What Contracts Does a Company Need in Türkiye? Key Agreements Every Business Should Have

In the complex and fast-evolving landscape of Turkish commerce, having professionally prepared contracts is essential for protecting your company’s legal interests, commercial relationships, and long-term viability. Whether you are a local entrepreneur or a foreign investor, operating a company in Türkiye without a solid contract framework exposes you to unnecessary risks, disputes, and financial losses.

At Bayraktar Attorneys, we specialize in drafting tailored contract sets for businesses across all sectors. This blog outlines the essential contracts your company should have in place and explains how our law firm ensures these agreements meet your operational and legal needs.

Service Agreements: Managing External Operations with Legal Precision

Many companies in Türkiye outsource essential operations such as accounting, logistics, information technology, marketing, and cleaning. A properly drafted service agreement establishes performance expectations and defines the rights and responsibilities of both parties, ensuring accountability and recourse in the event of underperformance or breach.

Key Elements

• Scope of services and deliverables

• Performance benchmarks

• Payment structures

• Confidentiality and data protection

• Termination procedures and legal remedies

For example, if a business hires an external IT service provider, the contract should clearly define the expected response time, backup responsibilities, and access limitations to sensitive infrastructure.

Supply Agreements: Safeguarding Your Business Inputs

Businesses involved in production, retail, or trade depend on a consistent flow of goods and materials. A comprehensive supply agreement ensures that this flow is stable, cost-controlled, and legally protected.

Critical Clauses

• Product quality and specification standards

• Delivery schedules and default penalties

• Price adjustment mechanisms

• Force majeure and dispute resolution provisions

A manufacturer sourcing imported components should ensure that all material standards and delivery intervals are contractually guaranteed to prevent production delays.

Sales and Distribution Agreements: Growing Safely and Strategically

Businesses that work with agents, resellers, or regional distributors require detailed contracts that define the scope of representation, territory, sales quotas, and branding terms. These agreements must strike a balance between commercial flexibility and legal control.

Important Provisions

• Exclusive vs non-exclusive rights

• Territory and client segmentation

• Product pricing and discount authority

• Termination, renewal, and dispute handling

For instance, a cosmetics brand expanding through local distributors must define brand use, digital marketing guidelines, and penalties for failure to meet sales targets.

Intellectual Property (IP) Agreements: Retaining Ownership Over Innovation

In industries like software, design, engineering, architecture, and content production, the legal ownership of creative output does not automatically transfer to your company unless expressly stated in a contract. Intellectual property agreements protect your firm’s rights to use, license, or sell the work.

Use Cases

• Software code created by freelancers

• Technical designs developed by engineers

• Marketing visuals produced by agencies

Without a clear IP assignment clause, a freelance developer who builds your app might retain legal ownership of the source code, creating serious complications during investor due diligence or acquisition.

Confidentiality Agreements: Keeping Sensitive Information Secure

Companies often share confidential financial data, customer information, pricing strategies, or product roadmaps with consultants, service providers, and employees. Confidentiality agreements ensure that this data is not shared, misused, or disclosed unlawfully.

Must-Have Clauses

• Definition of confidential information

• Scope and limitations of use

• Duration of confidentiality

• Penalties and legal consequences

A startup seeking investment should always require a signed confidentiality agreement before pitching business plans to investors or partners.

Tailored Contracts Based on Sector and Structure

Every business sector in Türkiye has its own risks, regulatory expectations, and operational norms. For this reason, Bayraktar Attorneys never uses generic templates. Instead, we carefully assess the business profile of each client and offer a tailored contract package accordingly.

For example, a software development firm needs service agreements that protect against IP theft, clearly assign ownership of code, and bind developers to non-disclosure clauses. A manufacturer must have airtight supply agreements, performance-based penalties, and regulatory compliance clauses regarding product certification. In contrast, a marketing and media agency will focus more on intellectual property transfers, creative usage rights, and deadlines tied to performance payments. Meanwhile, e-commerce companies require robust fulfillment agreements, digital terms of use, customer protection clauses, and privacy policies aligned with data protection laws.

Why Your Company Needs a Contract Set

A professionally prepared contract set provides numerous benefits including:

• Reducing the likelihood of future disputes or litigation

• Creating enforceable protections for business relationships

• Enhancing transparency and professionalism with third parties

• Supporting internal control and compliance

• Increasing credibility with banks, investors, and regulators

Legal disputes often arise not from malice but from lack of clarity. Our aim is to remove ambiguity and protect your business with strategic, enforceable language.

Conclusion

Whether your company is a newly formed startup or an established enterprise, a complete contract set is a foundational legal requirement for successful operations in Türkiye. At Bayraktar Attorneys, we work closely with company founders, board members, and operations teams to identify contractual risks and prepare agreements that support long-term stability and growth.

Contact our office today to begin building your company’s legal infrastructure and let us help you grow with confidence in the Turkish business environment.