Dissolution of co-ownership (Ortaklığın giderilmesi davası, izale-i şuyu) is an action that ends the co-ownership among the co-owners of a property and either divides the property in kind or sells it and distributes the proceeds. Any one of the co-owners may bring it alone; the consent of the others is not required (Turkish Civil Code art. 698). The action is heard by the Civil Court of Peace, and applying for mediation before bringing the action is a condition precedent to bringing it.
The division of an inheritance community, elbirliği mülkiyeti (joint ownership without shares) and the partition agreement are explained on the Inheritance Law page. This article deals with the action itself.
Who may bring the action, and against whom?
In co-ownership in shares, each of the co-owners may request the division of the property (Turkish Civil Code art. 698). The action is brought by the plaintiff co-owner against all the other co-owners; there is compulsory joinder of parties among the co-owners, and a single judgment must be given as to all of them (Turkish Code of Civil Procedure art. 59–60).
If a co-owner is not a party to the action, the court does not dismiss the action outright. The proper constitution of the parties is a condition precedent to the action, and since the defect can be remedied, the court grants a definitive period and ensures that the missing co-owner is joined to the action; only then does it proceed to the merits (Turkish Code of Civil Procedure art. 115).
If one of the co-owners dies during the proceedings, his or her heirs are joined to the action on the basis of the certificate of inheritance; if the heirs have not accepted or renounced the inheritance, the action is stayed until the statutory periods have expired (Turkish Code of Civil Procedure art. 55).
When may the division not be requested?
The law imposes three limitations (Turkish Civil Code art. 698):
- Obligation to continue by agreement. The right to request division may be limited by a legal transaction for at most ten years. In the case of immovable property, agreements for the continuation of co-ownership in shares are subject to official form and may be annotated in the land registry.
- Allocation to a permanent purpose. If the property held in co-ownership has been allocated to a permanent purpose, the co-owners are obliged to maintain the co-ownership in shares.
- Unsuitable time. The law provides that the division may not be requested at an unsuitable time; it does not define the concept, and the assessment is made according to the circumstances of the particular case.
There is a further prohibition separate from these: dissolution of co-ownership cannot be sought in respect of immovable property that is subject to condominium ownership or kat irtifakı (construction servitude over a building not yet completed) as a whole. Independent units, however, may be the subject of an action like separate immovable property, and co-ownership in respect of them can be dissolved (Turkish Condominium Ownership Law art. 7).
Division in kind or sale?
The law provides for two forms of partition: division of the property in kind or sale by negotiation or auction and division of the proceeds (Turkish Civil Code art. 699).
If the co-owners cannot agree on the form, on the application of one of the co-owners the judge proceeds in the following order:
- First, division in kind. If the values of the divided parts are not equal, Equalisation Among Heirs is achieved by adding money to the part of lesser value.
- If division is not suitable, sale. If the request for division is not considered appropriate to the circumstances and conditions — in particular if the property cannot be divided without significant loss of value — sale by public auction is ordered.
In the action, the defendant has the same rights as the claimant: the claimant’s request for sale does not preclude the defendant from requesting division in kind.
There is also a third route. In a building suitable for condominium ownership, if one of the joint owners or heirs so requests, the judge may order that partition be effected by establishing condominium ownership and allocating independent units (Turkish Condominium Ownership Law art. 10).
A separate regime applies to agricultural land: such land cannot be subdivided or divided into shares below the sizes determined by the Ministry; the transfer of shares, partition and the conversion of elbirliği mülkiyeti (joint ownership without shares) into co-ownership in shares are subject to Ministry permission (Law No. 5403 art. 8 and art. 8/B).
Who can buy at the sale?
Here a single sentence of the law determines a great deal in practice (Turkish Civil Code art. 699):
“An order that the sale be conducted by auction among the co-owners depends on the consent of all co-owners.”
So the rule is that the auction is open to everyone. For the sale to take place only among the co-owners, all co-owners must consent; if one objects, the property may also be sold to third parties. Co-owners may of course participate in this auction.
Since 31 July 2026, there has been an important exception. For properties where all owners acquired the property by inheritance and no third party other than the heirs has an ownership right, if the court orders dissolution of co-ownership by sale, the first auction is held by operation of law only among the heirs who are owners, without requiring anyone’s consent. This procedure applies only once, and in this auction the bids must exceed the full estimated value (Turkish Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law art. 114; Law No. 7589, RG 31.7.2026-33326).
