Divorce in Turkey
Initial requirements
Regardless of where you currently live and work as long as you were married in Turkey or at a Turkish Embassy and hold an official Marriage Certificate/Book you have the right to petition the court for a divorce in Turkey.
Grounds for Divorce
Turkish family law originates from within Swiss Family Law. In Turkish Law there are two types of divorce cases: Contested Divorce and Uncontested Divorce. In both cases the ground for divorce needs to be qualified and especially for contested divorce the grounds needs to be proven by the applicant.
Grounds for Contested Divorce Cases:
Either spouse may bring a case to the court in order to end the martial relationship. The case must be brought to the competent court (usually the defendants region where they were last registered).
There are two main type of grounds (General or Specific) for contested divorce cases in Turkish family law.
Grounds for Divorce
General grounds for Divorce
Specific Grounds for Divorce
Specific Grounds for Divorce
1) General grounds: High-conflict divorce/ marriage which has irretrievably broken down:
If the disputes between spouses have put them apart and it is not possible for them to continue the marital life together in other word if the marriage has irretrievably broken down, and there is a conflict in between spouses; in this case either spouse can petition to court for divorce. Court specifically looks into the facts, as to whether it is possible for the couple to continue a marital life together and whether the grounds the couple has established their marriage on to is still solid or not.
Specific Grounds for Divorce
Specific Grounds for Divorce
Specific Grounds for Divorce
2) Specific grounds: These grounds are listed in Turkish Civil code as follows:
a) Adultery: Although with the recent changes in Turkish Criminal Law Adultery is not a criminal act it is still listed as a specific ground for divorce. Physical relationship is deemed as an Adultery and gives the right to the spouse petition the court. If either spouse would be in physical relationship with a third party, during the marital life the other spouse has the right to apply for divorce under Adultery.
b) To make an attempt on other party’s life/bad treatment: This ground on its own is a reason for the divorce, the court would not look in whether the marital life has been damaged as a result of this action or not. If there is a criminal complaint as well Court would look into those facts as well.
c) Committing Crime and having dishonorable life: If spouse’s life becomes intolerable as a result of other spouse’s behavior such as committing a crime or having dishonorable life then suffering spouse has the right to petition the court for divorce under these grounds.
e) Desertion: If one the spouses has left the marital home to avoid his/her responsibilities and would not come back without any rightful reasons and if such desertion lasts more than 6 months suffering spouse has the right to petition the court for divorce under these grounds.
f) Mental illness: In the event of one of the spouses has got mental illness within the marital life and its approved that there is no treatment of such illness and if it is not possible/tolerable for the other spouse to continue the marital life then that spouse has the right to petition the court for divorce under this grounds.