The action for determination of expropriation compensation and title registration is the action brought by the administration, asking a court to set the price of a property on which no agreement could be reached at the purchase stage and to transfer ownership to the administration. For the owner, the central issue is not simply rejecting the proposed figure: the actual value of the property, the correct valuation date, suitable comparables, the loss on the remaining part and interest must be examined together. If the expropriation itself is contested, the administrative judicial route is assessed separately.
This article deals with the ordinary compensation and registration action under Article 10 of Expropriation Law No. 2942 (Kamulaştırma Kanunu). A claim for compensation for de facto expropriation, the initial compensation at the stage of urgent possession (acele el koyma) and an action to annul the expropriation decision are different legal remedies. The legal research date for this article is October 14, 2026.
Who Brings the Compensation Action and Which Court Hears It?
The administration is the claimant; the property owner is the defendant
Under Article 10 of the Expropriation Law, the application is made by the administration carrying out the expropriation. The court with subject-matter and territorial jurisdiction is the civil court of first instance (asliye hukuk mahkemesi) at the place where the property is located. The action asks the court to determine the compensation and, where appropriate, to order registration of title or deletion from the land registry, for property the administration could not acquire by purchase. An owner who considers the compensation too low does not necessarily have to bring a separate "action to increase compensation"; in the Article 10 action, the owner must present objections to the valuation and supporting documents. [1]
Being the defendant does not mean the owner is at fault or owes anything. However, remaining silent after the statement of claim has been served is not a safe choice. It should be borne in mind that the court may continue the proceedings even without an owner being identified, and that service of the reports and of the decision each starts separate time limits.
Land registry, inheritance and limited property rights must be examined at the outset
If the person shown in the land registry has died, the heirs must join the action; if the true owner is someone else, the correct joinder of parties must be made. Mortgages, attachments, usufruct or ownership disputes may affect the payment stage. Determining the economic value of the property and deciding who will receive the compensation, and on what conditions, are separate questions. All encumbrances (takyidat) recorded in the land registry, the certificate of inheritance and any pending title actions should be placed on file at the initial review.
The Purchase Negotiation and the Court's Review of Compensation Are Different
Under Article 8 of the Law, the purchase procedure is regulated through the expropriating administration's valuation (kıymet takdiri) and conciliation commissions. The owner should examine the scope of the invitation served, the amount offered, the area to be acquired, and whether structures on the property have been taken into account. Refusing to agree does not mean that the court will necessarily set a higher price than the administration's offer.
Signing the purchase record and withdrawing the compensation deposited with the court are not the same legal act. For property acquired by agreement in accordance with the Law, the route for objecting to the expropriation and to the price differs because of the special provision in Article 8. The text to be signed must be reviewed not only for the amount of money, but also for the scope of the property, shares, structures, trees, and payment and registration conditions. Withdrawing the compensation deposited with the court does not automatically amount to a waiver of legal remedies; if there is a declaration of acceptance, a settlement or a waiver, the result may change. [1]
What Is the Real Value, at Which Date and by Which Method?
Under Article 15 of the Law, the reference date for the expert's valuation is the date on which the administration files its documents with the court, in other words the date on which it brings the compensation and registration action. The date of the expropriation decision, the date of the on-site examination and the date of payment cannot be used interchangeably. Later price increases are not dealt with by arbitrarily changing the valuation date; they are assessed within the framework of interest and property-rights safeguards. [1]
Is it a building plot or agricultural land?
The word "field" (tarla) in the title deed does not by itself make the agricultural income method mandatory; being within municipal boundaries does not by itself make the building-plot method mandatory either. The planning status on the valuation date, use of settlement and municipal services, surrounding development and the relevant legal criteria are examined together. It matters to request from the municipality a record that explains the situation on the valuation date, rather than only the current zoning status. For the effect of a plan amendment on the value of the property, see the article Objection to and Annulment of a Zoning Plan Amendment.
The consequence is significant: for building plots, comparable sales without any special purpose are emphasised; for agricultural land, the net income from the existing use comes to the fore. An owner must not assert a use possibility that does not in fact or in law exist in order to make the property appear more valuable. Nor may the administration disregard settlement and infrastructure features on the ground of the land registry classification.
Concrete comparable-sales analysis for building plots
An advertised price does not carry the same evidentiary weight as an actual sale price. Land registry sale documents, the sale date, area, development rights, location, frontage, access, infrastructure and parcel characteristics must be compared. If a comparable property was sold at an earlier date, the method of updating it and the justification for the rates applied to superior and inferior features must be explained.
