When a road accident on holiday causes injury, two files open in Türkiye at once: a criminal investigation for negligent injury or death, and a compensation claim that usually runs through the compulsory traffic insurer. This guide explains, from the Turkish Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Road Traffic Law No. 2918, how each works for a German driver and for a German victim, which deadlines apply, and what to secure in the first days.
A couple from Hanover collect a hire car at Antalya airport and, on the second day, turn left at a junction near Side into the path of a motorcyclist. A student from Leipzig is knocked down on a pedestrian crossing in Bodrum. A family from Dortmund are passengers in a transfer minibus that leaves the road near Fethiye. A man from Mannheim on a rented scooter in Marmaris collides with a car whose driver says he had right of way.
When an accident on a Turkish road causes injury or death, two files open at the same time. One is criminal: the public prosecutor investigates whether someone caused injury or death by negligence. The other is civil: the injured person, or the family of a person who died, claims compensation, usually from the compulsory traffic insurer of the vehicle. The two files move at different speeds and under different rules, but the evidence for both is gathered in the same first days. This guide explains both for a German driver and for a German victim. Workplace accidents and medical treatment after the accident are separate subjects.
The criminal file: negligent injury and negligent death
The Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) has two provisions that cover most road accidents.
Causing injury by negligence (taksirle yaralama) is punished with four months’ to two years’ imprisonment or a judicial fine (TCK Article 89(1)). The sentence is increased by half where the injury causes, among other things, a lasting weakening of a sense or organ, a bone fracture or a life-threatening condition (Article 89(2)), and doubled for the more serious results listed in Article 89(3). Where more than one person is injured, the sentence is nine months to five years (Article 89(4)).
Causing death by negligence (taksirle öldürme) is punished with two to six years’ imprisonment, and with two to fifteen years where more than one person dies, or one or more die and others are injured (TCK Article 85(1) and (2)).
For a German driver, the first days of the criminal file follow the Code of Criminal Procedure: police custody, the right to remain silent and to a lawyer, an interpreter, and notice to the consulate. Those steps are set out in our guide on a German citizen detained in Türkiye. Causing death by negligence is among the offences for which designated police chiefs may order custody when caught in the act (CMK Article 91(4)(b)).
Complaint and conciliation
Whether the criminal file continues depends heavily on the injuries and on the victim.
Complaint. The investigation and prosecution of negligent injury depend on a complaint. The exception is where the offence was committed with conscious negligence (bilinçli taksir): then no complaint is needed, except for injuries within paragraph 1 (TCK Article 89(5)). Where a complaint is needed, it must be made within six months, running from the day the person entitled to complain learned of the act and of who committed it (TCK Article 73(1) and (2)). Unless the law provides otherwise, the victim’s withdrawal of the complaint ends the case (Article 73(4)). Causing death by negligence does not depend on a complaint.
Conciliation. Negligent injury is in the list of offences for which conciliation (uzlaştırma) between the suspect and the victim is attempted, whether or not the offence depends on a complaint (CMK Article 253(1)(b)(2)). Where the offence is subject to conciliation and there is sufficient suspicion to bring a public prosecution, the file is sent to the conciliation office; the conciliator offers conciliation to the suspect and the victim, and a party who does not give an answer within seven days of the offer is deemed to have refused it (Article 253(4)). Where a party cannot be reached, including because he is abroad, the investigation is concluded without conciliation (Article 253(6)). Causing death by negligence is not in the conciliation list.
For a German party, Article 253(6) is the one to watch. A driver or a victim who has gone home to Germany and cannot be reached loses the conciliation step. Keeping a reachable address in the file, and a lawyer in Türkiye with a power of attorney, is therefore worth arranging before leaving.
