Choosing the type of cooperative, establishment and registration
- Assessing whether building, tourism development, real estate management, production and marketing, transportation, consumption, enterprise, women’s entrepreneurship and other types of cooperatives suit the purpose
- Determining the competent ministry, the establishment permit and the sample articles of association regime according to the cooperative’s field of activity
- MERSİS, the establishment permit, founding documents, capital commitments and registration with the trade registry
- Preparing the cooperative’s articles of association with provisions on membership, capital, additional payments, the general assembly, management, supervision, the income-expense difference and liquidation
- Establishment and membership procedures of unions, central unions and other umbrella organizations of cooperatives
Amendment of cooperative articles of association, alignment and restructuring
- Preparing the management and general assembly decisions and the permit and registration documents for an amendment of the articles of association
- Assessing the obligation to align with legislative amendments and current sample articles of association
- Changes to the subject of activity, title, headquarters, capital, membership, representation or area of operation
- Procedures for the merger, division, change of type or joining of an umbrella organization of the cooperative
- Checking the time limits in transitional provisions and the risks of dissolution or administrative sanctions against the legislation in force on the date of publication
Cooperative membership, admission, withdrawal and expulsion disputes
- Reviewing the conditions of entry into membership, the board’s admission decision and share commitments
- Withdrawal from membership, transfer, inheritance, representation, termination of member status and calculations of the withdrawal share (çıkma payı)
- Grounds for expulsion from membership, defense, decision, notification and objection processes before the general assembly
- Disputes over the principle of equal treatment, rights and obligations, access to information, inspection of books, voting, and the right to elect and be elected
- Actions for annulment or invalidity of a membership decision, interim measures, receivables and compensation
Cooperative general assembly and management processes
- Preparing the call to an ordinary or extraordinary general assembly, the agenda, the request for a ministry representative and the meeting documents
- Auditing the list of members, KOOPBİS records, representation, voting, and meeting and decision quorums
- Decisions on the election of the management and supervisory boards, discharge, budget, financing, real estate, additional payments, transfer and liquidation
- Annulment, nonexistence or absolute nullity of general assembly decisions and requests for interim legal protection
- Reviewing the board’s decisions in terms of the articles of association, the law and the principle of equal treatment
KOOPBİS, manager training, internal and external audit
- Checking the Cooperatives Information System (KOOPBİS) records of members, shares, payments, financial statements, activity reports and general assemblies
- Following the electronic record and document obligations before and after the general assembly
- Assessing the training requirements that members of the management and supervisory boards may be subject to, according to the type and size of the cooperative
- Legal support in internal audit, the auditor’s report and external audit processes for cooperatives that meet the conditions
- Audit findings, requests for information and documents, KOOPBİS violations and defenses concerning managers’ liability
Building, land and real estate cooperatives
- Legal review of land acquisition, project development, zoning, construction, contractor and financing agreements
- Allocation of independent units to members, drawing of lots, cost, premium for location and value (şerefiye), additional payments and title deed transfer procedures
- Disputes over project changes, construction delays, incomplete or defective work, occupancy permits and delivery
- Issues concerning the sale, transfer, mortgage and attachment of cooperative real estate and the authority of the board
- Processes of individualization (ferdileşme), condominium ownership, liquidation and members’ transfer to individual title deeds
Cooperative dues, additional payments, receivables and financial disputes
- Legal review of capital shares, dues, additional payments, delay, interest, cost and members’ current accounts
- Auditing the general assembly’s decisions on financial obligations in terms of the articles of association, equality and certainty
- Pursuing unpaid dues or membership debts through a notice of default, enforcement and litigation
- Claims concerning unjust or unfounded collections, overpayments, the withdrawal share and accountability
- Legal management of expert examinations concerning financial records, invoices, bank transactions and managers’ transactions
Review the Membership Record and Financial Obligations Together
Member status is assessed through the application, the admission decision, share and transfer documents, and the records. Payment having been made or a KOOPBİS record does not by itself resolve all disputes. The articles of association and general assembly decisions are reviewed separately.
Three-month filing period in expulsion from membership
Against an expulsion decision under Article 16 of Law No. 1163, filing an action of objection within three months from service comes into question. If the decision was made by the board, an objection to the general assembly may also be used within the same period; this choice affects the later route of application. An action against a general assembly decision and the finalization of the decision must be assessed separately. This period is not a general period to be applied to all cooperative decisions.
Membership rights until the decision becomes final
The rights and obligations of a member whose expulsion decision has not become final continue. Voting, attendance at meetings, payments and the record arrangement should be reviewed accordingly. The document of service and the records of objection should be preserved.
Additional payments, dues and the withdrawal share
For each financial claim, the competent decision, the method of calculation and the basis are determined. The principle of equal treatment and the provisions of the articles of association are taken into account. Leaving the membership does not by itself ensure the immediate and in-kind refund of all payments; the settlement of accounts is assessed according to the file.
KOOPBİS, training and external audit
The electronic record, managers’ training and external audit obligations are checked according to the type and scope of the cooperative. Past alignment dates should not be assumed to be the current time limit for a new transaction.