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Criminal penalties in Turkey

Checked in October 2026 against the Türk Ceza Kanunu (Law No. 5237), consolidated text in the Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi, with amendments to 24 December 2025.

These are statutory ranges for a first offence, from the least to the most the law allows. A court decides the actual sentence in each case. We read the code in its original language and give the offences in plain English, with the legal term where it helps. For anything that matters, rely on the code itself. Not legal advice.

How Turkey sets penalties

  • A fixed term of prison is between one month and twenty years, unless the law says otherwise (art. 49). Life imprisonment (müebbet hapis) and the harsher aggravated life imprisonment (ağırlaştırılmış müebbet hapis) are the top penalties.
  • Articles state a range ('from one year to three years') or sometimes a minimum. For many offences a fine ('adli para cezası', counted in days) may replace or accompany prison.
  • A person who commits a crime under the influence of anger or intense grief caused by an unjust act is not punished with life or aggravated life but with 12 to 18 years (life) or 18 to 24 years (aggravated life). In other cases the penalty is reduced by a quarter to three quarters (art. 29). This 'unjust provocation' rule applies to every crime, including murder.
  • An attempt is punished with lower penalties: 14 to 21 years for aggravated life, 10 to 18 years for life, and a reduction of a quarter to three quarters otherwise (art. 35).
  • Many offences, such as simple injury or breach of trust, are prosecuted only if the victim complains.
  • Drunk driving is governed by the Highway Traffic Law, which we have not read, so it is left out of this table.

Death penalty: No. Turkey abolished the death penalty in peacetime in 2002 and for all crimes in 2004, and the Penal Code has no death penalty.

Read the Turkey legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →

First-degree murder

Aggravated life imprisonment (premeditated killing and the listed aggravated cases)

  • Nitelikli kasten öldürme (aggravated intentional killing) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    No minimum term set by the statute
    Most
    Aggravated life imprisonment (ağırlaştırılmış müebbet hapis)

    In some cases the court may impose a lower penalty. An attempt is punished with 14 to 21 years.

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 82

Turkey divides intentional killing into the basic offence (art. 81) and the aggravated forms (art. 82). Art. 82 lists premeditation, savage motives or torture, killing by fire, flood or explosion, a killing of a parent or a spouse, of a child or a defenceless person, of a woman, of a public official because of the duty, to hide another crime, from blood feud or 'honour' custom, and others.

Second-degree murder

Life imprisonment

  • Kasten öldürme (basic intentional killing) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    No minimum term set by the statute
    Most
    Life imprisonment (müebbet hapis)

    12 to 18 years where the killer acted under the influence of anger or severe grief caused by an unjust act (art. 29).

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 81

The basic offence of intentional killing is the closest to second-degree murder. Under art. 29, a killing in the heat of anger or intense grief caused by an unjust act is punished with 12 to 18 years instead of life.

Voluntary manslaughter

2 to 6 years (killing by negligence); 12 to 18 years for a killing under unjust provocation

  • Taksirle öldürme (killing by negligence) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    2 years
    Most
    6 years

    2 to 15 years where the act causes the death of more than one person, or one death and injury to others (art. 85(2)).

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 85(1)

  • Kasten öldürme under unjust provocation (haksız tahrik) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    12 years
    Most
    18 years (the life term is replaced by 12 to 18 years)

    18 to 24 years in the aggravated cases of art. 82.

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 81 with 29

Turkey has no separate offence of voluntary manslaughter. A killing in the heat of anger caused by an unjust act is punished under art. 29 with a reduced penalty. A killing by negligence is shown as the nearest separate offence.

Robbery

6 to 10 years (yağma) up to 10 to 15 years (armed, by a group, at night)

  • Yağma (robbery: forcing handing over property by threat to life or body, or by force) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    6 years
    Most
    10 years

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 148(1)

  • Nitelikli yağma (robbery with a weapon, by a disguised person, by several persons, on the road or in a home or workplace, against a defenceless person, at night, and other listed cases) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    10 years
    Most
    15 years

    Injuries caused during the robbery are also punished under the injury provisions (art. 149(2)).

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 149(1)

Burglary

6 months to 2 years (home trespass) up to 5 to 10 years (theft by breaking a lock, and other aggravated cases)

Turkey has no offence named 'burglary'. Entering a home against the occupier's will is a separate offence on the occupier's complaint, and the theft is punished separately, with higher penalties where it involves picking a lock or using a false key.

