July 16, 2024 by  RealtorGlobal

Did You Know You Can Complain If Your Neighbor Makes Noise In Turkey? They Can Pay A Fine For Breaking The Silence

Did you know that you can complain about your neighbor in Turkey if they are making noise? They can pay a fine for disturbing the silence. Although neighbors are respectful, loving and understanding towards each other, sometimes disagreements can arise. For this reason, people can complain about each other. In Turkey, neighborly relations, beliefs and behaviors that come from culture and traditions, affect future generations as much. In fact, there are many proverbs and idioms about neighborly relations. It is clearly expressed that it is a representative of cooperation and solidarity with sentences like “The neighbor needs the ashes of the neighbor”.

In this blog, we will talk about the importance of neighborly relations in Turkey, the penalties and consequences of making noise. If your neighbor is making noise, listen to what we say! You may have been patient until now and are in the process of looking for ideas on what to do. At this point, there is more than one solution to your problem. So what are these solutions? Let’s take a look together!

Why Are Neighborly Relations Important in Turkey?

The concept of neighborhood has an important place in Turkish culture. This element, which forms the social structure, is a lifestyle that affects daily life in different ways and is found in living spaces. In Turkey, which has brought together different cultures from the past to the present and included them in housing, neighborly relations are viewed as the provision of a happy life. As in the philosophy of existence, a person must be together in society. It is one of the social relationship forms that you need to sustain your life, reduce spiritual and physical effects, sometimes meet your material needs, and be in solidarity.

Neighborhood relations always maintain their importance in Turkey, with different cultures coexisting. Especially in mass housing areas, people live next to each other. Sometimes your neighbor can be like your family. The people who form the basis of your entire private and social life are your neighbors. The concept of acting together in the bonds established between societies also brings with it the requirements of living in harmony.

When buying real estate in Turkey, neighbors, especially in mass housing, are equally important. It is your most natural right to want the investment area you choose to have a peaceful, calm and respectful life. Each region has its own neighborhood environment that is different. Some live in modern living residences, some in villa complexes and some in neighborhood life. Respecting your neighbors’ ideas, lifestyles and remaining in compliance with the rules of the residential areas are expected from property owners and tenants.

What are the Situations That Break the Silence in Neighborhood Relations in Turkey?

Everyone wants to live in a quiet and peaceful environment. At the same time, they trust, respect and love the person across from them. Sometimes there may be people in your living space with whom you disagree. The problem of expressing your wishes grows bigger and bigger. If your neighbor is behaving in a way that disturbs the peace of your apartment or site, and especially if there is a loud noise, your environment will be far from being quiet. A noisy neighbor can disturb you and other neighbors in many ways.

Situations mentioned as causes of noise;

• Listening to loud music
• Organizing entertainment or parties with large numbers of guests in the evening outside the hours specified in the apartment rules.
• Operating cleaning materials such as brooms etc.
• Children’s noise
• Talking loudly

If these situations disturb peace and tranquility, people can complain about them using different methods. The statement in Article 18 of the Law on Property Ownership is   as follows: ” Flat owners and other people living in the house as tenants etc. are obliged to comply with the rules of honesty, especially not to disturb each other and not to violate each other’s rights while using both independent sections and common areas.”

Apartment residents should be careful not to make noise during the designated hours. Especially noise made during working hours gives the other party the right to complain. According to the Apartment Noise Regulation, it is forbidden to make noise during working days, especially between 13.00-15.00 and 19.00-07.00 and during the entire weekend. These noises are considered as listening to loud music, running the vacuum cleaner at high volume, and using musical instruments in a way that other people can hear.

If there is a problem with all the articles in the Apartment Noise Regulation, you can complain about your neighbor for making noise. You can take a look at the regulation about the reasons for complaints.

Contrary to popular belief, children’s voices are also a reason for complaint. According to Article 18 of the Condominium Law and Article 36 of the Violations Law, children making “unbearable” noise is considered noise. Although it is sometimes thought that children’s voices can be considered natural or that they are a legal situation, this is not true information. If there is a grievance caused by a neighbor’s child, the resident has the right to complain.

