Stopped at Istanbul Airport While Travelling With Your Child: Exit Stops, Hague Return Cases and What Turkish Criminal Law Actually Says (TCK 234, Law 5717, TMK 169 and 336)

1. Who Holds Parental Authority: Turkish Civil Code Articles 336 and 169

The Turkish term is velayet, usually translated as parental authority or custody. Article 336 of the Turkish Civil Code (Law No. 4721) sets out three rules:

• During the marriage, parental authority is joint. While the marriage continues, the mother and the father exercise it together.
• After the common life ends, the judge may give it to one parent. Where the spouses have ended their common life, or a separation has taken place, the judge may give parental authority to one of them.
• On death or divorce, the Code names the holder. On the death of one parent it belongs to the survivor; on divorce, to the parent to whom the child is left.

The second rule is in Article 169 of the Civil Code (Law No. 4721). When a divorce or separation case is filed, the judge takes, of his own motion, the interim measures necessary for the duration of the case, in particular measures concerning the spouses' accommodation, maintenance and property and the care and protection of the children. Either parent may also ask for an interim measure concerning the children; which measure is ordered is for the court. If you are party to a divorce case in Türkiye, have a lawyer read the file before any trip abroad with the child.

2. The Hague Convention in Turkish Law: Law No. 5717

The 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction is applied in Türkiye through Law No. 5717. Its purpose is the return of a child taken or retained in another contracting country in breach of custody rights to the country of habitual residence, and the exercise of contact rights (Article 1); it covers children habitually resident in a contracting country immediately before the breach (Article 2).

Article 3 of Law No. 5717 defines the key terms:

1. The Central Authority is the Ministry of Justice.
2. A child is a person who has not completed the age of sixteen.
3. Custody rights mean the right to the care, supervision and protection of the child and to determine the child's residence.
4. The court is the family court (aile mahkemesi).

Under Articles 4 and 5, the Central Authority acts through the local chief public prosecutor's offices. After an application it takes the measures needed to find the child and protect the child's interests, including tasking the police and other competent authorities; it seeks a return with the consent of the person who took the child, or an amicable settlement; and if neither is possible, it files a case in the competent court.

An application may be made to the central authority of the child's habitual residence, to the Turkish Central Authority, or to that of any other contracting state (Article 7(1)). The return case is filed by the local chief public prosecutor's office on behalf of the Central Authority (Article 7(2)). The family court of the place where the child lives when the application is made is competent (Article 6).

The procedure is fast and kept apart from custody:

• Before the merits, the court encourages return by amicable settlement, drawing on social workers, psychologists and similar professionals (Article 8).
• All cases under the Law are heard under simple procedure, with priority and urgently (Article 9(2)), including during the judicial recess (Article 16).
• A judgment ordering return does not decide custody; if return is refused, custody may be decided (Article 12).
• A custody decision given after the return application does not in itself justify rejecting return (Article 13), and a custody case opened during a return case waits for it (Article 14).
• A return decision is carried out once final, and the Central Authority, the applicant or the defendant may appeal (Article 17).

3. How a Child Is Stopped at the Airport: Law No. 5717 Article 24

The provision that most directly explains a stop at departure is Article 24 of Law No. 5717. Until the return or contact proceedings are concluded, and to keep track of where the child is, the court may, on request or of its own motion, order one or more of these interim measures:

1. a temporary stop on the child leaving the country;
2. a stop on obtaining or renewing a passport in the child's name;
3. a stop on obtaining or changing the child's school, local registry or civil registry records;
4. seizure of the passport or identity records for the duration of the case;
5. checks on the child by the competent authorities at set intervals;
6. any other measure provided for this purpose.

Three points matter at the airport. The first measure, Article 24(a), is worded as a stop on the child leaving the country; whether any separate measure concerns the parent is a different question that only the court or prosecution file can answer. The measure is tied to the proceedings, since Article 24 allows it until they are concluded. And because the court can act of its own motion, a parent may first learn of it at departure.

4. What TCK Article 234 Actually Says

The offence parents may worry about is Article 234 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), headed "abduction and retention of a child".

Paragraph 1. Where a mother or father whose parental authority has been taken away, or a blood relative up to and including the third degree, abducts or retains a child who has not completed the age of sixteen from the side of the parent, guardian or person under whose care and supervision the child is, without force or threat, TCK Article 234(1) provides for imprisonment of three months to one year.

Paragraph 2. If force or threat is used, or the child has not yet completed the age of twelve, TCK Article 234(2) increases the penalty by one fold.

Paragraph 3. TCK Article 234(3) is a separate offence: keeping with you, without informing the family or the competent authorities, a child who has left home without the knowledge or consent of the legal representative, even with the child's consent. It is prosecuted on complaint, with imprisonment of three months to one year.

Paragraph 1 names two groups of possible perpetrators: a mother or father whose parental authority has been taken away, and blood relatives up to the third degree. A parent whose parental authority has not been taken away is not among the persons listed. This guide goes no further than the text. Whether any other provision could be relevant depends on the facts and is assessed by the prosecutor and, if a case is opened, by the court.

A Hague return case is a civil case in the family court; a criminal complaint is a separate matter for the prosecutor. Either can exist without the other.

5. At the Departure Desk: What Happens and What You Can Do

When a measure under Article 24(a) of Law No. 5717 is in force, a child to whom it applies cannot pass departure control. The parent is told that a measure exists and the child is not allowed to board. If the other parent has also made a criminal complaint, the parent may be asked to go to the prosecutor's office or the police to be heard; what follows is decided by the prosecutor on the facts.

If you are asked for a statement (ifade), CMK Article 147 applies: your identity is established; the accusation is explained; you are told of the right to choose a lawyer and have the lawyer present, and that the bar will appoint one if you cannot and want one; if you have been apprehended, a relative of your choice is informed without delay; you are told of your legal right not to make a statement about the accusation; and you may ask for concrete evidence in your favour to be collected. Under CMK Article 202, a suspect, victim or witness who does not know Turkish well enough to express himself is entitled to an interpreter, appointed during the investigation by the judge or the prosecutor.

In practice:

• Do not explain the family history before you have a lawyer. Every fact about the separation and the trip will be recorded; the right to remain silent lets you give the statement once, with advice.
• Insist on an interpreter. A statement about custody given in a language you do not fully understand is a poor foundation for what follows.
• Collect the documents. Ask which authority ordered the measure and keep every paper. A lawyer can then examine the file and advise what can be requested from the court.

See also our guides to giving a statement at Istanbul Airport and to being stopped from leaving Türkiye.

6. Situation by Situation: The Rule and the Risk

7. Before You Fly With Your Child: A Checklist

1. Carry the child's passport and identity documents and a document showing your relationship to the child, such as a birth certificate.
2. If divorced or separated, carry the court decision on parental authority and any decision on contact.
3. Where the other parent shares parental authority, carry that parent's written consent to the trip with dates and destination; it is evidence of agreement, not a substitute for checking the court position.
4. If a divorce, custody or return case exists in Türkiye, or may have been filed, ask a lawyer to check the family court and prosecution records before you book.
5. Have any notice from a family court or a chief public prosecutor's office read and translated before travelling.
6. If you are stopped, ask which authority ordered the measure, keep every document, and ask for a lawyer and an interpreter before any statement.