Regulation on the Allocation of Public Real Estates for Tourism Investments

Institution: Ministry of Culture and Tourism
Date of Approval: 21.07.2006
Official Gazette Date: 21.07.2006
Official Gazette No: 26235

CHAPTER ONE: Purpose, Scope, Basis and Definitions

Purpose

Article 1 - (1) The purpose of this Regulation is to determine the procedures and principles regarding the allocation of public real estates within or outside cultural and tourism protection and development regions, their subregions determined by plans, and tourism centers to the Ministry, expropriation of privately owned real estates, registration of title deeds in the name of the Treasury, allocation to investors, establishment of easement rights including independent and permanent superior rights, leasing, operation and transfer transactions, as well as the duration, fees, termination of rights and other conditions related to the use of these properties for tourism purposes.

Scope

Article 2 - (1) This Regulation covers the allocation of public real estates within or outside cultural and tourism protection and development regions, their subregions determined by plans, and tourism centers to the Ministry, expropriation of privately owned real estates, registration of title deeds in the name of the Treasury, allocation to investors, establishment of easement rights including independent and permanent superior rights, leasing, operation and transfer transactions, as well as the duration, fees, termination of rights and other conditions related to the use of these properties for tourism purposes.

Basis

Article 3 - (1) This Regulation has been prepared based on Article 8 of the Tourism Encouragement Law No. 2634 dated 12/3/1982.

Definitions

Article 4 - (Amended Article Official Gazette Date: 23.05.2012 Official Gazette No: 28301)

(1) In this Regulation, the following terms mean;

  • a) Sub-investor: Legal entities that take over at least one of the real estates allocated to the main investor,
  • b) Main investor: The real or legal person who will carry out or ensure the realization of the tourism investment with all social and technical infrastructure determined by the plan decision in the entire cultural and tourism protection and development region or its subregions determined by plans (Amended phrase Official Gazette Date: 25.09.2018 Official Gazette No: 30546) by presidential decree,
  • c) Allocation to the Ministry: The transfer of public real estates to the disposal of the Ministry to be used in accordance with the Law and the purposes of this Regulation,
  • ç) Ministry: Ministry of Culture and Tourism,
  • d) Entrepreneur: Turkish or foreign real or legal persons, joint ventures and consortiums who have applied to the Ministry with the desire to make tourism investments,
  • e) Public real estates: Places under the sovereignty and disposal of the State allocated to the Ministry under the Law, real estates owned privately by the Treasury, and forest lands located within cultural and tourism protection and development regions, their subregions determined by plans, and tourism centers,
  • f) Law: Tourism Encouragement Law No. 2634,
  • g) Definitive allocation: Granting the right to use by establishing easement rights including independent and permanent superior rights or leasing or usage permission on public real estate in the name of entrepreneurs who fulfill the pre-permission conditions,
  • ğ) Commission: Land Allocation Commission established under this Regulation,
  • h) (Amended phrase Official Gazette Date: 25.09.2018 Official Gazette No: 30546) Usage fee: Rent, easement right or usage permission fee,
  • ı) Cultural and tourism protection and development subregion: Real estates located within a cultural and tourism protection and development region and determined by a 1/25000 or smaller scale plan, including one or more of tourism types, culture, education, entertainment, commerce, housing and all kinds of technical and social infrastructure areas, which can be subdivided into sub-areas,
  • i) Cultural and tourism protection and development region: Regions where historical and cultural values are densely located or with high tourism potential, designated and announced by the Ministry's proposal and (Amended phrase Official Gazette Date: 25.09.2018 Official Gazette No: 30546) presidential decree to protect, use, ensure sectoral development and planned growth,
  • j) Negotiation: The meeting held with entrepreneurs deemed sufficient for the applied real estates to determine the participation share in social and technical infrastructure,
  • k) Negotiation Commission: Negotiation commission established under this Regulation,
  • l) Pre-permission: Permission granted to the entrepreneur until the definitive allocation stage to allow the development of plans and projects for tourism purposes and completion of other procedures related to public real estates within the scope of this Regulation,
  • m) (Amended phrase Official Gazette Date: 26.10.2019 Official Gazette No: 30930) Participation share in social and technical infrastructure: The share proposed by the entrepreneur and/or determined as a result of negotiation, not less than the amount to be determined by the Ministry, to cover all or part of the construction or cost of social and technical infrastructure services to be carried out in the allocated areas determined by the Ministry from publicly announced allocations,
  • n) Allocation specification: The specification containing the special conditions and general provisions of the real estates subject to allocation prepared by the Ministry for each announcement period,
  • o) Guarantee: Irrevocable and definite guarantee letters to be provided by deposit or participation banks,
  • ö) Total investment cost: The total investment amount calculated according to unit costs to be determined annually by the Ministry for investment types,
  • p) Tourism regions and areas: Regions and areas whose location, position and boundaries were determined and announced by the Ministry's proposal and (Amended phrase Official Gazette Date: 25.09.2018 Official Gazette No: 30546) presidential decree before the amendments made to the Tourism Encouragement Law No. 2634 by Law No. 4957 dated 24/7/2003, and which are in force according to the Temporary Article 7 of the Law,
  • r) Tourism centers: Places or parts within or outside cultural and tourism protection and development regions, primarily planned to be developed, whose location, position and boundaries are determined and announced by the Ministry's proposal and (Amended phrase Official Gazette Date: 25.09.2018 Official Gazette No: 30546) presidential decree, and which are important in terms of tourism movements and activities,
  • s) Investor: Legal entities holding a tourism investment certificate,
  • ş) (Added paragraph Official Gazette Date: 26.10.2019 Official Gazette No: 30930) Qualified sports facility: Sports facilities meeting the minimum qualifications specified in Article 29 of the Regulation on the Qualifications of Tourism Facilities enacted by Presidential Decree No. 1134 dated 31/5/2019, consisting of a single integrated facility where at least thirty Olympic sports branches are performed, certified by international federations, with athletics facilities meeting international standards and measurements, at least one football training field and one football match field with a minimum capacity of 1,500 spectators, one Olympic outdoor and indoor swimming pool each, and basketball, volleyball, handball competition and training fields each, supported by complementary other sections of these activities,
  • t) (Added paragraph Official Gazette Date: 26.10.2019 Official Gazette No: 30930) Staff housing area: Areas allocated by the Ministry for the accommodation needs and quality of life improvement of personnel working in tourism facilities located on real estates allocated to investors for tourism facility construction; auxiliary service units established for this purpose, outside and not adjacent to the area allocated for the tourism facility, without sea frontage, and designated as tourism facility service areas in zoning plans.