The tax value is not compensation in itself, but it is useful in checking the consistency of comparables. Being in the same area does not mean having the same building rights. When comparing a zoning parcel with a cadastral parcel, an automatic reduction for the co-ownership share cannot be made without examining the zoning implementation and earlier partitions (kesintiler).
Agricultural land: net income and objective characteristics
Crop pattern, rotation, yield, sale price and production costs must rest on local and verifiable data. Taking gross output as income, or overstating actual costs, distorts the result. For irrigation possibility, slope, transport access and operating conditions, data from the provincial agriculture directorate, water-use records and on-site findings are assessed together.
The rate applied when capitalising net income is not a fixed percentage for every parcel. The rate chosen by the expert must be explained by regional and property-specific conditions. The same feature must not be counted twice, both in the net income calculation and as an objective increase in value. Article 11 of the Law requires that the effect of objective criteria be shown separately. [1]
How Are Buildings, Trees, Installations and the Loss on the Remaining Part Calculated?
For structures, official unit prices, construction costs and depreciation (yıpranma payı) are taken into account. The class, area, age and actual condition of a structure must be determined accurately. The type, age, number and productivity of trees must also be tied to an inventory. Valuing the income of a fully covered orchard (kapama bahçe) and separately compensating the same trees may create double counting, so the methods must not be mixed. For uses restricted by an easement, the calculation of compensation is addressed in the article Expropriation for Energy Transmission Lines and Pipelines.
In a partial expropriation, in addition to compensation for the area taken, the loss in value of the remaining part is examined. Loss of access, disruption of agricultural integrity or reduction of development potential cannot be explained by simply multiplying the remaining area. Costs of walls, channels or installation works needed to restore the former use are also handled under the conditions of Article 12 itself. Even if the expropriated area is small, the loss on the remaining part may be significant.
How to Prepare an Effective Objection to the Expert Report
An objection must address the reasons for the calculation, not the result
The statement "the compensation is low" alone is not a sufficient technical objection. For each error in the report, the supporting document and the examination requested must be identified. Under Article 281 of the Code of Civil Procedure No. 6100 (Hukuk Muhakemeleri Kanunu, HMK), within two weeks of service of the report, it may be requested that missing matters be completed, that uncertainties be explained, or that a new court-appointed expert (bilirkişi) be appointed. If preparing the objection is very difficult or impossible, or requires special or technical work, an additional period of at most two weeks, granted once and under the statutory conditions, may be requested by applying within the same period. The additional period does not arise automatically. [2]
| Matter to be reviewed | Required document | Purpose of the objection |
|---|---|---|
| Incorrect area or boundary | Title deed, cadastral application plan (aplikasyon) and expropriation sketch (kroki) | Correcting the area included in the calculation |
| Unsuitable comparable | Table of sale contracts, zoning records | Testing the basis of the comparison |
| Erroneous agricultural income | Local yield, price, cost and irrigation records | Substantiating the net income |
| Missing structure or trees | Photographs, inventory, technical measurement | Preventing omission of a value element |
| Loss on the remaining part | Before-and-after sketch, access and zoning records | Showing the effect on the whole property |
Party-commissioned expert opinion and a new on-site examination
An expert opinion obtained under Article 293 HMK can make a technical problem in the court-appointed expert's report concrete. However, a report obtained by a party does not automatically invalidate the court's report. It must be explained whether the two reports rely on the same valuation date and the same area. A request for a new on-site examination must state which fact was not observed at the earlier examination. Under Article 282 HMK, the judge evaluates the expert report together with the other evidence; a report cannot be turned into a judgment without being scrutinised. [2]
The Former Four-Month Interest Rule Cannot Be Applied as Current Law
By its decision of 5 April 2023, E.2022/83, K.2023/69, the Constitutional Court (Anayasa Mahkemesi, AYM) annulled the provision in Article 10(9) under which statutory interest applied after the four-month period. The decision was published in the Official Gazette (Resmî Gazete) of 1 August 2023. It is therefore wrong to say, by quoting the former text, that no interest is paid for the first four months in every case. [3]
The decision of the Civil General Assembly of the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay Hukuk Genel Kurulu) dated 8 April 2026, E.2025/114, K.2026/226 adopted, in a non-final compensation and registration action, that the annulment by the Constitutional Court must be taken into account, and that the highest rate applied to public receivables under Article 46 of the Constitution is applied from the filing date of the action to the date of decision without a request being required. The decision contains two disputes: the interest ruling (direnme) was affirmed, and the other dispute was quashed (bozma). Presenting the whole decision as an unconditional affirmation is not accurate. [4]
For the calculation, the principal, any earlier urgent-possession payment, the actual payment dates and later difference amounts are tracked separately. Calculating interest again for the same period on an amount already paid, or overlooking an unpaid difference, gives an incorrect result. Because rates may change within a period, the official rates on the calculation date must be used. It cannot be concluded that old files closed by a final judgment are automatically reopened by this decision.
