The Regulation on the Implementation of Land Use Planning (“Regulation“) entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette dated 4 April 2026 and numbered 33214.
The Regulation has been prepared pursuant to the Soil Conservation and Land Use Law No. 5403 (“Law“) and sets out the procedures and principles regarding the identification of soil and land assets, the conduct of soil survey, mapping and classification studies, the preparation of land use plans, and the determination of large plain protection areas and erosion-sensitive areas.
The key provisions introduced by the Regulation can be summarized as follows:
- Pursuant to the Regulation, land use plans (“LUP“) consist of the following stages: (i) data collection and analysis studies, (ii) preparation of the LUP, explanatory report, and plan provisions, (iii) control and approval of the LUP. In this regard, data collection and analysis studies, as well as the preparation and approval procedures related to the LUP shall be carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (“Ministry“); while the control procedures shall be conducted by the governorships and/or the Ministry.
- It is stipulated that the LUP preparation process shall be based on soil, climate, topography, physiography, water potential and other data deemed necessary. Within the scope of LUP studies, the lands within the planning area are divided into three main groups: agricultural lands, non-agricultural lands, and out-of-scope lands. Agricultural lands are categorized as absolute agricultural lands, special crop lands, planted agricultural lands and marginal agricultural lands. Non-agricultural lands are defined as areas other than agricultural lands and out-of-scope lands. Out-of-scope lands consist of pasture areas, forest areas, areas designated or protected under special laws, built-up areas, mining-quarry areas, roads and similar areas.
- For non-agricultural use requests, the Regulation adopts a tiered prioritization system: first, suitable vacant areas within planned zones shall be evaluated; where suitable and sufficient areas cannot be found within such zones, non-agricultural lands shall be considered as alternative areas; and where these are also insufficient, dry marginal agricultural lands may be evaluated as alternatives. It is also stipulated that agricultural lands may not be used for purposes other than those specified in the LUP, save for the exceptions set forth in the Law.
- It is stated that the provisions of the relevant laws are reserved with respect to areas falling within the scope of special laws, and that the ministries or institutions responsible under the relevant laws shall evaluate the forms of use set forth in the LUP.
- All maps and reports prepared as a result of soil survey and classification studies shall be approved by the General Directorate of Agricultural Reform (“General Directorate“), and objections and amendment requests regarding such studies shall also be evaluated and decided upon by the General Directorate.
- The Regulation also includes principles regarding the preparation of 1/25000 and 1/5000 scale LUPs, agricultural land use plans and projects, and the determination of large plain protection areas and erosion-sensitive areas.
- The Regulation stipulates that, pursuant to Article 14 of the Law, plains with high agricultural production potential and where soil loss and land degradation are rapidly progressing due to various reasons shall be designated as large plain protection areas by Presidential Decision, upon obtaining the opinion of the relevant soil conservation boards. It is envisaged that an annotation to this effect shall be placed in the declarations column of the land registry pages of parcels that have been declared as a large plain protection area and that are located within the boundaries of the plain.
- In addition, it is stipulated that the studies to determine whether the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil have been degraded or whether there is a possibility of degradation shall be carried out by the Ministry or provincial directorates. The conformity of determination studies with the land shall be checked by the relevant provincial directorates, and once the control studies are completed, areas where such properties have been determined to be degraded or where a possibility of degradation has been identified shall be submitted to the Ministry. Areas deemed suitable as a result of the evaluation conducted by the Ministry may be designated as erosion-sensitive areas by Presidential Decision pursuant to Article 15 of the Law.
- The Regulation provides that compliance with land use plans or agricultural land use plans and projects is mandatory, and that any violations of such plans shall result in the application of Article 20 of the Law.
- Furthermore, it is stated that the Ministry is authorized to resolve any uncertainties regarding the implementation of the Regulation, to regulate its application and to issue secondary regulatory instruments in this regard.
You can access the full text of the Regulation via this link. (Only available in Turkish)
