Noisy or Disruptive Neighbours in a Turkish Apartment: The Neighbour-Law Rule, the Duty Not to Disturb in the Building, the Owners' Board, the Landlord's Warning to a Noisy Tenant and the Noise Fine (Civil Code 730 and 737, Condominium Law 18, Code of Obligations 316, Misdemeanours Law 36)

This guide is written for foreigners who own or rent a flat in a Turkish apartment building, and for foreign owners whose own tenant is the one drawing complaints. The same provisions apply whatever the nationality of the people involved. It covers noise and similar nuisance between residents; building works and service charges are governed by other rules and are not addressed here.

1. The General Rule: No Excessive Use Beyond What Local Custom Tolerates (Civil Code, Article 737)

The starting point is Article 737 of the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721 (Türk Medeni Kanunu, TMK), the general rule of neighbour law (komşuluk hukuku). Everyone exercising the powers that come with ownership of immovable property, and especially anyone carrying on a business there, must refrain from any excess (taşkınlık) that adversely affects the neighbours. In particular, it is prohibited to cause disturbance by giving off smoke, vapour, soot, dust or smells, or by making noise or vibration, beyond the degree that neighbours can tolerate according to the situation and nature of the property and local custom (yerel âdet).

The test is not whether a sound can be heard at all; it is a question of degree, and children playing in the afternoon and amplified music at night are unlikely to be measured the same way. The wording looks at the effect on the neighbours, not at the intention of the person causing it.

The third paragraph adds a qualification: where an excess conforms to local custom and is unavoidable, the rights to compensation (denkleştirme) arising from it are reserved.

2. The Civil Action: Restoration, Removal of the Danger and Compensation (Civil Code, Article 730)

Article 737 says what is forbidden; Article 730 says what can be done about it. Anyone who suffers damage, or faces a danger of damage, because an owner of immovable property uses that ownership contrary to its legal restrictions may sue for restoration of the previous state (eski hâle getirme), removal of the danger and compensation for the damage suffered. For damage resulting from excesses that conform to local custom and are unavoidable, the judge may order compensation by an appropriate sum.

Two points matter. Article 730 is written in terms of an owner who uses the ownership contrary to its legal restrictions; where the person making the noise is a tenant, the Condominium Law and the lease add the routes described below. The person who may sue, by contrast, is described broadly as anyone who suffers damage or faces the danger of it. In practice it is the last step, supported by the record gathered earlier.

3. Inside an Apartment Building: The Duty Not to Disturb (Condominium Law, Article 18)

Where your flat is an independent unit in a building governed by the Condominium Law No. 634 (Kat Mülkiyeti Kanunu, KMK), Article 18 sets the core duty of everyone in the building. Flat owners (kat malikleri), when using their units, the annexes and the common areas, are mutually obliged to observe the rules of good faith (doğruluk kaideleri), and in particular not to disturb each other, not to infringe each other's rights and to comply with the management plan (yönetim planı), the building's internal rulebook. Ask the building manager (yönetici) for a copy; a complaint citing a specific rule is stronger.

The second paragraph is easy for expatriate tenants to overlook. The Law's provisions on the obligations of flat owners also apply to tenants, to holders of a right of residence (oturma hakkı) and to anyone who benefits from a unit permanently in any way, and those who do not fulfil these obligations are jointly and severally liable (müteselsil sorumlu) together with the flat owners. A noisy tenant is bound by the same duty as an owner.

4. The Owners' Board and Its Decision Book (Condominium Law, Article 32)

Under Article 32, the building is managed by the flat owners' board (kat malikleri kurulu) through decisions taken under the contract, the management plan and the Law, and owners, the manager and the auditors must comply with them. Disagreements arising from the use or management of the building between owners, or between owners and the manager or auditors, are resolved and decided by the board.

Decisions are written into a decision book (karar defteri) whose pages are numbered consecutively and sealed by a notary, and are signed by all owners present; those who vote against sign with their reasons. Where a later disagreement concerns a matter already decided in the book, it is as a rule resolved according to that earlier decision.

A board decision will not by itself quieten a loud flat, but it is a dated record signed by the neighbours. Because the board is made up of owners, a disturbed tenant will normally ask the landlord to raise the matter. Our guide to condominium disputes for foreign owners explains how the board meets and votes.

5. When the Noisy Neighbour Is a Tenant: The Landlord's Written Warning (Code of Obligations, Article 316)

Where the troublesome flat is rented, Article 316 of the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098 (Türk Borçlar Kanunu, TBK) applies between the tenant and the landlord. The tenant must use the property with care, in accordance with the contract, and show the necessary respect (gerekli saygı) to the people living in the building and to the neighbours.

If the tenant breaches that obligation, the landlord of a residence or roofed workplace gives a written warning (yazılı ihtar) granting at least thirty days to remedy the breach, failing which the contract will be terminated. The landlord may instead terminate immediately by written notice where the tenant intentionally causes serious damage to the property, where giving time would clearly be useless, or where the breach is unbearable (çekilmez) for the landlord or for the people living in the same building and the neighbours.

