Main Developments in Competition Law and Policy 2025 – Türkiye

2025 marked a year of intensified enforcement and expanding regulatory scope for Turkish competition law. The TCA maintained robust action against resale price maintenance whilst significantly scaling up labour market enforcement following the 2024 guidelines. Online advertising markets emerged as a major enforcement priority, driven by the completion of a comprehensive sector inquiry and multiple platform investigations. Merger control activity reached historic highs in transaction value, with particular focus on digital platforms and technology sectors. Notably, competition enforcement intersected with Türkiye's green transformation agenda. This article outlines the most significant competition law developments in Türkiye in 2025, covering enforcement actions, merger control, green economy initiatives, and legislative updates.

Resale Price Maintenance

Resale price maintenance remained a central enforcement priority for the TCA in 2025. Key developments highlighting the TCA’s continued focus on vertical pricing restrictions include:

·       Consumer electronics and household appliances: The TCA found that Canon Eurasia fixed resale prices for Canon-branded products. An administrative fine of approximately EUR 1.15 million was imposed. The investigation revealed Canon’s systematic monitoring of retailer pricing across e-commerce and physical channels, use of support payments to enforce compliance, and direct instructions to raise prices below designated levels.

·       Construction chemicals: Mapei was found to have fixed resale prices and imposed vertical territorial and/or customer restrictions, receiving an administrative fine of approximately EUR 470,000. Chyrso-Kat Katkı Malzemeleri was found to have fixed resale prices, imposed vertical territorial and/or customer restrictions, and introduced non-compete obligations on purchasers, resulting in an administrative fine of approximately EUR 171,000. The investigation also covered eleven other undertakings in the construction chemicals market, but no findings of infringement were established against these entities.

·       Household appliances: The TCA concluded its investigation regarding Arzum through a settlement procedure, imposing a fine of approximately EUR 340,000 reduced by 25% to approximately EUR 255,000 under the settlement mechanism. It is stated that Arzum monitored online prices, requested temporary product withdrawals or price increases on platforms, withheld supply to low-pricing retailers, and circulated recommended campaign floor prices. Also, Fakir is under investigation for both resale price maintenance and facilitating indirect information exchange (hub-and-spoke cartel) between major electro-retail chains such as Teknosa, Vatan, and MediaMarkt. The TCA accepted Fakir’s commitment proposal to resolve internet sales restriction allegations whilst settlement discussions continue on the resale price maintenance and hub-and-spoke allegations.

·       Sporting goods: The TCA found that Adidas interfered with the resale prices of its authorised dealers for sports footwear, sports apparel, and sports accessories. Adidas was found to have violated Article 4 of Law No. 4054 by fixing the resale prices of authorised dealers. An administrative fine of approximately EUR 6.03 million was imposed pursuant to Article 16(3) of Law No. 4054 and the relevant provisions of the Regulation on Fines to be Imposed in Cases of Restrictive Agreements, Concerted Practices and Decisions, and Abuse of Dominance.

·       Cleaning products: ABC Deterjan settled with the TCA on resale price maintenance charges, receiving a fine of approximately EUR 185,000 with a 25% settlement reduction (final amount approximately EUR 138,000). The case involved internal directions setting minimum floor prices, requests to pull up shelf prices, and supply restrictions to enforce target retail prices.

·       Construction materials: İntema settled with the TCA on resale price maintenance allegations in the bathroom and plumbing fixtures sector, receiving a fine of approximately EUR 1.94 million with a 25% settlement reduction (final amount approximately EUR 1.45 million). The investigation covered price-fixing, territorial restrictions, and exclusive dealing obligations imposed on dealers.

·       Personal care and cosmetics: Biota was found to have fixed resale prices, receiving an administrative fine of approximately EUR 470,000 following a 25% settlement reduction. The investigation revealed Biota’s systematic monitoring of retailers’ sales prices, distribution of mandatory price lists, and tracking of internet-based sellers to prevent price undermining.

·       Professional hair care products: The TCA concluded its investigation into Abko through settlement for resale price maintenance. A fine of approximately EUR 56,000 was imposed, reflecting a 25% reduction under the settlement mechanism. The TCA found that Abko systematically imposed resale prices by distributing digital price lists, issuing pricing instructions, warning non-compliant dealers, and threatening supply cuts. Abko also set prices for product bundles and intervened in online campaigns that undercut target prices. Allegations concerning internet sales restrictions were resolved separately through commitments.

