Whistleblower protection and reporting channels in Turkey

1. Is there a law on whistleblowing in your country?

There is no law on whistleblowing; the provisions of the Turkish Labour Law apply, to the extent relevant.

However, a separate obligation is imposed on the health and safety officers who are obligated to report to the relevant public authorities any health and safety related misconduct, which, despite having become aware of it, is not remedied by the employer.

2. Does local law require private entities to establish a whistleblowing system? (If so, which private entities?)

Currently, neither private nor public entities are generally obliged to establish a whistleblowing system. 

No such risk exists for solely failing to establish a whistleblowing system.

4. Are there any mandatory requirements for establishing a reporting channel under local labour law?

No.

5. Does local law require employee involvement when establishing a whistleblowing system?

No.

6. Does local law prohibit employees from disclosing irregularities/misconduct externally, e.g. to the public?

In accordance with the employee's duty of loyalty and his/her obligation to confidentiality, the employee must usually first report misconduct to the competent body (i.e., supervisor, HR, etc.). 

If, however, the employer fails to take any action against the misconduct, the employee may have the right to make such misconduct public as a last resort.

Where the irregularities constitute a criminal act, the employee would have a right (and an obligation) to report this the judicial bodies as well, even if it has not reported this matter to the employer.

A whistle-blower would be protected against discrimination or other reprimand by the general principles of the Turkish Labour Law (i.e., the employer’s obligation of equal treatment and to protect its employees). 

A separate protection for company health and safety officers and doctors who are terminated for reporting any health and safety related misconduct is also available under the law.

8. Are there any mandatory requirements and/or accompanying measures under local data protection law?

Turkish Data Protection Law must be complied with. As processing data requires a legal basis as laid down under the said law, any data processing implemented as part of the related procedures must rely on the correct basis. Moreover, processing must always be carried out in the least invasive way possible to minimise the impact on the data subject, and the principle of data minimisation must be observed. Personal data irrelevant to a specific report must not be collected or must be deleted without undue delay.

9. Does local law prohibit a joint whistleblowing system of various entities in different jurisdictions?

No. However, to the extent that information from Turkiye is transferred to a foreign jurisdiction, the relevant provisions of the Turkish data protection legislation must be considered.

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Döne Yalçın
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Istanbul
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Sinan Abra