Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Article 70 provides that applicants are informed, at registration, about the procedure to be followed, their rights and obligations, how to comply with those obligations, the consequences of noncompliance, and the appeal procedures and time limits. The same Article provides that, upon request, interpretation is provided during personal conversations at the application, registration, and interview stages.

Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Article 69 sets out core registration steps, and Article 69(5) provides that the applicant is informed of the date and place of the interview during registration. Implementing Regulation on the Law on Foreigners and International Protection (Implementing Regulation), Article 66(2) qualifies this by allowing the interview date and place to be notified later where it cannot be determined at the time of application.

Implementing Regulation, Article 70 provides confidentiality and minimum procedural standards for registration, including conducting registration in an appropriate setting, restricting access to persons necessary for the procedure, recording the application in the system, reading the recorded content back to the applicant, and providing a signed copy of the registration form. Implementing Regulation, Article 71 provides for issuance of an International Protection Application Registration Document.

Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Article 75, provides that the personal interview is the core procedural step and must be conducted in confidentiality, with the applicant given an effective opportunity to present the elements of the claim. Article 75 also regulates participation in the interview, including the possibility for a lawyer to attend as an observer upon the applicant’s request. Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection Article 75(6) provides that, at the end of each interview, minutes are drawn up and a copy is given to the person interviewed. Separately, the Implementing Regulation requires an interview report to be prepared after completion of the interview (Implementing Regulation Article 89).

Implementing Regulation, Article 81(2) provides that interviews are conducted by personnel trained in interview techniques, refugee law, human rights law, and country of origin information. Implementing Regulation, Articles 83 and 85 regulate preparation and conduct of the interview, including review of country-of-origin information and the claim history. Implementing Regulation, Articles 86 and 87 regulate how the interview record is finalized and when an interview must be postponed, including the ten-day minimum in Article 87(2).

Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Articles 72 to 74 establish an admissibility stage, including inadmissibility where the applicant arrives from a first country of asylum under Article 73 or a safe third country under Article 74. Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Article 79 provides for an accelerated procedure on specified grounds, while Article 77 regulates circumstances where an application is considered withdrawn. Implementing Regulation, Articles 73 and 80 contain further rules on preliminary assessment and on when the accelerated procedure is applied.

Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Article 78 provides that the assessment should be finalized within six months from registration, with notification where a decision cannot be made within that period. Article 78 also requires thatwhere the decision is negative, it is notified to the applicant or their legal representative or lawyer with the material reasons and legal grounds, and that, where the person is not represented by a lawyer, they are informed of the outcome of the decision and the available appeal procedures and time limits. Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Article 80 provides remedies, including an administrative appeal route within ten days for decisions within its scope, and judicial review time limits, including fifteen days for decisions under Articles 72 and 79 and thirty days for other decisions. Article 80 also provides a right to remain in Türkiye pending exhaustion of remedies against international protection decisions, subject to the Law’s exceptions.

Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Article 81 provides that applicants and international protection status holders may be represented by a lawyer at their own expense, and Article 81(2) provides legal aid for judicial applications within the international protection part where the person cannot afford legal fees, by reference to the legal aid regime under the Attorneyship Law.

Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Article 94 and Implementing Regulation, Article 116 provide confidentiality safeguards, restricting disclosure of information related to the application and requiring protective handling of the file, subject to the applicable limits in the legislation.

Law 6458 on Foreigners and International Protection, Articles 66 and 67 provide additional procedural orientation for unaccompanied children and applicants with special needs, including prioritization in procedures and access to appropriate support for persons subjected to serious violence.

While the framework contains formal guarantees, reports on implementation highlight recurring problems that can affect fairness at first instance, including limited access to effective legal assistance at first instance in many locations, difficulties in securing timely and high quality interpretation in some settings, obstacles in practice to receiving a copy of the interview report even though the legal framework requires it.1 Additionally, the notifications of the rejection decisions do not indicate the material facts and legal grounds on which the rejection is based. 

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   European Council on Refugees and Exiles, Asylum Information Database, ‘Regular procedure’ (Türkiye country report, last updated 29 July 2025) available at https://asylumineurope.org/reports/country/turkiye/asylum-procedure/procedures/regular-procedure/.