International law governing transnational organized crime is of particular relevance to Türkiye, given its geography at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East and its role as a transit, origin and destination country for various forms of illicit activity, including drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, human trafficking and firearms trafficking. Like other states, Türkiye has viewed organized crime as a threat not only to security and public order, but also to human rights, the rule of law and economic development. The phenomenon has been intensified by globalization, regional conflicts and large-scale migratory movements, all of which have given organized criminal groups new opportunities to operate across borders.

Against this background, Türkiye participated actively in the negotiations that led to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and its three protocols on trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants and firearms. Türkiye signed UNTOC on 13 December 2000 and ratified it on 25 March 2003, becoming a party when the Convention entered into force for Türkiye on 29 September 2003. Türkiye is also party to all three protocols and regularly submits implementation reports to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

UNTOC and its protocols form part of a broader transnational criminal law framework to which Türkiye has gradually aligned its domestic system. Crimes such as participation in an organized criminal group, money laundering, corruption, migrant smuggling, human trafficking and firearms trafficking are criminalized under Turkish law, principally in the Turkish Criminal Code No. 5237 (TCK) and in special statutes (e.g. Law No. 5549 on the Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime; Law No. 6136 on Firearms, Knives and Other Tools). UNTOC’s extensive cooperation provisions – on extradition, mutual legal assistance and asset recovery – are implemented through Türkiye’s Law on International Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters and a dense network of bilateral and multilateral treaties, complemented by Türkiye’s participation in Europol, SELEC, BSEC and other regional frameworks.

For Türkiye, UNTOC has served both as a framework for legislative reform and as a legal basis for operational cooperation. However, as in other states, empirical information about the day-to-day use of UNTOC in Turkish courts and in international cooperation remains limited and is only gradually emerging through the UNTOC Review Mechanism and national practice.

Historical Background

Domestic Precursors and Early Reforms

Long before UNTOC, Türkiye’s legal order had already developed mechanisms to address organized criminality, initially through general conspiracy-type provisions and later through specific offences on criminal organizations. The 1990s saw an increase in concern over mafia-type structures, drug trafficking and corruption, which contributed to the reform of the criminal code and procedure. The entry into force of the new Turkish Criminal Code in 2005 codified provisions on criminal organizations (e.g. TCK Art. 220), money laundering (TCK Art. 282) and corruption-related offences such as bribery (TCK Art. 252).

In August 2002, even before UNTOC formally entered into force for Türkiye, the Grand National Assembly adopted amendments defining migrant smuggling and human trafficking as distinct offences, later consolidated in TCK Arts. 79 and 80 under the heading “Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking”. These amendments were explicitly linked to Türkiye’s obligations under the Palermo instruments and Council of Europe and EU standards.

Alongside criminalization, Türkiye strengthened institutional capacities: the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department (KOM) within the Turkish National Police was tasked with investigating organized crime, drug trafficking and related economic offences; later, the Turkish International Academy Against Drugs and Organized Crime (TADOC) was established in partnership with UNODC as a regional training hub.

International Context and Türkiye’s Position

Internationally, the development of UNTOC was influenced by the same factors that shaped Türkiye’s domestic agenda: the end of the Cold War, the expansion of the EU and the growth of cross-border illicit markets. For Türkiye, aspiring to EU membership and located on major Balkan and eastern Mediterranean routes for drugs, migrants and illicit commodities, participation in UNTOC negotiations and early ratification were part of a broader policy of legal and institutional convergence with European and global standards.

Subsequent instruments – most notably the 1988 Drug Trafficking Convention, the Council of Europe conventions on money laundering (1990, 2005), and later the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) – also influenced Turkish reform. Türkiye is party to these instruments and has adapted its law on money laundering (Law No. 5549; TCK Art. 282), confiscation, corruption and mutual legal assistance accordingly, under the guidance of FATF recommendations and Council of Europe monitoring.

UNTOC’s Scope of Application and Turkish Law

Organized Criminal Group

1UNTOC does not define “organized crime” but defines an “organized criminal group” as a structured group of three or more persons existing for a period of time and acting in concert to commit “serious crimes” for a financial or material benefit (Art. 2(a) UNTOC). Türkiye’s domestic approach is broadly consistent but not identical.

The Turkish Criminal Code criminalizes participation in a criminal organization under Art. 220, which covers groups established to commit crimes, typically requiring at least three members and continuity of purpose. The provision does not use the UNTOC terminology verbatim, but Turkish doctrine and case law often interpret Art. 220 in light of international standards, including UNTOC, especially where the group is transnational or engaged in serious economic crime.

