Introduction

The year 2024 brought one of the most fundamental changes to Turkey's personal data protection regime. Law No. 7499, published in the Official Gazette No. 32487 on 12 March 2024, substantially rewrote Article 9 of Law No. 6698 (KVKK) — namely, the international transfer of personal data. The amendment entered into force on 1 June 2024; following a transition period extending to 1 September 2024, companies were required to cease systematic transfers based on explicit consent.

At the heart of the new regime lies the 'appropriate safeguard' architecture long established in the EU's GDPR. Turkey built this architecture in an economy where cloud services, SaaS products, marketing technologies, and intra-group operations have become globally distributed; consequently, companies across every sector must now answer the same question: for each data flow crossing borders, what legal safeguard applies, how is this safeguard to be documented, and how is it to be reported to the Authority?

This article addresses the architecture of the new Article 9, the implementation details introduced by secondary legislation, the new obligations imposed on companies, and the patterns beginning to emerge in the first year of application.

The Three-Tiered Architecture of the New Article 9

Law No. 7499 structured Article 9 within a three-tiered framework. This structure shows marked convergence with the model provided for in Articles 44-50 of the GDPR.

First tier: Adequacy decision

The Authority may issue a decision that adequate protection is provided for a particular country, sectors within that country, or international organizations. Transfer to a destination covered by an adequacy decision may occur without the need for an additional safeguard mechanism. However, as of 2025, the Authority has not yet issued an adequacy decision for any country. This means, in practice, that the first tier is not yet applicable.

Second tier: Appropriate safeguards

In the absence of an adequacy decision, transfer may take place only upon provision of 'appropriate safeguards.' The principal safeguard mechanisms provided for by the Law are:

Standard contract (standard contract template — SCC),
Binding corporate rules (BCR),
International contract concluded with a data recipient established outside Turkey,
International contract or commitment made between public institutions or bodies.

By its decision No. 2024/959 dated 4 June 2024, the Authority approved standard contract templates covering four different scenarios: data controller to data controller, data controller to data processor, data processor to data processor, data processor to data controller. The templates were published on kvkk.gov.tr on 10 July 2024. The Regulation on Procedures and Principles Concerning International Transfer of Personal Data, published in the Official Gazette No. 32598 of the same date, detailed the implementation requirements.

Third tier: Exceptional cases

If the first and second tiers do not apply, limited exceptional cases enumerated in Article 9/6 (explicit consent of the data subject, necessity for performance of contract, overriding public interest, establishment or protection of rights, among others) may form the legal basis for a particular transfer. These provisions do not constitute a 'general safeguard' replacing the explicit consent rule in the former Article 9; they are exceptions applicable only to certain, non-routine situations.

A critical point in practice: the Authority has explicitly emphasized in secondary legislation and guidance that exceptional cases cannot justify routine and systematic transfers. For example, the continuous recording of employees in a cloud-based human resources system is not an exceptional transfer but a regular and systematic one; accordingly, it must be conducted through the second tier (standard contract or BCR).

The Operational Aspect of the Standard Contract

The most decisive element of the standard contract architecture in practice is the notification obligation. Under the framework established by the Law, a standard contract must be notified to the Authority within 5 business days of execution. The Regulation details how notification is to be made, what attachments must be included, and how deficiencies in the notification are to be remedied.

Non-compliance with this obligation in 2025 is subject to an administrative fine between TL 71,965 and TL 1,439,300. The amount is determined based on failure to notify, not on the nature of the breach; in other words, if a company executes 100 standard contracts without notifying them, it may theoretically face penalties for 100 separate violations.

The content of the standard contract is fixed in the template determined by the Authority; parties cannot alter the constituent elements of the template. However, the schedules to the contract — specifying which data categories are transferred, what technical and administrative measures are in place, and who the sub-processors are — are completed by the parties and represent the portion most open to negotiation in practice.

BCR — When Is It Preferred?

Binding corporate rules are a mechanism preferred especially for intra-group transfers within multinational enterprises. A BCR secures all transfers between the same group companies under a single document; there is no need to execute a new standard contract each time a new subsidiary is added. In return, the preparation of a BCR and the Authority's approval process are lengthy and detailed.

The BCR application templates approved by the Authority through its decision No. 2024/959 require comprehensive documentation on governance structures, complaint management, training programs, independent audit mechanisms, and allocation of liability within the group. The approval process typically takes 12-24 months in practice.

Practical recommendation: if the bulk of transfers occurs within the same group (for example, between a holding and its subsidiaries), BCR would be more efficient in the medium term. If transfers occur predominantly to different vendors, the standard contract model is a more agile short-term solution.

Patterns in the First Year of Implementation

With the Guide to International Transfer of Personal Data issued by the Authority on 2 January 2025, the first comprehensive interpretive text released after the transition period has become available. The patterns emerging from the Guide and the Authority's public announcements coalesce around the following points:

The standard contract notification module is operated by the Authority; companies submit their notifications through the module.
The number of contracts notified remains limited, with most companies unprepared for the transition.
The Authority has reiterated in multiple public announcements that compliance with the notification obligation will be monitored.

Practical Checklist for Companies

The following steps provide a starting framework for a company wishing to establish or update its compliance with international transfer requirements.

Update your inventory of existing transfers: which data, to which recipient, to which country, on what legal basis?
For each transfer, determine the appropriate safeguard mechanism (SCC, BCR, or exceptional case).
If a standard contract is required, select the relevant template variant published by the Authority; selecting the wrong template from the four options is a common practical error.
Complete the schedules to the standard contract — data categories, recipients, purposes, technical and administrative measures, sub-processors — to reflect your company's actual processing activities.
For each executed standard contract, adhere to the 5 business-day notification timeline; designate a responsible party in the notification module.
Particularly review standing transfers such as cloud-based human resources, CRM, communications, and support tools for employees; since these constitute routine transfers, they must be managed through appropriate safeguards rather than exceptional cases.
If your company engages in substantial multi-country intra-group transfers, evaluate BCR strategy at year-end; preparation may exceed one year.
Update your privacy notices; you must now inform data subjects not only that transfer occurs but also which safeguard mechanism is employed.
Align data protection addenda (DPA) in vendor contracts with the updated Article 9 framework.

Conclusion

Law No. 7499 has shifted international data transfer in Turkey from a consent-based and open-ended foundation to a documented and enforceable framework. Though the new regime may appear cumbersome at first, it introduces a discipline that serves both companies and the regulator in the medium term. The selection of appropriate safeguards, adherence to standard contract notification timelines, and maintenance of a current transfer map will be focal points of the Authority's enforcement in the period ahead.

Companies must approach this transformation not as a one-time project but as an ongoing governance discipline encompassing inventory, contract portfolio, and operational processes. The standard contract architecture enables the client's cross-border business relationships to leave a legal trace; when properly structured, it becomes an instrument that secures not only compliance but also business continuity.

KVKK under Law No. 7499: International Data Transfers Following Amendment — The Standard Contract Regime