AI regulation in Turkey: laws & policy (2026)
AI in Turkey: proposed.
Turkey has no enacted comprehensive AI law as of May 2026; multiple AI-specific amendment bills submitted to the Grand National Assembly in late 2025 remain under legislative review. Existing sectoral coverage is provided by data-protection law (KVKK) and internet-content regulation (Law 5651/BTK), supplemented by a National AI Strategy and November 2025 KVKK guidelines on generative AI. A December 2025 presidential decree also formally institutionalised AI governance by renaming and expanding the remit of the National Technology Directorate.
Legal framework
National AI Strategy 2021-2025 (updated 2024-2025 Action Plan); AI-specific bills pending in the Grand National Assembly (Kanun Teklifi 2/3358, Nov 2025); existing coverage via Law No. 6698 (KVKK/Personal Data Protection Law) and Law No. 5651 (Internet Regulation); enforcement by KVKK and BTK
Key points: artificial intelligence in Turkey
National AI Strategy 2021-2025
Turkey's Presidency Digital Transformation Office published a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy covering 24 strategic objectives and 119 measures; a revised 2024-2025 Action Plan was issued in July 2024 to reflect emerging AI developments and align with international frameworks.
Pending AI Amendment Bills (2025)
A major bill (Kanun Teklifi 2/3358, submitted 7 November 2025) proposes to amend the Turkish Penal Code and related laws to introduce a statutory definition of 'AI system', mandatory labelling of AI-generated/deepfake content, accelerated 6-hour takedown timelines, dataset anti-discrimination obligations, and new BTK enforcement powers and administrative fines. As of early 2026 the bill had not been enacted.
KVKK Generative AI Guidelines (Nov 2025)
On 24 November 2025 the Personal Data Protection Authority (KVKK) published a 63-page 'Guideline on Generative Artificial Intelligence and the Protection of Personal Data (in 15 Questions)', confirming that Law No. 6698 applies in full to all stages of generative AI systems that process personal data, with specific obligations on transparency, legal basis, cross-border transfers, and special-category data.
Institutional Expansion via Presidential Decree (Dec 2025)
A presidential decree published in the Official Gazette on 25 December 2025 renamed the Ministry of Industry and Technology's National Technology General Directorate to the 'National Technology and Artificial Intelligence General Directorate' and established a new Public Artificial Intelligence Directorate General under the Presidency's Cybersecurity Directorate to coordinate AI integration across government.
Grok Content Block, BTK/Law 5651 enforcement (Jul 2025)
In July 2025 Turkey became the first country to formally restrict an AI chatbot: an Ankara court ordered access blocks on specific Grok (xAI) outputs deemed to insult state figures, with BTK implementing the orders under Law 5651. A criminal investigation was launched by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor, establishing a precedent for applying existing internet and penal law to AI-generated content.
EU AI Act alignment context
Turkey is not an EU member state and the EU AI Act does not directly apply; however, legal commentary and the pending 2025 bills indicate Turkey is tracking EU AI Act risk-based concepts (high-risk classification, transparency obligations) as a reference model, reflecting Turkey's broader ambition to align domestic digital law with EU standards.
Timeline of decisions
- LawParliament Bill Proposes 5% Turnover Fines for AI Content Platforms
A new bill submitted to the Grand National Assembly on 8 January 2026 proposes adding a misdemeanor to KVKK Law 6698 that would impose fines of up to 5% of the prior year's global turnover on social media and digital platforms that allow sharing of AI-generated audio, written, or visual content without the data subject's consent. It represents Turkey's first move toward platform-level financial liability specifically tied to AI-output harms.
Paksoy Attorneys at Law
- Guidance · officialKVKK Publishes Comprehensive Generative AI and Data Protection Guide
Turkey's Personal Data Protection Authority published a 63-page 'Guideline on Generative AI and the Protection of Personal Data (in 15 Questions)' on its official website, covering training-data legality, explicit consent, cross-border transfers, transparency obligations, and risks such as deepfakes and hallucinations. It is considered one of the most detailed official generative-AI guidance documents issued by any data protection authority worldwide.
KVKK — Personal Data Protection Authority
- LawComprehensive AI Amendment Bill (No. 2/3358) Filed in TBMM
Bill Esas No. 2/3358, filed in the Grand National Assembly on 7 November 2025, proposes targeted amendments across five existing statutes, Internet Law 5651, Penal Code 5237, KVKK 6698, Electronic Communications Law 5809, and Cybersecurity Law 7545, to embed AI governance obligations: statutory AI-system definitions, mandatory deepfake labelling (TRY 500,000-5,000,000 fines), six-hour content takedown windows, expanded BTK emergency blocking powers, and criminal liability for developers whose systems are weaponised. Turkey chose an amendment-based approach rather than a standalone AI Act.
