Accidents and Personal Injury in Türkiye: Compensation Routes for Foreigners

A holiday or a year on the coast can be interrupted by an accident: a traffic or scooter collision, a fall at a hotel or pool, or an incident on a boat trip. When a foreigner is injured in Türkiye, the law provides routes to claim compensation, but the outcome always depends on fault, proof and the specific facts. Here is the framework and, just as important, what to document from the start.

Key legal considerations

• General civil liability. Under the Turkish Code of Obligations (No. 6098), a person who causes harm to another through a wrongful and culpable act must compensate it (Article 49). The injured party bears the burden of proving the damage and the fault (Article 50), so evidence is decisive.
• What bodily-injury damages can cover. The law lists, in particular, treatment costs, loss of earnings, losses from reduced or lost working capacity, and losses from a shaken economic future (Article 54). Where bodily integrity is harmed, a court may also award non-pecuniary (manevi) compensation, and in serious injury or death relatives may receive it too (Article 56). Non-pecuniary compensation is at the court's discretion, not automatic.
• Traffic accidents have a dedicated route. Under the Highway Traffic Law (No. 2918), the operator of a vehicle is liable for death, injury or damage it causes (Article 85), every vehicle must carry compulsory financial-liability (traffic) insurance (Article 91), and the injured party can claim directly against the insurer after first making a written application; if it is not answered within 15 days or is unsatisfactory, they may sue or go to insurance arbitration (Article 97).
• Time limits apply. Tort claims generally lapse two years from when the injured party learns of the damage and the liable person, and in any case ten years from the act (Code of Obligations, Article 72); traffic-accident claims follow the same two-year and ten-year rule (Highway Traffic Law, Article 109). A longer period applies if the act is also a crime carrying a longer limitation.

Practical steps

1. Get medical care and keep every record. Hospital reports, diagnoses, receipts and photographs of injuries are the core of any claim.
2. Document the scene. For a traffic accident, the official accident report; for a hotel, pool or boat incident, photos, witness details and a report to the operator.
3. Identify who is responsible, and for a vehicle, its compulsory traffic insurer.
4. For a traffic claim, apply to the insurer in writing first, as the law requires, before suing or going to arbitration.
5. Mind the deadline, and act through a representative if you go home; a claim can usually be pursued under a power of attorney.

Risks and common mistakes

• Leaving without medical documentation or an accident report, which weakens any later claim.
• Assuming compensation is automatic: fault, defences such as the victim's own fault, and proof all matter, and non-pecuniary awards are discretionary.
• Suing a traffic insurer without the required written application first.
• Letting the limitation period run while abroad.
• Assuming every accident, for example a shared e-scooter, is covered by compulsory traffic insurance; coverage depends on the vehicle and the facts.

Conclusion

When a foreigner is injured in Türkiye, the law offers real routes: general civil liability for fault-based harm, and, for traffic accidents, a direct claim against the compulsory insurer. What decides a case is evidence and fault, the right sequence (for traffic, a written application to the insurer first), and acting within the time limits. Documenting everything from the first day is what makes a claim possible, in Bodrum, Fethiye, Marmaris or anywhere in Muğla.