Impossibility of Performance and Extinguishment of the Obligation

Legal Article · 12 November 2026
Av. Thomas Andreas Di Constantinople

Impossibility means the performance owed cannot be provided. First establish whether it existed at formation or arose later. Initial objective impossibility affects validity under Article 27 of the Turkish Code of Obligations. The debtor's personal inability alone does not automatically have the same effect. Subsequent impossibility concerns continuation of the obligation and liability.

Under Article 136 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, subsequent impossibility for reasons not attributable to the debtor extinguishes the obligation. Attributable impossibility cannot be assessed only in that way; liability under Article 112 may arise. Economic burdens alone are not impossibility; hardship is a separate mechanism.

In a reciprocal contract, a party discharged by impossibility generally returns counter-performance received under unjust enrichment rules and loses the right to demand unperformed counter-performance. Cases where statute or contract places risk on the creditor are exceptions.

The debtor must notify impossibility promptly and take measures preventing increased loss; otherwise liability for loss caused by that omission may arise. Article 137 of the Turkish Code of Obligations governs partial impossibility. The whole debt cannot be treated as extinguished without examining acceptability of the remainder and whether the contract would have been made on those terms.

Legal Basis: Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, Articles 27, 112, 136, and 137. Official legislative text.

This article has been prepared for general legal information purposes.