Deportation from Turkey: the decision, the seven-day appeal and detention

Deportation is the removal of a foreign national from Turkey by a deportation decision, to the country of origin, a country of transit or a third country (Law No. 6458, art. 52). The decision is taken by the governorship (valilik), either on the instruction of the Presidency of Migration Management (Göç İdaresi Başkanlığı) or of its own motion (art. 53(1)). Law No. 6458 still calls this authority the Directorate General of Migration Management (“Genel Müdürlük”) in its definitions (art. 3(1)(ğ)), while later provisions of the Law use the name Göç İdaresi Başkanlığı (for example art. 121/A). This page calls it the Presidency.

The decision must be served, together with its reasons, on the foreign national, their legal representative or their lawyer. A person who is not represented by a lawyer must be informed of the outcome of the decision, the procedures for challenging it and the time limits that apply (art. 53(2)).

Where a foreign national within the scope of art. 54 is apprehended by law enforcement, the governorship must be notified immediately, and the assessment and decision may not take longer than 48 hours (art. 57(1)).

Art. 54(1) of Law No. 6458 lists the persons about whom a deportation decision is taken. Under art. 54(2), a deportation decision may be taken at any stage of the international protection procedure about an applicant for, or a holder of, international protection who is considered to fall within points 2), 5) or 12) of the list below. The persons listed in art. 54(1) are:

Even where art. 54 applies, no deportation decision is taken about the following persons (Law No. 6458, art. 55(1)):

The assessment is made individually for each person, and these persons may be required to reside at a specified address and to report in the manner and at the intervals required (art. 55(2)). Under the Regulation on the Implementation of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (the YUKK Regulation), where it emerges after a deportation decision that a person falls within point 1) below, removal to a third country is considered first; if that is not possible, or where the person falls within point 2) or 3), the decision is not enforced and a humanitarian residence permit is issued. The decision itself remains: if the obstacle to removal ceases, the humanitarian residence permit is cancelled and the deportation is carried out without a new decision (YUKK Regulation art. 57(1)-(2)).

The foreign national, their legal representative or their lawyer may bring an annulment action (iptal davası) before the administrative court within seven days of service of the deportation decision (Law No. 6458, art. 53(3), as amended by Law No. 7533; Law No. 2577, art. 2(1)(a)). It is therefore a court case against an administrative decision rather than an appeal. The person applying to the court must also notify the authority that issued the decision of the application.

The case file is deemed complete once the administration has submitted its defence or the period for doing so has expired. Whether a hearing is held is at the court's discretion. The application is decided within fifteen days of the file becoming complete, or of the completion of an interim decision or hearing where one is needed. The court's decision is final (art. 53(3)).

If documents cannot be served at the address the claimant gave, the case file is set aside until a new address is notified, and any stay of execution lapses. In deportation cases, the period for asking for the file to be reinstated by notifying a new address is two months from the date it was set aside, instead of the general one year; if no request is made in time, the court rules that the case is treated as never having been brought (art. 53(3); Law No. 2577, art. 26(3)).

Unless the foreign national consents, they are not deported during the period for bringing the case or, if the case is brought, until the proceedings are concluded (art. 53(3)).

Persons who receive a deportation decision are given a period of not less than fifteen days and up to thirty days to leave Turkey, provided that the period is stated in the decision. No such period is given to persons with a risk of absconding, persons who breached the rules on legal entry or exit, persons who used forged documents, persons who tried to obtain, or were found to have obtained, a residence permit with false documents, or persons posing a threat to public order, public security or public health (Law No. 6458, art. 56(1)).

A person given a period to leave receives an Exit Permit Document, which is free of charge; obligations relating to visa and residence fees and their penalties remain (art. 56(2)). During the period given to leave, the person may not apply for a residence permit or a work permit (YUKK Regulation art. 58(3)).

The travel costs of deportation are borne by the foreign national; where the person has no money at all, the costs are met by the Presidency. Until the costs are repaid, entry into Turkey may be refused (art. 60(3)).

The entry of deported foreign nationals into Turkey is banned by the Presidency or the governorships (art. 9(2)). An entry ban need not be imposed on a person who leaves within the period given under art. 56 (art. 9(5)); under the YUKK Regulation, no entry ban is applied to a person who comes to the border crossing within that period and has paid any fines arising from visa or residence breaches (YUKK Regulation art. 58(7)). A person who reaches the border after the period has expired is subject to an entry ban according to the length of the visa or residence breach (YUKK Regulation art. 58(8)). Entry bans are covered on a separate page.