CHAPTER TWO: Taking Real Estates under the Ministry's Disposal

Preliminary Procedures for Areas Allocated to Tourism

Article 5 - (1) Public real estates within and outside cultural and tourism protection and development regions and tourism centers, which are deemed beneficial to be primarily evaluated for tourism purposes due to historical, cultural and natural values, tourism potential, infrastructure convenience, sectoral development, planned growth, tourism diversity, local characteristics, are determined by the Ministry.

(2) The ownership status of such real estates is determined. If cadastral work has not been done, it can be done primarily. If zoning plans have not been made, they are made or commissioned and approved by the Ministry.

(3) After taking areas outside cultural and tourism protection and development regions and tourism centers under the Ministry's disposal, zoning plans are submitted to the relevant institution for approval.

Procedures for Taking Real Estates Allocated to Tourism under the Ministry's Disposal

Article 6 - (1) Public real estates decided to be taken under the Ministry's disposal are allocated to the Ministry within the procedures and periods specified in Article 8 of the Law. For this purpose, planning, expropriation, parceling, title deed registration, transfer, allocation and similar procedures are followed and finalized by the Ministry in accordance with relevant legislation.

(2) In cultural and tourism protection and development regions and tourism centers, allocations on tourism, education and recreational facilities and lands belonging to public institutions and organizations are revoked by the allocating authority upon the Ministry's proposal and the Ministry of Finance's approval, and disposal rights are transferred to the Ministry.

(3) Situations where there is insufficient area in Treasury ownership as stated in the first paragraph of Article 8 of the Law refer to the lack of sufficient area in Treasury ownership in terms of location, position, size, connection to the sea, distance to the sea and suitability for allocation purpose.

Treasury Real Estates Outside Cultural and Tourism Protection and Development Regions, Subregions and Tourism Centers

Article 7 - (1) When there is an application to invest in Treasury real estates allocated to tourism by zoning plans, allocation can be made within the framework of this Regulation and the Council of Ministers Decision No. 86/10497 dated 18/3/1986.