If the first auction produces no result, the second auction is open to everyone, and the threshold falls to fifty per cent of the estimated value. The provision does not apply to auctions announced before its entry into force.
This rule is not a right of first refusal or priority; it is a statutory limitation on who may participate in the first auction. The provision is new and no settled case law on its application has yet developed.
How does the process work if the court orders sale?
The sale decision is carried out not by the court but by the sale officer appointed by the judge for this task; the sale of movable and immovable property is conducted under the provisions of the Turkish Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law (Turkish Code of Civil Procedure art. 322). Decisions concerning rights in rem relating to immovable property cannot be enforced unless they become final (Turkish Code of Civil Procedure art. 350); therefore the sale stage begins after the judgment becomes final.
The sale is conducted by auction through the Electronic Sales Portal integrated with UYAP, and the bidding period is seven days (Turkish Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law art. 111/b). Anyone wishing to participate in the auction deposits security equal to ten per cent of the estimated value; in dissolution of co-ownership, a co-owner is not required to deposit security for the amount covered by their share. The successful bidder must pay the purchase price in cash within seven days of the announcement of the auction result record (Turkish Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law art. 130). The sale proceeds are distributed to the co-owners in proportion to their shares.
Is mediation compulsory?
Yes. In disputes concerning the partition of movable and immovable property and the dissolution of co-ownership, applying to a mediator before filing an action is a condition of action (Law No. 6325 art. 18/B). This rule entered into force on 1 September 2023.
The application is made to the mediation bureau in the place where the competent court is located, depending on the subject matter of the dispute. The mediator concludes the process within three weeks of appointment; in compulsory cases, it may be extended by up to one week.
If no agreement is reached, the original or a certified copy of the final report must be attached to the statement of claim. If it is established that the action was filed without any application to a mediator, the statement of claim is dismissed on procedural grounds for failure to satisfy a condition of action, without being served on the defendant.
If the parties reach an agreement, an enforceability annotation is mandatory for the agreement document. For documents relating to immovable property, this annotation is obtained from the Civil Court of Peace in the place where the immovable is located; after the annotation, one of the parties may request registration from the Turkish land registry directorate without an official deed being executed.
In which court is the action brought?
Subject-matter jurisdiction. Actions concerning the partition of movable or immovable property or rights and the dissolution of co-ownership are heard by the Civil Court of Peace, regardless of the value or amount of the subject matter (HMK art. 4). The simplified procedure applies; the response period is two weeks, and the parties may not submit a reply to the response or a second response (HMK art. 316–317).
Territorial jurisdiction for immovables. In actions relating to a right in rem over immovable property or that may lead to a change in ownership of a right in rem, the court in the place where the immovable is located has exclusive jurisdiction (HMK art. 12). Dissolution of co-ownership falls within this scope because it changes the ownership situation. If the action relates to more than one immovable, it may be brought in the place where one of the immovables is located, also with respect to the others.
The practical consequence is this: a co-owner who owns a share in an immovable in Alanya brings the action in Alanya, wherever he or she lives; even if the co-owners are abroad, the competent court does not change.
Jurisdiction for movable property. There is no special jurisdictional rule for the dissolution of co-ownership concerning movable property alone; the general rule applies, and the action is brought in the court of the defendant’s domicile or, if there are several defendants, in the court of any one of their domiciles (Turkish Code of Civil Procedure art. 6–7). This jurisdiction is not exclusive; if a proper objection to jurisdiction is not raised, the court in which the action was brought becomes competent.
How long does the action take?
According to the Justice Statistics 2025 published by the Ministry of Justice General Directorate of Judicial Records and Statistics, the average time for a case to be heard in the Civil Courts of Peace, which hear these actions, was 120 days in 2025.
This figure is the average for all types of cases in the Civil Courts of Peace; the Ministry does not publish a separate duration for dissolution of co-ownership by case type. The time does not include the appeal stage before the Regional Court of Appeal or the sale stage after the judgment becomes final. In the same statistics, the average time for a case in the civil chambers of the Regional Courts of Appeal is given as 371 days.
The number of co-owners, deficiencies in the title deed records and expert examination can significantly extend the duration.
