Çeşme Lawyer

Çeşme: A Recently Changed Judicial Map

1. Which Courts Hear Your Case — and What Changed in 2024

This is worth stating precisely, because it changed recently and older guidance is out of date. Following a letter of the Ministry of Justice dated 2 April 2024, an Assize Court was established at Çeşme and the courthouse became an assize centre in its own right. The Council of Judges and Prosecutors brought it into operation on 2 September 2024, with Karaburun designated as its attached (mülhakat) courthouse.

The practical effect: serious criminal matters arising in Çeşme are no longer heard in İzmir. They are heard in Çeşme, and the same court serves Karaburun.

One gap remains. The Çeşme courthouse has no dedicated Family Court. Divorce, custody and matrimonial property matters are heard by the civil court of first instance sitting as a family court. For foreign spouses this rarely changes the substantive outcome, but it does affect listing times and how the file is handled. Administrative claims go to the İzmir Administrative Courts.

2. High-Value Property: Valuation and What You Declare

Çeşme sits at the top of the Turkish coastal market, and the value involved changes which risks matter. Purchases by foreign nationals require a valuation report, and the price declared to the Land Registry should reflect the real consideration.

Under-declaration is still occasionally proposed as a way of reducing transfer costs. It is a poor trade. The declared figure becomes the acquisition cost for a future disposal, so an artificially low figure inflates the apparent gain when you sell, and the saving is recovered several times over. It also creates exposure if the divergence from the valuation is examined.

Acquisition by foreign nationals remains subject to Article 35 of the Land Registry Law, including the exclusion of military and special security zones, with clearance confirmed during the transfer.

3. Off-Plan Purchases and Developer Default

Much of the Çeşme market is sold before completion. The recurring failures are late delivery, delivery that departs from the approved project, and the absence of an occupancy permit — which in turn blocks conversion of construction servitude into full condominium title.

What protects a buyer is written into the contract before signature: a defined delivery date with a meaningful consequence for delay, specification annexed rather than described in marketing terms, payments staged against verifiable progress, and an express allocation of the risk that the permit is not obtained. Litigating a badly drafted off-plan contract is expensive and slow; the drafting stage is where the money is saved.

4. Marina Berths and Short-Term Letting

Two matters are particular to this stretch of coast. The first is marina berth and mooring agreements: whether the right is a lease, a licence or a long-term usage right materially affects whether it can be transferred, mortgaged or inherited, and the answer is in the contract rather than in the marketing.

The second is short-term holiday letting, which is now regulated. Letting residential property on a short-term basis requires a permit, and in a building held in condominium the unanimous consent of the other owners is required. Owners who let through online platforms without this exposure themselves to administrative fines and to action by the other owners. Anyone buying with a letting income in mind should confirm the position for that specific building before committing.

5. Instructing Us From Abroad

An attorney holding a power of attorney (vekâletname) may act for you in litigation, before the Land Registry and in enforcement proceedings without your being in Turkey. It may be executed at a Turkish notary while you are in the country, or at a Turkish consulate abroad, in which case it is issued in Turkish form and needs no apostille or translation.

Note that Çeşme is in İzmir province and our office is based in Kuşadası; we act across both judicial regions, but which region a matter falls into should be established early, because it determines both the court and the practical timetable.