·       Organic food products: Pure Organic Gıda was found to have fixed the resale prices of its buyers, receiving an administrative fine of approximately EUR 330 following a 25% settlement reduction. The case involved instructions to retailers to raise shelf prices, distribution of recommended retail price lists with requirements that sales not fall below these prices, and warnings to retailers who failed to comply with recommended pricing.

The TCA consistently treats resale price maintenance as a restriction of competition by object, requiring no proof of actual anti-competitive effects once price-fixing conduct is established. Whilst such restrictions may theoretically be justified if they generate efficiencies and consumer benefits, the 2025 decisions do not indicate that undertakings sought to rely on efficiency justifications, reflecting the significant evidential burden required to defend vertical price-fixing practices. Instead, the dominant procedural approach is settlement, with the majority of cases resolved through a standardised fine reduction in exchange for cooperation and acknowledgement of liability. Several investigations also revealed RPM combined with territorial restrictions, non-compete obligations, or exclusive dealing arrangements, which the TCA treats as cumulative infringements reinforcing supplier control over distribution networks.

Increasing Labor Market Enforcement

Following the introduction of the Guidelines on Competition Infringements in Labor Markets in 2024, the TCA stepped up its labour market enforcement in 2025.

·       The TCA imposed administrative fines totalling approximately TRY 244.8 million (EUR 4.9 million) on 18 undertakings, most of which operate in the pharmaceutical sector, for entering into no-poach agreements and/or exchanging competitively sensitive information relating to employee wages and fringe benefits.

·       Four ready-mixed concrete producers were fined approximately TRY 4.16 million (EUR 82,444) for exchanging competitively sensitive information on employee wages.

·       Apart from new investigations, the TCA published the reasoned decisions of its landmark labour market cases, including the 2023 decision imposing administrative fines totalling over TRY 118 million (approx. EUR 4.6 million) on 16 undertakings operating in different sectors for entering into no-poach agreements aimed at preventing employee transfers. The TCA found that so-called “gentlemen’s agreements” and the use of blacklists shared with HR departments and recruitment consultants restricted employee mobility and suppressed wages, and were therefore classified as a buyer cartel. The TCA also published the reasoned decision of a landmark labour market case concluded in 2024 concerning no-poach agreements in the technology sector. The Board found that several bilateral no-poach arrangements constituted competition infringements, as they limited employee mobility and access to better job opportunities. While certain arrangements were assessed as ancillary restraints or dismissed due to lack of mutual intent, the TCA ultimately imposed total fines of TRY 91.7 million (approx. EUR 1.9 million), taking into account that competition law enforcement in labour markets is relatively new in Türkiye and internationally as a mitigating factor.

·       In addition, the TCA published the reasoned decisions of its 2024 cases concerning private schools’ anti-competitive labour market practices qualified as cartel conduct. In the Kocaeli Private Schools and İstanbul French Schools cases, the joint setting of school fees and teacher salaries as well as no-poach practices led to administrative fines.

Beyond the initiation of new investigations and the imposition of fines, the publication of several reasoned decisions in 2025 is particularly noteworthy in the context of labour markets. These decisions relate to significant cases in which infringement findings had been adopted and implemented in earlier years, but whose detailed reasoning was published in 2025. Through these decisions, the TCA clarified its approach to competition law infringements in labour markets and enforcement framework, contributing to the development of its case law in an area that remains relatively new both in Türkiye and internationally.

Within this framework, the reasoned decisions published in 2025 show that the TCA has consistently characterised no-poach agreements and wage-fixing arrangements as by object infringement, aligning its approach with established principles applicable to hardcore cartels in product markets. The Board maintained that such agreements are inherently anti-competitive, as they directly restrict competition in labour markets by limiting employee mobility and suppressing wage competition, thereby rendering a separate analysis of anti-competitive effects unnecessary. On the other hand, the TCA has also recognised the ancillary restraints doctrine in certain limited circumstances, accepting that narrowly tailored non-solicitation commitments, confined to specific projects, limited in duration, and proportionate to legitimate business objectives, may fall outside the scope of infringement. This nuanced approach demonstrates that whilst the TCA adopts a strict stance against labour market cartels, it remains willing to assess the context and proportionality of restrictions where they are genuinely ancillary to lawful commercial arrangements. These substantive principles, solidified through the publication of multiple reasoned decisions, provide greater clarity on the TCA's enforcement framework.

Taken together, these developments suggest that labour markets will continue to attract enforcement attention from the TCA going into 2026.

