Turkish nationality law

The Turkish citizenship is the legal bond of a natural person to the Turkish state, the acquisition and loss in the Turkish Nationality Act ( Turkish Türk Vatandaşlığı Kanunu; türk Act) is regulated from 2 November 1964.

Acquisition

The Turkish nationality law follows the principle of ius sanguinis ( descent principle), according to which citizenship is (also limited) by the father and inherited from the mother (Art. 1, 2 türk Act). The birth on Turkish territory gives the Turkish nationality ( " jus soli " principle place of birth ) only insofar as the born child can not acquire citizenship by descent (Art. 4 türk Act).

For naturalization in Turkey it is required that the foreign person is according to their own national laws of legal age, at least 5 years has continuously lawful permanent residence in Turkey, will be shown to settle permanently in Turkey, morally perfect lives, no infectious diseases owns, has sufficient Turkish language skills and secured livelihood (Art. 6, 9 türk Act).

The acquisition is easier for spouses of Turks (Article 5 in conjunction with Article 14, 42 türk Act), for stateless adopted children (Article 3 türk Act) and for former Turkish citizens (Art. 7, 8 türk StAG ). The Turkish citizenship law allows, in principle, but not without reservations (Article 25 a) türk Act), dual citizenship.

Loss

The loss of Turkish nationality through the exercise of option rights (Art. 27, 28, 36, 37 türk Act), motion to dismiss (Art. 20 to 23 türk Act) or cancellation of naturalization for misrepresentation (Art. 24, türk 33 Act) take place. The citizenship can also be revoked (Art. 25 türk Act) or revoked (Art. 26 türk Act).

A special feature of the Turkish nationality law is that expatriate former Turkish citizens a " blue card" ( mavi kart, formerly called " pink card " / pembe kart basis of Article 29 of the Nationality Act türk since Law No. 4112 of 1995) can apply, which they would retain substantial rights of citizenship (such as inheritance, right of residence, work permit, Land, but not: right to vote).

Legal bases

Legal bases are the Turkish Constitution and the Turkish Nationality Act.

Article 66 of the Constitution:

Prior to the current 1982 Constitution of the nationality was regulated by the ( identical) Article 54 of the Constitution of 1961, before that in Article 88 of the Constitution of 1924.

The legal definition in Article 66 of the Constitution, according to the Turkish citizens are Turks, is discussed because of the ethnic dimension of the term Turk ( Türk ) in Turkey. A report of the working group " minority and cultural rights " of the set up by Prime Minister Erdogan's Advisory Council on human rights issues suggested in October 2004 using the terms, Türkiyeli ' ( from Turkey coming, of Turkish origin ) in the sense of citizenship and, Türk "( Turk ) in sense of ethnicity. While the DTP proposed a constitutional amendment ( replacement of door by Türkiyeli ), this was strongly rejected by the other CHP. According to the official interpretation are " all Turkish citizens regardless of their ethnic origin, Turks ". Already in Article 88 of the Turkish Constitution of 1924, the term "Turk " as " citizens of Turkey with Turkish citizenship without regard to religion and race."