Can Noisy Neighbors Be Complained About in Turkey? How?

It may be necessary to prove the noise made in communal living spaces. In these cases, people resort to video and audio recording systems. However, in this case, even if you record it visually from your mobile phones, you cannot use it as evidence. For this reason, you need to have the noise complaint recorded. For this, you need to call the municipal police or the police.

You can use 4 different complaint methods to prevent your neighbor from making noise:

• You can do this by reporting your neighbors making noise to the police. With this method, your neighbor has to pay a fine.
• You can open a complaint record at the police station by calling the 155 reporting line.
• You can file a complaint with the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change by calling Alo 181.
• You can file a lawsuit by submitting a petition to the Civil Court of Peace.

First of all, you should implement these methods in order. Because the lawsuit is the final stage in this regard. First of all, you may want to contact your neighbor. You can empathize with him and express his discomfort through communication. You can gently warn him to reduce his noise. If this method turns into a way of fighting and arguing, you may need to review other methods.

When the lawsuit method is used, the decibel rate of the noise can be examined by experts. If the decibel level published in the Official Gazette is exceeded, it means that your neighbor is making noise.

According to the information provided by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, it is determined whether people make noise or not.

How Much Fine Should a Noisy Neighbor Pay in Turkey?

According to 2023 data, the amount that neighbors will pay for complaints about noise is certain. As a result of the complaints, neighbors must pay a certain amount of money. These amounts vary depending on the institutions that impose the fine.

As a result of complaints made to the police and law enforcement officers, the fine for making noise in 2023 is 1,594 TL. If the issue is brought to trial, the fine varies between 250 TL and 2000 TL. According to Article 33 of the Law on Condominium Ownership No. 634 (KMK), the upper fine limit is 2,000 TL. The Communiqué on Administrative Fines to be Imposed According to the Environmental Law No. 2872 (2023/1) published in 2023 approved this provision. If the rules are not followed, a fine of 4,800 TL will be paid. This fine was determined by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. The fine is applied when a neighbor complains about making noise at home. It has been increased by the revaluation rate of 122.93% determined in accordance with the General Communiqué of the Tax Procedure Law (Sequence No: 542). With repeated intentional incidents and increased noise, the victims file compensation lawsuits and these amounts increase even more.

How can the problem of noisy neighbors be solved in Turkey?

If your neighbors are constantly making noise, not following the apartment rules, and constantly increasing the decibel level, you have the right to complain about your neighbor. You can complain about your neighbors using different methods. The situations you should apply to eliminate the noise problem are as follows:

• Communicate with your neighbor: You can warn your neighbor verbally. You can tell them the reasons for your complaint, you can tell them that you understand them and that they should be careful not to make noise, especially during certain hours. Stating your reasons in a polite way can strengthen your communication with your neighbor.
• File a complaint with the police or the municipal police: You can call the municipal police in your area or open a complaint record by calling Alo 155.
• Apply to your local magistrate’s court: you can forbid your neighbor from making noise through a lawsuit.
• If these problems continue, if there is no solution; according to Article 25 of the Law on Condominium Ownership titled “Obligation to Transfer Condominium Ownership”; you can buy the house of the noisy neighbor with the participation of all the condominium owners. Although it is financially challenging, this is the final solution.

You can apply various methods to prevent your neighbors from making noise. At the same time, you can get help from our team to find a solution for this. You can do a good area research with the Realtor Global portfolio and at the same time invest in mass housing with calm and criminally unaccounted neighbors. You can find comfortable investment privileges in Turkey with good communication, professional area knowledge and legal solution support. You can get help for applying for legal processes and follow the process with us safely. You can always contact us and find the most accurate information about your investments.

https://realtorglobal.com/tr-TR/turkiyede-sessizligi-bozan-komsular-icin-para-cezasi/56/1/1/