The power to warn and terminate belongs to the landlord alone; a neighbour cannot end someone else's lease. A disturbed neighbour can write to the owner with a dated log and ask him or her to use Article 316, and the owner has reason to act, because Article 18 of the Condominium Law makes the owner jointly liable. For foreign owners who let out a flat, this is the procedure to follow when the building complains about your tenant.

6. Noise as a Misdemeanour: The Police and the Municipal Zabıta (Misdemeanours Law, Article 36)

Under Article 36 of the Misdemeanours Law No. 5326 (Kabahatler Kanunu), a person who causes noise disturbing the peace and quiet (huzur ve sükûn) of others is subject to an administrative fine (idari para cezası). Where the act is committed within the activity of a commercial enterprise, a separate and considerably higher fine is imposed on the natural or legal person who owns it. The fine is decided by law-enforcement officers (kolluk) or municipal police officers (belediye zabıtası, commonly just the zabıta).

We do not quote amounts, because administrative fines are revalued every year. What matters is the mechanism: a loud party at night, or a bar beneath residential flats, can be reported to the police or the zabıta while it is happening. A fine does not replace the civil remedies above, but it leaves an official trace; note your call in your log.

7. The Exceptional Remedy: Forced Transfer of a Flat (Condominium Law, Article 25)

The most severe remedy in the Condominium Law is reserved for the most serious cases, and it is not designed for an ordinary noise dispute. Under Article 25, if a flat owner, by failing to perform the obligations the Law imposes, infringes the other owners' rights to a degree that has become unbearable for them, they may ask the judge to order that the ownership of that unit be transferred to them, against payment to the owner of its value at the date closest to the judgment.

Unless otherwise agreed, bringing the action requires a decision of the other owners taken by a majority both in number and in land share (arsa payı). The right of action lapses (düşer) if it is not exercised within six months from learning of the owners' decision to sue, and in any event within five years from the date the right arose, or if the ground for it has ceased to exist. Article 25 concerns an owner's unit, not a tenant's lease, and is a last resort.

8. The Remedies at a Glance

9. Practical Steps: From the First Conversation to a Civil Action

Most neighbour disputes are settled long before anyone thinks of a court. The sequence below works for owners and tenants alike.

1. Keep a written log: date, time, length and nature of each disturbance, and which other residents heard it.
2. Talk first, calmly and at a reasonable hour; bring a Turkish-speaking friend if language is a barrier.
3. Read the management plan (yönetim planı) and ask the building manager for a copy (KMK 18).
4. Ask the manager to put the matter before the flat owners' board so that a decision is entered in the decision book (KMK 32).
5. Send a polite written notice to the neighbour and, if the flat is rented, to its owner (KMK 18, TBK 316).
6. Propose a meeting with a neutral third person, such as the manager or another resident, and write down what is agreed.
7. When a disturbance is happening, report it to the police or the zabıta (Misdemeanours Law 36).
8. If nothing changes, take advice on a civil action for restoration, removal of the danger and compensation (TMK 730 and 737).

A mediation-style approach, a structured conversation with a neutral person present and the outcome written down, can work better between neighbours than a formal letter and can keep the relationship intact. Where it fails, the Civil Code, the Condominium Law, the Code of Obligations and the Misdemeanours Law each provide the next step.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a noisy neighbour a legal matter or only a question of manners?

It is a legal matter. Article 737 of the Civil Code prohibits noise or vibration beyond what neighbours can tolerate by local custom, and Article 18 of the Condominium Law obliges everyone in an apartment building not to disturb the others and to follow the management plan.

Do these laws set a decibel limit or fixed quiet hours?

The provisions discussed here do not. Article 737 asks a question of degree measured against local custom. Your building's management plan may contain its own rules, and Article 18 of the Condominium Law obliges everyone in the building to comply with it.

I am a tenant, not an owner. Can I do anything?

Yes. The duty not to disturb in Article 18 of the Condominium Law protects the whole building, and Article 730 of the Civil Code lets anyone harmed or endangered by an owner's excessive use bring an action. You can ask your landlord to raise the matter before the owners' board, and report noise to the police or the zabıta under Article 36 of the Misdemeanours Law.

The noisy neighbour is a tenant. Can we make the landlord end the lease?

Only the landlord can terminate. Under Article 316 of the Code of Obligations, the landlord of a residence gives a written warning with at least thirty days to remedy the breach, and may terminate immediately by written notice if the breach is unbearable for the neighbours. Write to the owner with your log; Article 18 of the Condominium Law makes the owner jointly liable for the tenant's breaches.

Can I call the police about a loud party or a noisy café?

You can report it to the police or the municipal zabıta, whose officers decide on the fine under Article 36 of the Misdemeanours Law. Noise from a business leads to a separate fine on its owner. Amounts are revalued yearly, so we do not quote them.

Can the other owners force a disruptive owner to give up the flat?

Only exceptionally. Under Article 25 of the Condominium Law, where an owner's breaches make the situation unbearable for the others, they may ask the judge to transfer the unit to them against payment of its value. Unless otherwise agreed, the action needs a majority of the other owners in number and land share, and it lapses after six months from learning of that decision and in any event after five years.