Establishment and provisions of paternity

Paternity is regulated under the title of "kinship" in the second chapter of the Family Law which is the second book of the Turkish Civil Code. In the first part of this chapter consisting of two parts, the regulations related to the establishment of paternity are included. In the fisrt section of the first part, the general provisions; in the second section, the paternity of husband; in the third section, provision of acknowledgement and paternity; in the fourth section, adoption; and in the fifth section, the provisions of paternity are included. In order for the provisions of paternity regulated under the articles 321-334 of the Turkish Civil Code to be applied, paternity between the child and the parents needs to be established. In the Turkish Civil Code, for the establishment of paternity, a blood relationship or adoption relationship need to exist between the child and the parents. Paternity based on blood relationship is established through birth in terms of the mother and through marriage, acknowledgement and paternity suit in terms of the father. In case the relationship between a person and his/her parents has solely biological foundation then it is called biological paternity and in case this existing biological relationship is recognized by law or established through adoption, then it is called legal paternity. In the Turkish Civil Code, regarding the provisions of paternit, there is no distinction in terms of the way the paternity based on blood relationship is established between a person and his/her parents, whether the person is born inside or outside marriage. Children born inside the marriage and the children born outside the marriage are recognized as equal in terms of rights and duties regarding their relations with their parents and they are subjected to same provisions. In cases where there is no special provision related to adoption, the same provisions of the Turkish Civil Code related to paternity apply for the adopted one. Keywords: Paternity, Establishment of Paternity, Adoption, Provisisons of Paternity.