Among persons who have received a deportation decision, the governorship places in administrative detention, or subjects to alternative obligations under art. 57/A, those with a risk of absconding, those who breached the rules on entry or exit, those who used forged or false documents, those who did not leave within the period given without an acceptable excuse, and those posing a threat to public order, public security or public health. A person placed in detention is taken to a removal centre within 48 hours (Law No. 6458, art. 57(2)).

Detention in a removal centre may not exceed six months. It may be extended by a further six months at most, only where deportation cannot be completed because the person does not cooperate or does not give correct information or documents about their country (art. 57(3)). The governorship reviews every month, or earlier where needed, whether continued detention is necessary; where it is not, detention is ended immediately and alternative obligations are imposed (art. 57(4)). The detention decision, any extension and the monthly reviews are served with their reasons (art. 57(5)).

A challenge to the detention decision goes to the magistrate judge (sulh ceza hâkimi), not to the administrative court. The application does not suspend detention; a petition handed to the administration is forwarded to the competent judge immediately; the judge decides within five days, and the decision is final. A new application may be made on the ground that the conditions for detention have ceased or changed (art. 57(6)). The law does not set a time limit for making this application.

The two remedies are separate. Bringing a case against the deportation decision alone does not end detention, although the administration stops the removal as soon as it learns that the deportation decision has been taken to court; and applying to the magistrate judge against detention does not by itself stop the deportation (YUKK Regulation art. 59(4)-(5)). A person in detention may hand the petition against the deportation decision to the administration, which forwards it immediately to the competent administrative court (YUKK Regulation art. 59(3)). The deportation decision itself is challenged before the administrative court within seven days of service (Law No. 6458, art. 53(3)).

Persons challenging detention who cannot afford a lawyer are provided with legal services on request under the Attorneyship Law (art. 57(7)).

The alternative obligations are: 1) residing at a specified address; 2) reporting; 3) family-based return; 4) return counselling; 5) voluntary work in public-interest services; 6) a guarantee; 7) electronic monitoring. Persons within art. 57(2) who are not placed in detention must be subjected to one or more of them. Where one or more of them is imposed, the period may not exceed 24 months. Electronic monitoring can be challenged before the magistrate judge; the application does not suspend the obligation, and the judge decides within five days, with a final decision. A guarantee is recorded as revenue to the Treasury if the person does not leave Turkey within the guarantee period, except in cases of force majeure or where court proceedings have not ended. A person who does not comply with the obligations may be placed in administrative detention (art. 57/A).

Different rules apply to applicants for international protection: they may not be placed in administrative detention merely for having applied, their detention is exceptional and allowed only on the grounds listed in art. 68(2), it may not exceed thirty days, and it too can be challenged before the magistrate judge (Law No. 6458, art. 68).

Foreign nationals placed in administrative detention are held in removal centres, which are run by the Ministry or, under a protocol, by public bodies, the Turkish Red Crescent or public-benefit associations with expertise in migration (Law No. 6458, art. 58).

In a removal centre, emergency and basic health services the person cannot pay for are provided free of charge. The person must be able to reach and meet relatives, a notary, a legal representative and a lawyer, and to use telephone services, and to meet visitors, consular officials of their country and officials of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The best interests of the child are taken into account, and families are accommodated in separate quarters (art. 59(1)(a), (b), (c) and (ç)).

The removal centre in Muğla is in Ula, at Alpaslan Mahallesi Gökalp Gündüz Caddesi No:78 Ula/MUĞLA, according to the contact list published by the Presidency of Migration Management. The Muğla Provincial Directorate of Migration Management, to which the Ula Removal Centre is attached, is at Orhaniye Mah. Papatya Sok. No:15 Menteşe/Muğla.

According to the Provincial Directorate's announcement, the spouse, guardian, blood relatives up to the third degree and relatives by marriage up to the second degree of a person held at Ula, and lawyers, may visit the centre under its schedule: on weekdays, Monday to Friday, lawyer and relative meetings take place in a morning block beginning at 08.30 and an afternoon block beginning at 14.00, with a lunch break between them shown in the 12.00 and 13.00 rows of the schedule; the schedule shows no meetings on Saturday or Sunday. This information was taken from the official pages on 17 October 2026 and may change.