Article 346 of the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, titled “Prohibition on Provisions Detrimental to the Tenant,” stipulates that no payment obligation other than rent and ancillary expenses may be imposed on the tenant; in particular, it provides that agreements requiring the payment of a penalty for late payment of rent or stipulating that subsequent rent payments become due immediately are void.
However, pursuant to Article 53 of Law No. 6353, which amends Transitional Article 2 of Law No. 6217, in commercial lease agreements where the tenant is a person classified as a merchant under the Turkish Commercial Code or a legal entity under private or public law, Articles 323, 325, 331, 340, 343, 344, 346, and 354 of the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098 shall not apply for a period of 8 years starting from July 1, 2012; in such cases, the provisions of the lease agreement shall apply with respect to the matters specified in these articles, in accordance with the principle of contractual freedom. In summary, unless the lease agreement is entered into for a commercial enterprise, any provisions in the lease agreement that impose additional financial obligations on the tenant—other than penalty clauses, acceleration clauses, and ancillary expenses (maintenance fees)—are void.