Arson

3 months to 1 year (negligent fire) up to 1 to 5 years (fire creating general danger)

  • Taksirle yangına neden olma (causing a fire by negligence, where it is dangerous) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    3 months
    Most
    1 year

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 171

  • Mala zarar verme (damaging another's property) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    4 months
    Most
    3 years
    Fine
    A fine may be imposed instead of prison

    Or a fine. On the victim's complaint. Where the damage is done by burning or with explosives, the penalty is increased by up to one fold (art. 152(2)).

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 151

  • Yangın çıkarma (starting a fire in a way dangerous to life, health or property, or creating fear or panic) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    1 year
    Most
    5 years

    Increased by half where the fire is started in a place where people gather (art. 170(2)).

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 170(1)

Turkey has no single arson offence. A fire set to damage property is aggravated damage (art. 152), and one that endangers people is an offence against public safety (art. 170). Killing by fire is aggravated murder (art. 82).

Aggravated assault

1 year 6 months to 3 years (injury) up to double that, with a minimum of 4 or 6 years, for permanent harm

  • Kasten yaralama (intentional injury: causing pain, or harm to health or perception) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    1 year 6 months
    Most
    3 years

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 86(1)

  • Neticesi sebebiyle ağırlaşmış yaralama (injury with the serious results of art. 87(1)) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    4 years (6 years where art. 86(3) applies)
    Most
    The art. 86 penalty, increased by one fold

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 87(1)

  • Injury with the gravest results of art. 87(2) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    6 years (9 years where art. 86(3) applies)
    Most
    The art. 86 penalty, increased by two fold

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 87(2)

Article 87 raises the art. 86 penalty by one fold for permanent weakening of a sense or organ, a permanent scar on the face, a life-threatening state, or a premature birth, and by two fold for incurable illness, loss of a sense or organ, loss of speech or the ability to have children, permanent change of the face, or loss of a pregnancy. The art. 87 minimums apply.

Rape and sexual assault

5 to 10 years (sexual assault) up to at least 12 years (with penetration), and aggravated life if the victim dies

  • Cinsel saldırı (sexual assault that violates bodily integrity) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    5 years
    Most
    10 years

    2 to 5 years where the act remains at the level of harassment. On the victim's complaint.

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 102(1)

  • Cinsel saldırı by penetration with an organ or other object (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    12 years
    Most
    20 years (the longest fixed term, art. 49)

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 102(2)

  • Çocukların cinsel istismarı (sexual abuse of a child) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    8 years
    Most
    15 years

    At least 10 years where the child is under 12.

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 103(1)

  • Çocukların cinsel istismarı by penetration with an organ or object (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    16 years
    Most
    20 years (the longest fixed term, art. 49)

    At least 18 years where the child is under 12.

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 103(2)

  • Sexual assault or child abuse where the victim falls into a vegetative state or dies (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    No minimum term set by the statute
    Most
    Aggravated life imprisonment (ağırlaştırılmış müebbet hapis)

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 102(5), 103(6)

Turkey's Penal Code has no offence called 'rape'. Sexual assault by penetration with an organ or object is the aggravated form of art. 102, with a minimum of 12 years. Offences against children are in art. 103. Each is increased by half in the listed aggravated cases, such as a defenceless victim, an abuse of authority, a relative, or more than one person.

Kidnapping

1 to 5 years (depriving a person of liberty) up to 2 to 7 years with force or deceit, doubled in the aggravated cases

  • Kişiyi hürriyetinden yoksun kılma (unlawfully depriving a person of the freedom to go or stay) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    1 year
    Most
    5 years

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 109(1)

  • The same, using force, threat or deceit (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    2 years
    Most
    7 years

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 109(2)

  • The same, with a weapon, by several people, by a public official, against a child or a defenceless person, and the other cases of art. 109(3) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    No minimum term set by the statute
    Most
    The penalty above, increased by one fold (so up to 14 years)

    Where the act causes the victim a significant economic loss, a fine of up to a thousand days is added.

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 109(3)

Embezzlement

6 months to 2 years (breach of trust) up to 1 to 7 years (property entrusted through a job or an authority)

  • Güveni kötüye kullanma (abuse of trust) (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    6 months
    Most
    2 years
    Fine
    A fine in days is added

    Prosecuted on the victim's complaint. A court fine is added.

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 155(1)

  • Güveni kötüye kullanma where the property was handed over through a profession, trade or service relationship, or an authority to manage another's property (Crime (hapis, prison))

    Least
    1 year
    Most
    7 years
    Fine
    A fine of up to 3,000 days

    A fine of up to three thousand days is added.

    Turkish Penal Code (Law 5237), art. 155(2)

Turkish law calls it 'güveni kötüye kullanma': dealing in another's property one holds for safekeeping or a stated use, or denying having received it.

Forgery

1 to 3 years (private document) up to 2 to 8 years (official document)

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