2026 Up-to-Date Check: Annulment Action and Registration
The administrative action must be documented before the civil court
Public-interest, competence or proportionality objections to the expropriation are raised before the administrative courts. The defence in the compensation action does not replace an administrative annulment action. Following the Constitutional Court's decisions E.2024/101, K.2024/232 and E.2025/148, K.2025/141, the former description that tied the effect of the administrative action solely to a decision to stay execution can no longer be maintained. Documents showing that the action has been filed must be submitted to the civil court, and the request for suspension pending a preliminary question (bekletici mesele) must be made specific, with reference to Article 165 HMK and constitutional grounds. A request for a stay of execution (yürütmenin durdurulması) against enforcement of the administrative act remains important separately. [1,5,6]
The annulment concerning the finality of registration takes effect on 21 February 2027
By its decision of 12 February 2026, E.2025/190, K.2026/38, the Constitutional Court annulled the phrase "“Tescil hükmü kesin olup”" ("the registration ruling is final") in Article 10(8). However, a nine-month postponement running from its publication on 21 May 2026 was provided. As of 14 October 2026, the annulment has not yet taken effect. For compensation, the route of legal remedies and, for registration, this transitional regime must be examined separately. Later publications from February 2027 onwards should be checked again for new regulation and practice. [1,7]
Payment, Legal Remedies and Following the File
The deposit of the compensation in favour of the rights holder and the court's order for payment must be followed. Any blocking of the account is assessed together with whether the payment has actually been made available for the owner's use. If the compensation is reduced at the end of the legal remedies, the excess amount paid may be reclaimed; the special provision of Article 10 of the Law, under which no interest is charged between the payment date and service of the reclaim letter, must not be overlooked. If the purpose is not achieved, reacquisition of the property is explained in the article Reacquisition of Expropriated Property.
For an appeal against a compensation ruling, the two-week period for applying to the regional court of appeal (istinaf), counted from service of the reasoned judgment, and the applicable monetary finality threshold are examined. Appeal to the Court of Cassation also depends on the nature of the decision and the limits for the relevant year. The expert objection, the annulment action and the legal remedy periods must not be merged under a single calendar heading. The costs of the proceedings that the Law (Article 29) places on the administration differ from the fee agreement with the party's own lawyer; it should not be assumed that the entire private attorney's fee will be recovered from the administration.
Conclusion
Protecting the compensation depends on applying the correct valuation date, a documented comparable-sales or income calculation, technical review of the expert report and the current interest regime together. If the owner also opposes the expropriation itself, the time limit for the administrative action must be protected separately. The first step is to examine the service documents and the expropriation file together with the technical and economic records of the property.
Related articles: Action for Annulment of an Expropriation Decision and Time Limits; Urgent Expropriation and Remedies Against Urgent Possession; Partial Expropriation and Loss of Value of the Remaining Part
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I lose my rights if I do not accept the administration's offer?
No. If no agreement is reached, the administration may apply under Article 10. However, subsequent notices and reports must be followed; there is no guarantee that the court will set a higher compensation.
Is the municipality's market value the expropriation compensation?
No. The value used for tax purposes is a supporting indicator. The actual compensation is determined by the legal method suited to the nature of the property and by technical examination.
What is the time limit for objecting to the expert report?
Under Article 281 HMK it is two weeks from service. A single additional period may be granted under the statutory conditions and on a timely application.
Does withdrawing the compensation deposited with the bank end the right to object?
Withdrawing the compensation alone is not a waiver of legal remedies. If a signed purchase, settlement or waiver text exists, it must be examined separately.
Is the registration ruling no longer final?
The Constitutional Court has issued an annulment decision; however, the effective date of the annulment has been postponed to 21 February 2027. As of 14 October 2026, the date of entry into force and future application must be distinguished.
Sources and legal bases
[1] Expropriation Law No. 2942 (Kamulaştırma Kanunu), in particular Articles 8, 10–15, 29.
[2] Code of Civil Procedure No. 6100 (Hukuk Muhakemeleri Kanunu), Articles 165, 281–282, 293, 345.
[3] Constitutional Court (AYM), 5 April 2023, E.2022/83, K.2023/69.
[6] Constitutional Court (AYM), 10 July 2025, E.2025/148, K.2025/141 — full text.
[7] Constitutional Court (AYM), 12 February 2026, E.2025/190, K.2026/38 — full text.