Online Advertising Market Oversight

The online advertising market emerged as a key enforcement priority for the TCA in 2025. The Authority's comprehensive sector inquiry, combined with multiple investigations into major platforms' advertising practices, marks a significant intensification of regulatory scrutiny that is expected to continue into 2026.

·       Final Report on the Online Advertising Sector Inquiry: In 2025, the TCA completed and published its comprehensive Online Advertising Sector Inquiry, following the preliminary findings released in 2023. In the final report, the Authority examined the structure and functioning of online advertising markets, distinguishing between search-based, display and listing advertising. The TCA noted that Google holds a leading position in search-based advertising, while Google (YouTube) and Meta are prominent players in display advertising. The report further underlined Google’s extensive presence across multiple layers of the advertising technology value chain, including demand-side platforms, supply-side platforms, advertiser and publisher ad servers, ad exchanges and ad networks. The Authority assessed that the vertically integrated and data-driven business models of large platforms such as Google and Meta may confer competitive advantages, while also raising concerns regarding self-preferencing, market foreclosure and transparency. Additional issues identified in the report include data-related competitive advantages, the competitive implications of restrictions on third-party cookies, consumer privacy considerations and challenges faced by news publishers in digital markets. The TCA noted that existing regulatory frameworks may be insufficient to address competition concerns in the rapidly evolving sector and assessed potential policy and regulatory solutions.

·       Mackolik’s restrictive and discriminatory practices in online advertising: The TCA found that Mackolik imposed customer restrictions through its advertising and service sales agreements, including restrictions covering passive sales and it abused its dominant position in the online display advertising and redirection services market through discriminatory conduct. In particular, the granting of preferential conditions and advantages, such as “gold partner”-type arrangements and priority placement in betting redirections, to NESINE was considered discriminatory vis-à-vis other online betting operators. The Board noted that Mackolik held very high traffic shares in its betting bulletin and forum services, supported by strong network effects. As a result, the Board imposed a total administrative fine of TRY 12,990,246 (approx. EUR 290,545) based on Mackolik’s 2023 gross revenue and introduced behavioural remedies, including obligations to implement transparent and non-discriminatory rotation systems for advertising placements and betting redirections.

·       Google’s Advertising Practices Under Scrutiny: In 2025, the TCA continued its scrutiny of Google’s practices across multiple markets. The TCA imposed daily fines on Google for non-compliance with its 2021 commitments regarding local search services. The Authority found that Google's new "Business Ads" format, promoted as paid sponsored advertising for local businesses, constituted a local search service that provided Google with additional positional advantages over rival local search services, thereby violating the behavioural remedies previously imposed. Moreover, the TCA launched a formal investigation into Google’s Performance Max (PMAX) campaign, a multi-inventory advertising tool introduced in 2021 that utilises artificial intelligence to optimise ad placements across Google's entire advertising ecosystem. The investigation centres on allegations that Google abuses its dominant position in online search-based advertising by leveraging PMAX to extend its market power into other online advertising services, engages in exploitative practices towards advertisers through lack of transparency and control within PMAX campaigns, and combines data obtained from various channels to distort competition.

Merger Control Developments

In 2025, merger control activity in Türkiye covered a wide range of sectors, including digital platforms, payment services, healthcare, technology, automotive, and energy. The TCA handled several Phase II investigations, gun-jumping cases, and conditional clearances with behavioural commitments, reflecting developments in both established and emerging markets.

The TCA published its 2025 Merger and Acquisition Outlook Report, revealing 416 transactions reviewed. Excluding privatisations, 162 transactions involved Turkish-origin targets valued at approximately TRY 466.113 billion (approx. 10.85 billion), the highest value since reporting began in 2013. Foreign investors conducted 55 acquisitions of Turkish targets totalling approximately TRY 277.462 billion (approx. EUR 6.46 billion), led by German and French investors. The TCA decided on transactions an average of 10 days after final notification, with two cases proceeding to Phase II review, one cleared subject to commitments whilst the other remained under examination.

Gun-jumping enforcement featured prominently, notably in the Param/Kartek transaction, where the TCA fined Param Holdings for implementing the acquisition prior to clearance after finding that de facto control had been exercised. Following a Phase II review, the transaction was cleared subject to commitments addressing competition concerns in payment services, including potential foreclosure and data-related issues.

The TCA's strict oversight of technology undertakings was demonstrated through penalties in several notable cases. In health technologies, the TCA reviewed diverse transactions spanning medical devices, biopharmaceutical products, diagnostic equipment, and clinical software platforms, underscoring the necessity for companies in technology-driven sectors to ensure early notification and compliance with the TCA’s standards.

