, with both preventive competition law advice and representation in proceedings before the Turkish Competition Authority. Dealership and supply relationships, which are common in our region’s strong sectors such as automotive supply, textiles, furniture and food, require particular attention from a competition law perspective.

What does competition law prohibit?

Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition regulates three types of conduct: agreements and concerted practices that restrict competition, such as price fixing, market and customer sharing or the exchange of sensitive information between competitors (Art. 4); the abuse of a dominant position in a way that excludes competitors or harms consumers (Art. 6); and mergers and acquisitions that would significantly impede effective competition in the market (Art. 7). We advise companies with a strong market position on avoiding practices that exclude competitors or harm consumers.

Dealership, distribution and supply agreements

We analyse whether dealership, distribution and supply agreements comply with competition rules, in particular the block exemption rules. Under the Block Exemption Communiqué on Vertical Agreements, an agreement may benefit from the exemption under certain conditions if the supplier’s share of the relevant market does not exceed thirty per cent. However, hardcore restrictions such as fixing the buyer’s resale price or prohibiting passive sales fall outside the exemption, and a non-compete obligation imposed on a dealer cannot, as a rule, exceed five years.

We run in-house training to make sales and marketing teams aware of the rules on contacts with competitors, information exchange and market conduct. Meetings with competitors at trade associations and fairs are often where companies unknowingly expose themselves to infringement risk. For a broader corporate compliance framework, see our compliance page.

Competition Board approval for mergers and acquisitions

We carry out market share analyses for mergers and acquisitions and manage the notification process before the Competition Authority. Under the thresholds updated by Communiqué No. 2026/2, in force since 11 February 2026, a transaction requires Competition Board approval if the parties’ combined Turkish turnover exceeds TRY 3 billion and the Turkish turnover of each of at least two parties exceeds TRY 1 billion, or if the Turkish turnover of the target assets or business exceeds TRY 1 billion and the worldwide turnover of one of the other parties exceeds TRY 9 billion. Lower thresholds may apply to transactions involving technology undertakings.

Do not close without approval. If a notifiable transaction is completed without Competition Board approval, it does not become legally valid and the parties are fined. The notification analysis should therefore be carried out before the transaction timetable is set. For the corporate side of the transaction, see our corporate law page.

What should be done during a dawn raid?

Competition Authority experts may carry out unannounced on-site inspections at company premises, examine books, documents and electronic data and take copies. We protect the company’s rights during these inspections and provide legal oversight of the process.

1. Review the authorisation document: Read the document showing the subject and scope of the inspection and keep a copy.
2. Call your lawyer: Call the lawyer immediately; however, the start of the inspection cannot be made conditional on the lawyer’s arrival.
3. Accompany the experts: A company employee accompanies each expert and a list of documents examined and copied is kept.
4. Preserve documents: No document, e-mail or message may be deleted; any conduct that hinders the inspection is subject to a separate sanction.
5. Check the minutes: Read the minutes drawn up at the end of the inspection carefully and have any objections recorded in them.

Sanctions and deadlines in competition law

Restrictive agreements and abuse of dominance are subject to administrative fines of up to ten per cent of the undertaking’s annual gross revenue (Law No. 4054, Arts. 4, 6, 16). Completing a notifiable merger or acquisition without approval is subject to a fine of one per thousand of annual gross revenue, and obstructing or hindering an on-site inspection to a fine of five per thousand (Arts. 7, 16).

The first written defence must be submitted within thirty days of notification of the investigation. In the settlement procedure, the fine is reduced by ten to twenty-five per cent (Art. 43). An action against a Competition Board decision can be filed with the Ankara administrative courts within sixty days of service (Art. 55; Administrative Procedure Law, Art. 7). Where the damage results from the parties’ agreement, decision or gross negligence, those harmed by the infringement may claim up to three times their damage (Art. 58).

Managers and employees who played a decisive role in the infringement may also be fined up to five per cent of the fine imposed on the undertaking.

Investigation, defence and settlement

For companies under investigation, we prepare written defences, represent them at oral hearings and set the defence strategy. In cartel cases, we confidentially manage leniency (active cooperation) applications for immunity from or reduction of fines, and we handle the resolution of investigations through commitments or settlement. Since the matters covered by the settlement text and the administrative fine cannot later be challenged in court, the strengths and weaknesses of the file must be assessed in detail before settling.

Competition damages and unfair competition actions

We act as counsel for claimants or defendants in actions where up to three times the damage may be awarded, for companies harmed by a competition law infringement or facing a damages claim. We determine the correct legal basis in each file, taking into account the distinction between infringements under Law No. 4054 and acts of unfair competition under the Turkish Commercial Code (Art. 54 et seq.). We handle declaratory, injunction and damages actions in cases of unfair competition such as disparagement, practices causing confusion, disclosure of trade secrets and enticing away employees; in files that also involve trademark and design infringement, we work together with our intellectual property team.

Frequently asked questions

Can we set resale prices for our dealers?

A maximum resale price may be set or a recommended price communicated. However, setting a fixed or minimum resale price for the dealer constitutes a competition law infringement.

Is our merger subject to Competition Board approval?

It depends on whether the parties’ Turkish and worldwide turnovers exceed the thresholds in the Communiqué. If the thresholds are exceeded, the transaction does not become legally valid without approval.

Is sharing information with competitors an infringement?

Sharing competitively sensitive information, such as current or future prices, costs, capacity and customer information, may be an infringement. General, historical and aggregated data generally carry a lower risk.

During a dawn raid, can we wait for our lawyer to arrive?

You may expect the lawyer to arrive within a short time, but the inspection cannot be obstructed or delayed for that reason. Obstruction is itself subject to an administrative fine.

What is a leniency application?

It is a programme that allows an undertaking that took part in a cartel to obtain immunity from, or a reduction of, the fine in return for reporting the infringement to the Authority and cooperating. The order of applications determines the scope of the benefit.

Responsible attorney: Kaan Kaplan

This page has been prepared for general information purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Last updated: 6 November 2026.