Where co-ownership arises from inheritance
Co-ownership among heirs is elbirliği mülkiyeti (joint ownership without shares) and its rules are partly different. Each heir may at any time request the division of the inheritance unless he or she is obliged to continue the co-ownership by contract or by law (Turkish Civil Code art. 642). If immediate division would significantly reduce the value of the property or the estate, the judge of the civil court of peace may order postponement of the division; if there is an unborn child who would inherit, the division is postponed until the child is born (Turkish Civil Code art. 642–643).
An heir may also request the conversion of the elbirliği mülkiyeti (joint ownership without shares) over all or part of the assets included in the estate into co-ownership in shares (Turkish Civil Code art. 644).
The division of the estate, the partition agreement and the transfer of a share of the inheritance are explained on the Inheritance Law page.
Frequently asked questions
Are izale-i şuyu and dissolution of co-ownership the same thing?
Yes. “İzale-i şuyu” is the former term; in today’s statutory language it is called “dissolution of co-ownership” (izale-i şuyu, ortaklığın giderilmesi).
Can an action be brought if the other co-owners do not agree?
Yes. Each co-owner may request partition alone; the consent of the others is not required (Turkish Civil Code art. 698).
I do not want the immovable property to be sold; what can I do?
The judge first considers division in kind; if division is possible, sale is not ordered (Turkish Civil Code art. 699). In a building suitable for condominium ownership, it may also be requested that condominium ownership be established and independent units allocated (Condominium Ownership Law art. 10).
If I sell my share, does a right of pre-emption arise for the other co-owners?
In co-ownership in shares, if a co-owner sells his or her share to a third party, the other co-owners may exercise the right of pre-emption (Turkish Civil Code art. 732). This right lapses if three months have passed since the sale was notified to the right holder and in any event if one year has passed since the sale. By contrast, the right of pre-emption cannot be exercised in sales by compulsory auction; thus no pre-emption arises in a sale made at the end of an action for dissolution of co-ownership (Turkish Civil Code art. 733, as amended by Law No. 7571).
Can I sell my share in elbirliği mülkiyeti (joint ownership without shares)?
In elbirliği mülkiyeti (joint ownership without shares), the co-owners have no determined shares and disposals require unanimity; therefore a “share” in a single immovable property cannot be transferred alone. An heir may transfer his or her share of the inheritance in the estate: a written instrument is required for a transfer among heirs, and a notarial deed is required for validity in a transfer to a third party. A transfer to a third party does not give the third party the right to participate in the partition; it only gives him or her the right to demand that the share allocated to the heir at the end of the partition be given to him or her (Turkish Civil Code art. 677).
Governing legislation
Turkish Civil Code No. 4721 — art. 642–644 (division of inheritance, postponement, conversion of elbirliği mülkiyeti into co-ownership in shares), art. 677 (transfer of a share of the inheritance), art. 688 (rights of the co-owner), art. 698 (request for partition and its limits), art. 699 (form of partition), art. 732–734 (legal right of pre-emption) — mevzuat.gov.tr
Turkish Code of Civil Procedure No. 6100 — art. 4 (subject-matter jurisdiction), art. 6–7 and art. 12 (jurisdiction), art. 55 (postponement in case of death), art. 59–60 (mandatory joinder of parties), art. 115 (conditions of the action), art. 316–317 (simple procedure), art. 322 (sales officer), art. 350 (finality) — mevzuat.gov.tr
Law No. 2004, the Turkish Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law — Art. 111/b (electronic sale), Art. 114 (auction and first auction among heirs), Art. 130 (payment of the auction price) — mevzuat.gov.tr
Law No. 6325, the Turkish Law on Mediation in Civil Disputes — Art. 18/A and Art. 18/B (mandatory mediation as a condition of litigation) — mevzuat.gov.tr
Law No. 634, the Turkish Condominium Ownership Law — Art. 7, Art. 10 — mevzuat.gov.tr · Law No. 5403, the Turkish Soil Conservation and Land Use Law — Art. 8, Art. 8/B — mevzuat.gov.tr
Related pages
- Inheritance Law — parent page
- How is the reserved share calculated?
- How is renunciation of inheritance made?
This article is for general legal information only. Since the circumstances of each case, the structure of co-ownership and the nature of the property differ, you are advised to seek legal assistance from your attorney at law for your specific situation.