It cannot invoice, sign commercial agreements, or generate a single lira of revenue. That is not a technicality — it is the entire point of the structure. Most companies searching for one are trying to solve a commercial problem with a legal form.
Liaison offices are governed by Türkiye's foreign direct investment legislation and permitted by the General Directorate of Incentive Implementation and Foreign Investment, under the Ministry of Industry and Technology.
No sales, no invoices, no revenue-generating transactions. Representation, market research, promotion, supplier supervision, technical support, information transfer and regional management are permitted. Trading is not.
Granted for up to three years. Representation, supplier supervision, technical support and communication can be extended up to five years; a regional management centre up to ten. Permits given for market research or promotion cannot be extended at all.
Every cost is met by the parent company in foreign currency transferred into Türkiye. Salaries are exempt from Turkish income tax only while they are paid from those transfers.
Sell from abroad, or through a local distributor. Fastest and cheapest way to find out whether Türkiye buys from you at all. Most companies should start here.
A presence without a business. Right when you genuinely need representation, sourcing supervision or technical support on the ground — and wrong when you need to invoice.
Can trade, but stays legally part of the parent company. Heavier to open and to close than most foreign firms expect.
A Turkish company of your own. Full commercial freedom, full obligations. The right end point once demand is proven — rarely the right starting point.
Every foreign company that lands on this page is really asking the same four things. None of them are answered by a permit.
Not market size from a report — actual budget holders with an actual reason to change supplier this year.
What the market pays today, what it pays for imported quality, and where your price lands against that.
Direct, distributor, dealer or project partnership. Getting this wrong costs a year and is expensive to reverse.
In Türkiye and the wider region, commercial trust is still built face to face. Without someone local, timelines stretch.
Not a law firm and not an agency. You work directly with the person doing the work — 25 years of commercial leadership in engineering, software and defence sales.
Demand, competitors, price bands and channel map — validated by talking to people in the sector, not by desk research alone.
One page: which segment first, at what price, through which channel, and what has to be true for it to work.
Local representation, sales process, CRM and the marketing that creates first demand. Everything opened in your name.
Meetings, follow-up, channel relationships and a monthly report you can read in five minutes.
No. A liaison office is prohibited from any revenue-generating activity. It cannot sell goods or services, issue invoices, or conclude commercial agreements. If you need to take orders and get paid in Türkiye, you need a branch or a subsidiary — not a liaison office.
Permits are granted for up to three years. Extensions depend on the declared activity: representation, supplier supervision, technical support and communication can be extended for up to five years, and a regional management centre for up to ten. Permits granted for market research or promotion cannot be extended at all — that clock does not restart.
The General Directorate of Incentive Implementation and Foreign Investment, under the Ministry of Industry and Technology. Partnec does not file or manage this application; it is handled by your lawyer or licensed advisor.
Entirely by the parent company, in foreign currency transferred from abroad. The office cannot hold independent income. Employee salaries are exempt from Turkish income tax only if they are paid from those foreign-currency transfers; paying in lira removes the exemption.
That depends on what you are trying to learn. If you need presence for representation, technical support or sourcing, it is a clean structure. If you are trying to find out whether Türkiye will actually buy from you, the structure is not the question — the commercial evidence is. Most companies can answer that before they register anything.
We build the commercial side: who the real buyers are, what they will pay, which channel reaches them, and the sales and marketing system that produces the first qualified conversations. You work directly with the person doing the work — not an account manager. Legal, tax and registration stay with your own advisors.
Start with a free 15-minute call. We will tell you what we would check first, and whether you need a structure at all yet.
Book a Free Callor call us: +90 551 372 31 02