Expropriation Procedures

Article 8 - (1) Privately owned real estates decided to be taken under the Ministry's disposal within cultural and tourism protection and development regions and tourism centers are expropriated by the Ministry according to the provisions of the Expropriation Law No. 2942 dated 4/11/1983 and registered in the name of the Treasury. These real estates are allocated to the Ministry by the Ministry of Finance within one month following the registration date pursuant to Article 8 of the Law.

(2) Urgent expropriation can be carried out according to Article 27 of the Expropriation Law No. 2942 for privately owned real estates within cultural and tourism protection and development regions and tourism centers for allocation to tourism investments. These expropriated real estates are also registered in the name of the Treasury.

(3) On public real estates within cultural and tourism protection and development regions and tourism centers, and on real estates expropriated and registered in the name of the Treasury with costs covered by the Ministry's budget, easement rights including independent and permanent superior rights are established in favor of investors for the duration specified in the contract against payment. For real estates expropriated and registered in the name of the Treasury with costs covered by the investor, easement rights are established in favor of the investor for the part corresponding to the expropriated area at a rate of 0.05% of the total investment cost. All easement right transactions are carried out by the Ministry of Finance.

CHAPTER THREE: Announcement of Allocation of Real Estates and Evaluation of Requests

Announcement

Article 9 - (1) The locations, zoning status, characteristics, infrastructure status, sketches, investment completion period and final application date of public lands taken under the Ministry's disposal within and outside cultural and tourism protection and development regions and tourism centers, allocated to entrepreneurs for tourism purposes, are announced to entrepreneurs by the Ministry.

Application Procedures and Principles

Article 10 - (1) Entrepreneurs shall submit within the application period for the tourism use of the real estates announced under this Regulation;

  • a) All information and documents requested in the allocation specification prepared by the Ministry, the declaration and attached form included in the specification, and a financial evaluation report prepared by a sworn financial advisor or institutions authorized for independent auditing showing the applicant's financial capacity to realize the investment,
  • b) (Repealed paragraph Official Gazette Date: 23.05.2012 Official Gazette No: 28301)
  • c) A notarized commitment stating that the entrepreneur will cover the share to be determined by the Ministry for the construction or cost of all or part of the social and technical infrastructure services to be carried out in the allocated and to be allocated areas according to the nature of the region or project where the investment will be realized, and that all other conditions specified in the allocation specification are accepted and will be fulfilled, and notifying the Ministry of the notification address.

(2) Applications can be made as joint ventures. Joint ventures can be formed as partnerships or consortiums by more than one real or legal person.

(3) Partnership is a partnership whose members agree to perform the entire work together with their rights and responsibilities.

(4) Consortium is a partnership whose members agree to perform parts of the work related to their own areas of expertise by separating their rights and responsibilities.

(5) In partnership agreements, a lead partner is designated; in consortium agreements, a coordinating partner is designated. The lead or coordinating partner is the legal counterpart in transactions to be carried out by the Ministry.

(6) A notarized copy of the partnership or consortium agreement is submitted to the Ministry.

(7) The Ministry specifies in the allocation specification whether consortiums can submit offers in the announcement if the work requires different expertise.

(8) In partnership agreements and contracts, it is stated that the real or legal persons forming the partnership are jointly and severally liable for the fulfillment of the commitment; in consortium agreements and contracts, it is stated which part of the work each member commits to and that coordination among them will be ensured through the coordinating partner.

(9) In applications made as partnership or consortium, if one or more partners other than the lead or coordinating partner withdraw later, the lead or coordinating partner and remaining partners are authorized to continue the work provided that their financial status is documented by a sworn financial advisor or independent auditing institution report prepared at the time of application showing that they can realize at least fifty percent of the investment with their own resources.

(10) Requests for allocation of public real estates submitted to the Ministry are finalized by the Commission within six months from the date of submission of all information and documents specified in the allocation specification. This period can be extended by the Ministry if deemed necessary.

(11) If the entrepreneur is a foreign real or legal person, the financial evaluation report to be prepared according to this article can be prepared by a sworn financial advisor or independent auditing institution located in Turkey or by authorized institutions in the entrepreneur's country of nationality; however, the rest of the article is truncated in the provided text.