“Serious crime” in UNTOC is defined by reference to a maximum penalty of at least four years’ imprisonment (Art. 2(b)). Turkish criminal law, by contrast, does not have a single cross-cutting definition of “serious crime”, but thresholds of punishment appear in various contexts (e.g. for money laundering in Art. 282 TCK the predicate offence must carry at least six months of imprisonment, a threshold shaped partly by transnational crime instruments).

Transnationality

UNTOC applies to offences that are both “transnational in nature” and involve an organized criminal group (Art. 3). Under Art. 34(2) UNTOC, however, states must criminalize the relevant conduct even when transnationality is absent. Turkish law follows this model: offences such as human trafficking, migrant smuggling, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization apply equally to purely domestic situations, but a transnational or cross-border element is frequently present in practice, for example along drug and migration routes.

Transnational elements become particularly important in the field of mutual legal assistance (MLA), extradition, and police cooperation. In practice, Turkish authorities rely simultaneously on UNTOC, drug conventions, Council of Europe instruments and bilateral treaties when handling requests, with UNTOC providing a fallback legal basis where no specific extradition or MLA treaty exists.

Criminal Offences under UNTOC and Corresponding Turkish Provisions

UNTOC requires criminalization of four core offences: participation in an organized criminal group (Art. 5), money laundering (Art. 6), corruption (Art. 8) and obstruction of justice (Art. 23). These have functional counterparts in Turkish law:

• Participation in an organized criminal group – TCK Art. 220 (establishing, leading or being a member of a criminal organization).
• Money laundering – TCK Art. 282, supplemented by Law No. 5549 and secondary MASAK regulations on AML/CFT.
• Corruption – a cluster of offences in the TCK, notably bribery (Art. 252), embezzlement, malfeasance and bid-rigging; these provisions have been repeatedly amended in light of GRECO and OECD criticism.
• Obstruction of justice – offences such as threatening or influencing witnesses, destroying evidence, or obstructing enforcement appear in several TCK provisions and in the Criminal Procedure Code, though they are not grouped under a single “obstruction of justice” heading.

The three UNTOC protocols also have direct counterparts in Turkish law:

• Human trafficking is criminalized mainly by TCK Art. 80, using a definition closely inspired by the Trafficking Protocol, and supplemented by provisions in migration law and victim protection schemes (residence permits for victims, shelters, and the work of the Directorate General of Migration Management).
• Migrant smuggling is covered by TCK Art. 79, which defines the offence in terms of the illegal facilitation of entry into or exit from Türkiye or another state for material benefit, tracking the Migrant Smuggling Protocol’s focus on financial gain and distinguishing it from trafficking.
• Illicit manufacturing of and trafficking in firearms is addressed primarily by Law No. 6136 on Firearms, Knives and Other Tools and related regulations, which establish licensing, record-keeping and trafficking offences, alongside TCK provisions on smuggling and terrorism-related arms offences.

International Cooperation and Turkish Practice

Extradition

Under UNTOC Art. 16, offences covered by the Convention are to be treated as extraditable. Türkiye gives effect to this obligation through its Law on International Judicial Cooperation, the Law on Extradition and Transfer of Convicted Persons, as well as a wide network of bilateral and multilateral extradition treaties (notably Council of Europe conventions). UNTOC can operate as a direct extradition basis in relations where no specific treaty exists, provided dual criminality is satisfied.

In line with Art. 16(13) – (14) UNTOC, Turkish law includes guarantees of fair treatment and grounds for refusal based on human rights concerns, political offences or risk of persecution, which are consistent with Türkiye’s obligations under the ECHR and ICCPR. Requests involving organized crime are often embedded in broader contexts such as terrorism, drug trafficking or large-scale economic crime, which can make the human-rights assessment particularly complex.

Mutual Legal Assistance

Article 18 UNTOC provides for broad mutual legal assistance (MLA), ranging from evidence-gathering and searches to asset tracing and expert testimony. For Türkiye, MLA in UNTOC matters typically runs through the Ministry of Justice (Directorate General for International Law and Foreign Relations) as central authority, using UNTOC, the 1988 Drug Convention, Council of Europe instruments or bilateral agreements as legal bases, sometimes cumulatively.

In practice, Türkiye both sends and receives MLA requests relating to drug trafficking, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, money laundering, cyber-enabled fraud and the financing of terrorism. Reports by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlight multiple joint operations with European and North American partners (e.g. heroin interdictions along the Balkan route), illustrating operational use of these instruments in support of joint investigations and controlled deliveries.

Asset Recovery

UNTOC’s provisions on confiscation and asset recovery (Arts. 12–14) have been transposed into Turkish law mainly through TCK Art. 54–55 (confiscation of instruments and proceeds) and TCK Art. 282 together with Law No. 5549 and its secondary legislation. These allow for the freezing, seizure and confiscation of proceeds of crime, including extended confiscation of assets equivalent in value to criminal proceeds and of assets intermingled with legitimate property.