Digital platform transactions also drew attention. In Obilet/Biletal, a competitor’s appeal led to the annulment of a Phase I conditional clearance and the opening of a Phase II investigation. The TCA approved the transaction subject to three-year behavioural commitments aimed at mitigating foreclosure risks and restricting access to commercially sensitive data.

In healthcare, the TCA conditionally approved Curium’s acquisition of Eczacıbaşı Monrol after identifying concentration and foreclosure concerns in the radiopharmaceutical market. Similarly, in the automotive sector, Tofaş's acquisition of sole control over Stellantis TR was cleared subject to commitments addressing competition concerns in light commercial vehicle markets.

Other transactions reviewed during the year included Apple’s acquisition of Pixelmator Team and Mubadala’s acquisition of sole control over several Getir Group companies, the latter being cleared unconditionally due to the absence of overlaps in Türkiye. In the energy sector, the TCA approved SOCAR’s acquisition of its interest in TFS Akaryakıt after concluding that the transaction did not raise competition concerns.

Going Greener

2025 marked a significant year for Türkiye's green transformation agenda. The Climate Law (Law No. 7552) entered into force on 9 July 2025, establishing the legal framework for a national Emissions Trading System (ETS) with market oversight distributed amongst the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK), the market operator (Enerji Piyasaları İşletme AŞ) and the Carbon Market Board.

From a competition law perspective, the TCA concluded settlement proceedings against  Otoyol İşletme ve Bakım AŞ (OİB) and ZES Dijital Ticaret AŞ regarding exclusivity practices in the EV charging sector on the O-5 İzmir-Istanbul motorway. Exclusivity clauses foreclosed competitors from critical infrastructure, failing to meet competition law exemption criteria. After exclusivity ended, competitors including Tesla entered the market. Both parties accepted liability and paid fines. These decisions underscore that whilst EV charging infrastructure is strategically vital for Türkiye's sustainability goals, exclusionary vertical agreements that foreclose competition cannot be justified even in emerging green sectors.

The Medium-Term Programme 2025-2027 prioritises completing the legal infrastructure for the ETS in compliance with the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), developing a National Green Taxonomy, advancing green finance strategies, and establishing a national plan for high-capacity charging stations in the logistics sector, ensuring that infrastructure development proceeds in tandem with competitive market dynamics.

Legislative Updates

The TCA's enforcement actions in 2025 were complemented by important procedural developments, including new guidelines clarifying the fine calculation methodology and amendments strengthening the access to file framework.

• New Guidelines on Fines: The TCA has published the Guidelines on Administrative Fines to Apply in Cases of Agreements, Concerted Practices and Decisions Limiting Competition and Abuse of Dominance in order to clarify the procedural rules and principles introduced by the New Regulation on Fines, which entered into force at the end of 2024. The Guidelines set out set out in detail the principles governing the determination of administrative monetary fines.  The Guidelines explain how the approach of imposing separate fines for each infringement introduced with the Regulation is applied in practice by setting out the criteria used to determine the number of infringements. It also clarifies the structure of fine calculation by explaining how the base fine and the final fine are determined. In this context, the Guidelines describe how the initial fine rate and the duration of the infringement are taken into account when determining the base fine, and how aggravating and mitigating factors are applied in the final fine.

• Amendments in Access to File Procedure: A clearer and more structured framework for the application of access to file rules has been introduced with the Communiqué Amending the Communiqué on the Regulation of the Right of Access to File and the Protection of Trade Secrets (2025/3). The right of access to file may be exercised only after the notification of the investigation report and only by the parties to whom the report has been notified. The scope of access to file applications has been clarified to cover both investigation proceedings and the final examination stages in merger and acquisition cases. The definition of internal correspondence has been specified, and the types of documents falling outside the scope of access to file have been detailed.

Conclusion

The competition law developments in Türkiye throughout 2025 reflect the TCA's sustained commitment to addressing both established enforcement priorities and emerging market challenges. With intensified action against resale price maintenance, expanded labour market enforcement, heightened scrutiny of digital advertising platforms, and record-breaking merger control activity, the TCA demonstrated its proactive approach to fostering competitive markets. Notably, 2025 marked the intersection of competition enforcement with Türkiye’s green transformation agenda. The procedural developments introduced during the year further enhanced transparency and predictability in competition enforcement. Looking ahead, these developments position the TCA to continue its robust oversight of both traditional sectors and evolving digital markets, whilst supporting Türkiye's broader economic and sustainability objectives in 2026 and beyond.