Moroğlu Arseven
- EnforcementTurkey Becomes First Country to Criminally Probe and Block an AI Chatbot (Grok)
Ankara's Chief Public Prosecutor opened a criminal investigation into xAI's Grok chatbot after it generated content insulting President Erdoğan and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; a Turkish court ordered BTK to block the offending outputs. Turkey became the first country to impose regulatory measures specifically on an AI chatbot's generated content, demonstrating that AI-generated speech is directly actionable under Law No. 5651 without any dedicated AI statute.
Turkish Minute
- GuidanceKVKK Issues Sector-Specific Guidance on AI Chatbots
The Personal Data Protection Authority published an explanatory note specifically addressing chatbot systems, clarifying that KVKK obligations fully apply when any chatbot processes personal data, requiring Data Protection Impact Assessments, user notice describing data retention and third-party sharing, and privacy-by-design integration. It was the Authority's first guidance document focused exclusively on the conversational-AI use case.
DataGuidance
- DecisionAI 2024-2025 Action Plan Published with 71 Priority Actions
The Presidency Digital Transformation Office and Ministry of Industry and Technology released a mid-term action plan updating the National AI Strategy with 71 concrete measures across six strategic pillars, including development of Turkish-language large language models, expanded public AI infrastructure, cross-ministerial coordination, and enacting regulations to accelerate socioeconomic integration. The plan anchors Turkey's AI ambitions within the 12th National Development Plan.
Esin Attorney Partnership
- LawFirst Standalone Draft Artificial Intelligence Law Submitted to Parliament
An eight-article draft AI law was submitted to the TBMM in June 2024, proposing foundational definitions, risk-based obligations, mandatory AI-content labelling for deepfakes, personality-rights protections with six-hour takedown duties, and designating BTK and KVKK as co-enforcement authorities. Although concise, it was Turkey's first attempt at a dedicated AI statute and launched the parliamentary debate that shaped the more detailed November 2025 bill.
Gide Law Firm
- GuidanceTurkey Adopts Voluntary Ethical Guidelines for Reliable and Responsible AI
The Presidency Digital Transformation Office published voluntary ethical guidelines for AI development and deployment, centred on human-centredness, transparency, accountability, non-discrimination, and privacy, aligning with OECD AI Principles and Council of Europe frameworks. The guidelines were non-binding but represented Turkey's first official statement of AI ethics norms and explicitly flagged the need for future binding regulation.
Global Legal Insights
- Guidance · officialKVKK Publishes First AI-Specific Personal Data Protection Recommendations
Turkey's Personal Data Protection Authority published its first dedicated AI guidance, setting sector-spanning expectations on privacy-by-design, data minimisation, accountability matrices throughout the AI project lifecycle, and the need for impact assessments for high-risk processing. Published directly on kvkk.gov.tr, this document became the operative data-protection standard for AI developers in Turkey in the absence of any AI-specific statute.
KVKK — Personal Data Protection Authority
- Decision · officialNational AI Strategy 2021-2025 Enacted via Presidential Circular No. 2021/18
Presidential Circular No. 2021/18, published in Official Gazette No. 31574, established Turkey's first National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, setting 2025 targets of raising AI's share of GDP to 5%, training 50,000 AI specialists, and organising 24 objectives and 119 measures under six strategic priorities including a dedicated regulatory and ethics pillar aligned with EU frameworks. It remains the foundational policy document underpinning all subsequent AI governance actions in Turkey.
OECD.AI
Sources
- wp.oecd.ai/app/uploads/2021/12/Turkey_National_Artificial_Intelligence_Strategy_
- regulations.ai/regulations/RAI-TR-NA-NAIS2XX-2024
- dataguidance.com/news/turkey-parliamentary-bill-introduced-regulate
- mondaq.com/turkey/new-technology/1723028/draft-law-proposing-amendments-to-certa
- regulations.ai/regulations/RAI-TR-NA-ACLRAXX-2025
- dataguidance.com/news/turkey-kvkk-publishes-guide-generative-ai-and-personal
- mondaq.com/turkey/privacy-protection/1712358/generative-artificial-intelligence-
- babl.ai/turkey-establishes-national-artificial-intelligence-directorate-throu
- en.yenisafak.com/world/turkiye-establishes-new-ai-directorates-to-drive-national-strat
- turkishminute.com/2025/07/09/turkey-becomes-first-country-to-ban-xs-ai-chatbot-grok-ami
- balkaninsight.com/2025/07/09/turkish-court-orders-block-on-xs-grok-for-insulting-leader
- digital.nemko.com/regulations/ai-regulation-in-turkey
- cbclaw.com.tr/en/the-artificial-intelligence-bill-of-law-is-on-the-agenda
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Next topicOrientation, not legal advice: verify against the primary sources linked above. Last verified 24 May 2026. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026