The undertaking is not a formality. Under Article 352/1 of the Turkish Code of Obligations it creates a separate eviction route, and a lawyer's commentary from 21 December 2023 notes landlords often ask for it because the law limits their eviction grounds; one real-estate agency's channel reported in February 2026 that it pairs a notarised undertaking with monthly debt notes (senet).
The Turkish Code of Obligations and the Mediation Law are read here as they stood on the official texts on 3 November 2026. This article explains what an eviction undertaking lets a landlord do, what makes the paper valid, and where you still need a lawyer.
What the signed paper lets the landlord do
Under Article 352/1 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, if you have not left by the date written in your undertaking, the landlord can end the lease and apply to the enforcement office (icra) or the court. The landlord must start this within one month of the date written in the undertaking; the month runs from that date, not from any later warning or reminder.
The rule gives the landlord a choice of two routes, and the paper itself is what the landlord points to. Check the date on your copy first: if the month has already passed, this particular route may be closed.
Why landlords ask you to sign, and how fast eviction can follow
A lawyer's commentary from 21 December 2023 (checked in February 2026) notes that landlords often ask for an eviction undertaking because the law limits the grounds on which they can bring an eviction claim. The paper is a way to get a route the lease alone does not give them.
One real-estate agency that lets foreign-owned flats reported on its channel on 17 February 2026 that it signs every tenant to a full package: a notarised eviction undertaking and monthly debt notes (senet).
One law firm's analysis, as of 1 August 2026, estimates that an icra eviction on a valid undertaking takes about one to three months from start to removal.
Check whether your undertaking meets the three validity conditions
Article 352/1 of the Turkish Code of Obligations makes the undertaking valid only if three conditions are met: it is in writing, it was signed after the flat was handed over to you, and it names a definite move-out date.
A paper that misses any of the three does not give the landlord this route. Before you assume the eviction threat is real, check your copy against all three points, especially the signature date relative to the handover.
Has the landlord's one-month window passed? Count it and check for a mediation pause
Take the date written in the undertaking and add one month: that is the deadline.
If the landlord chooses the court route, Article 18/B of the Mediation Law makes mediation a mandatory step before a lease-dispute claim. Article 18/A/15 of the same law pauses the one-month period from the application to the mediation bureau until the final protocol is drawn up.
An icra eviction on the undertaking needs no mediation, so that pause does not apply to the icra route. Which route the landlord chose determines whether the window is still open.
If you signed it under mistake, deception or threat
Under Article 39 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, a party who signed a document under mistake, deception or threat can declare that they are not bound by it. The declaration has to be made within one year. The year runs from the moment the person discovered the mistake or deception, or from when the threat ended; otherwise the document is treated as approved.
Two law-firm commentaries note that this rule is applied to eviction undertakings. So the year is not counted from the day you signed, but from the day you discovered the mistake or deception, or the threat ended.
When you need a lawyer rather than a checklist
Get a lawyer if the landlord starts an icra eviction or a court claim. Also get one if it is unclear whether your undertaking was signed after the flat was handed over or whether it names a definite move-out date, or if you intend to make the one-year declaration under Article 39.
A lawyer can check your paper against the three conditions above, confirm whether mediation is mandatory for the route the landlord chose, and tell you whether your one-year period under Article 39 is still open.