Who pays: the keeper, the business and the compulsory insurer
The Road Traffic Law No. 2918 (Karayolları Trafik Kanunu, KTK) places liability on the keeper of the vehicle rather than only on the driver. Where the operation of a motor vehicle causes death, injury or damage to property, the keeper (işleten) and, where the vehicle is operated under the name of a business or with a ticket issued by that business, the owner of that business are jointly and severally liable (Article 85(1)). They are liable for the fault of the driver or of auxiliary persons involved in using the vehicle as for their own (Article 85, last paragraph). They escape liability only by proving, without fault on their side and without a defect in the vehicle having contributed, that the accident was caused by force majeure or by the gross fault of the injured person or a third party; if they cannot escape liability, the judge may reduce compensation where the injured person was also at fault (Article 86).
The keeper is defined in the Law. It is the owner, or the buyer registered under a retention of title sale, or, in cases such as long-term hire, loan or pledge, the hirer, borrower or pledgee; and anyone shown to operate another person’s vehicle on his own account and at his own risk, with actual control over it, is treated as the keeper (KTK Article 3). The Law does not say when a hire is long-term; whether a holiday hire falls under that case depends on the facts of the hire.
Keepers must take out compulsory liability insurance to cover their liability under Article 85(1) (KTK Article 91). For vehicles with foreign plates that have no insurance valid in Türkiye under the rules set by the Ministry, the compulsory insurance is taken out at the border on entry (Article 91).
The claim against the insurer
The compensation route starts with a written application. Within the limits of the compulsory policy, the injured person must apply in writing to the insurer before going to court. If the insurer does not answer in writing within fifteen days of the application at the latest, or there is a dispute about whether its answer meets the claim, the injured person may sue or apply to insurance arbitration under Law No. 5684 (KTK Article 97). Insurers must pay the amounts within the compulsory policy limits within eight working days after the documents set by the general conditions reach them (Article 99).
Health care costs are handled separately. Health care costs for traffic accidents provided by university hospitals and all other public and private health institutions are paid by the Social Security Institution, within the reimbursement rules for those covered by general health insurance, regardless of whether the injured person has social security (KTK Article 98).
Time limits
| Step | Provision | Time limit |
|---|---|---|
| Criminal complaint for negligent injury | TCK 73(1), (2); 89(5) | 6 months from learning of the act and the perpetrator; not needed for conscious negligence beyond paragraph 1 injuries |
| Answer to a conciliation offer | CMK 253(4) | 7 days from the offer; silence counts as refusal |
| Insurer’s written answer | KTK 97 | 15 days from the written application |
| Insurer’s payment within policy limits | KTK 99 | 8 working days from receipt of the required documents |
| Claim for material damage | KTK 109(1), (2) | 2 years from learning of the damage and the person liable; 10 years from the accident; longer criminal limitation applies if the act is an offence |
What to secure in the first days
The evidence for both files is gathered early, and much of it disappears quickly. For a German driver or victim, the useful items are:
- the accident report prepared at the scene and the names of the officers’ unit or the police station;
- photographs of the vehicles, the road, signs and the light conditions, taken before the vehicles are moved where that is possible;
- the names and telephone numbers of witnesses;
- the hire contract and the hire company’s insurance details, or for a taxi or transfer vehicle the plate and the company’s name;
- hospital records, the emergency department report and later medical reports;
- receipts for costs, and for a victim, evidence of lost earnings in Germany.
Where a person died or was injured, the public prosecutor’s office handling the accident instructs the vehicle registration authority to note an annotation on the vehicle’s traffic record, to prevent its transfer or assignment or the creation of a right over it (KTK Article 85(2)). The annotation lapses if no court decision on its removal or continuation is produced within one month of its entry.
How Lex Lata works on accident files
Lex Lata advises on Turkish criminal procedure and on compensation claims and acts before prosecutors, courts and insurers in Türkiye. For a German driver, the lawyer attends the statement, follows the expert report on fault, and represents the client in conciliation. For a German victim, the lawyer files the complaint where needed, makes the written application to the insurer, and brings the claim before the court or insurance arbitration. Reports go to the client in English or Turkish. German insurance and German law belong to the German insurer and a Rechtsanwalt in Germany. For the wider context of a Turkish matter run from Germany, see our overview for clients in Germany.
