Bribery in Turkish Penal Code

Bribery is regulated in Articles 252, 253 and 254 under the Part titled "Offences Against the Reliability and Functioning of Public Administration" in the Fourth Section titled "Offences Against Nation and State" of Chapter 2 of the Turkish Penal Code. The offence of bribery is committed when a public official, directly or through other persons, secures an advantage for himself or another person designated by him, in order for him to perform or not to perform a task with regard to his duty. Similarly, provision of an advantage to a public official or another person designated by him also constitutes the offence of bribery. The offence of bribery is a reciprocal offence involving multiple offenders requiring the presence of two persons, namely a person who receives the bribe and another person who gives the bribe. Therefore, the person who receives a bribe and the person who gives it are not accomplices to the offence but are in the position of independent offenders of the same offence. In order for the offence of bribery to arise, an advantage must be secured in consideration of a work to be carried out by a public official; the said work must be within the power and duty of the public official; both the public official receiving the bribe and the person who gives the bribe must have the knowledge and understanding that the advantage so secured is in consideration for the work to be done, and the advantage must be secured based on the free will of the parties. In the event that the free will of either of the offenders is tampered with by force, deception or threat, then such offence will not be bribery but plunder, extortion or fraud, depending on the circumstances of the relevant case.