Electronic marketing in Turkey
The Law on Regulation of Electronic Trade was published in the Official Gazette on November 5, 2014 (Electronic Trade Law). The Electronic Trade Law came into force on May 1, 2015. Secondary legislation (The Regulation on Electronic Trade) was published in the Official Gazette on August 26, 2015, and came into force on the same date.
Pursuant to the Electronic Trade Law, commercial electronic communications (electronic marketing) can only be sent by if prior consent (opt-in) has been obtained from recipients. Such consent may be obtained in writing or through means of electronic communication, although if the consent is taken in physical from, must contain the recipient's signature. Commercial electronic communications can be sent to craftsman and merchants without obtaining prior consent. The commercial electronic communication must comply with the consent obtained from recipients, and must contain the identity of the service provider, contact information (such as email, SMS, telephone number, fax number (depending on the type of commercial electronic communication)), and, if sent on behalf of a third party, information about that third party.
Pursuant to Regulation on Commercial Communication and Commercial Electronic Messages, a registry named Message Management System (“IYS”) is established on January 4, 2020. Pursuant to the Regulation, all entities that wish to send commercial electronic messages (SMS, E-mail or calls) must register with IYS.
Commercial electronic messages are defined as “messages sent to electronic communication addresses (including audio calls) of recipients, for the purpose of promoting or advertising a product, service or business, and / or to increase the reputation of such through content including a greeting or a wish”.
The deadline for the service providers with 150.000 or more collected opt-ins to register with the IYS was December 31, 2020. The deadline for the service providers with 149.999 or less collected opt-ins was 31.05.2021.
Failure to register the collected opt-ins to IYS will result in all opt-ins consents to be invalid.
As of registration, opt-in consents can be obtained in writing or in any other electronic medium via IYS. It is required to report opt-in consents (which were not obtained via IYS) to IYS within 3 business days as of obtaining. All opt-in consents which were not reported to IYS will be deemed invalid.
Also, recipients will be able to submit their opt-out requests via IYS. Opt-out requests (which are not received via IYS) must be reported to IYS within three (3) business days. Sending commercial electronic messages must be stopped within three (3) business days as of receiving the opt-out request of the recipient.
Please note that obtaining opt-in consent is not necessary for commercial electronic messages if it is sent to merchants and craftsmen. However, they should also be registered with IYS and, it required to be checked whether they exercise their right to opt-out.
Consumers have the right to refuse a commercial electronic communication, and the service provider is obliged to allow the free transmission of the refusal. Commercial electronic communications to the recipient must cease within three business days of the receipt of refusal. For 2024, non-compliance with opt-in requirements is subject to administrative fines up to TRY 71,880 (approx. € 1,955).
Since electronic marketing activities include more and more use of personal data, the Electronic Trade Law and the LPPD often may be implicated at the same time. The Personal Data Protection Board Decision dated October 16, 2018 numbered 2018/119 states that commercial electronic communications such as advertisement notifications and marketing telephone calls also fall within the scope of the LPPD. However, this decision raised some questions regarding the application and enforcement of the Electronic Trade Law and LPPD at the same time, especially in relation to fines which may be imposed twice both according to the LPPD and the Electronic Trade Law.