Türkiye has come under intermittent scrutiny by FATF for the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime. It was placed on the FATF “grey list” in 2021 and removed in 2024 after significant reforms and enforcement efforts, including investigations against payment institutions and enhanced supervision of high-risk sectors. Ongoing FATF monitoring continues to shape Turkish policy and practice on asset recovery and financial crime, which intersects closely with UNTOC obligations.

Law Enforcement Cooperation

In addition to formal MLA and extradition, Türkiye engages in extensive law enforcement cooperation under UNTOC Art. 27 and other frameworks. The Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department (KOM) of the Turkish National Police and TADOC play central roles in this regard, hosting training programmes and coordinating operations with foreign counterparts and international organizations such as UNODC, Europol, SELEC and EMCDDA/EUDA.

Türkiye’s liaison officers and joint working groups, especially in drug trafficking and migrant smuggling cases, exemplify the operational dimension of UNTOC-driven cooperation, where real-time information exchange and joint operations are often more decisive than formal treaties for disrupting transnational networks.

Institutional Architecture and the UNTOC Review Mechanism

Like other transnational criminal law regimes, UNTOC lacks a court but relies on state reporting and peer review. Türkiye participates in the UNTOC Review Mechanism, which became operational in 2021, and submits self-assessment questionnaires and other information on implementation of the Convention and its protocols.

Domestically, implementation and reporting involve a multi-institutional architecture:

• Ministry of Justice – central authority for MLA/extradition; coordinates legislative alignment.
• Ministry of Interior / Turkish National Police (KOM) and Gendarmerie – operational fight against organized crime, drugs, human trafficking and smuggling.
• MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board) – financial intelligence unit and coordinator of AML/CFT policy under Law No. 5549.
• Directorate General of Migration Management and relevant ministries – anti-trafficking policy, victim protection and measures related to irregular migration.

Coordination among these actors is supported by national strategies and action plans, particularly in the field of drugs and AML/CFT, which explicitly reference UN conventions and EU standards. The MFA notes that six national drug strategies and seven action plans were adopted between 2006 and 2024, culminating in the 2024–2028 National Strategy and Action Plan for Combating Drugs, further embedding UNTOC-related obligations in national planning.

Assessment from a Turkish Perspective

For Türkiye, UNTOC and its protocols have served as an important catalyst and reference point for the modernization of criminal law and institutions dealing with organized crime. Core Palermo offences are clearly criminalized; specialized investigative units and training academies exist; and Türkiye is deeply embedded in regional and global cooperation networks.

At the same time, several challenges remain:

• Implementation and practice – As in other states, there is still limited systematic, publicly available data on how often UNTOC is invoked as the formal legal basis for MLA, extradition or confiscation in Turkish practice, and how Turkish courts interpret key notions such as “organized criminal group” and “serious crime” in light of UNTOC.
• Consistency and proportionality of sanctions – While the penalties for Palermo-type offences (e.g. TCK Arts. 79, 80, 220, 252, 282) are relatively severe, questions arise about proportionality, plea practices, and the balance between efficiency and fair-trial guarantees.
• AML/CFT effectiveness – FATF’s grey-listing episode showed that formal alignment with international standards does not automatically translate into effective supervision and enforcement, particularly in rapidly growing sectors such as payment services, real estate and virtual assets.
• Human rights and migration pressures – Türkiye’s central role in migration routes has generated tensions between robust enforcement of migrant smuggling and trafficking laws and the protection of refugees and migrants’ rights. Balancing UNTOC obligations with those under human rights and refugee law remains an ongoing concern.

The UNTOC Review Mechanism, if used transparently and in cooperation with civil society and academia, offers an opportunity to generate more empirically grounded assessments of Türkiye’s performance and to identify gaps in implementation and enforcement. Combined with data-driven analysis from bodies such as FATF, GRECO, the Council of Europe and UNODC, it can help ensure that Türkiye’s extensive legislative and institutional reforms translate into effective, rights-compliant practice against transnational organized crime.

© 2025 Prof. Dr. Vahit Bıçak / Bıçak Law Firm – All rights reserved. This article was written by Prof. Dr. Vahit Bıçak for publication on the website www.bicakhukuk.com. Even if cited as a source, the full text of the article may not be used without prior permission. However, a portion of the article may be quoted, provided that an active link is included. Publishing the article in whole or in part without indicating the author and the source constitutes a violation of personal and intellectual property rights.

Reference: Bıçak Vahit (2025) “UNTOC Implementation in Türkiye: Law and Practice”, Bıçak Law Firm Blog, https://www.bicakhukuk.com/en/untoc-implementation-in-turkiye-law-and-practice/, p. __., Access Date: ….