The Scope of Contractual Obligations

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

A contract is formed through reciprocal and matching declarations of intent. A valid contract creates duties to provide the agreed performances. Their scope depends not merely on the contractual heading but on the actual common intention, nature of the transaction, and applicable statutory provisions.

The parties may freely determine contractual content within Article 26 of the Turkish Code of Obligations. The limits in Article 27, including mandatory provisions, public policy, morality, and personality rights, nevertheless remain. A clause being written into a contract does not make it valid and enforceable in every case.

Alongside principal duties such as payment or delivery, a contract may impose duties to inform, exercise care, and protect the other party's interests. For example, delivery may occur while the agreed qualities are absent, raising improper-performance issues. The result cannot be determined solely from payment or delivery dates without identifying the duty breached.

The order of performance also matters in reciprocal contracts. Where Article 97 of the Turkish Code of Obligations applies, a party must have performed or properly tendered its own obligation; situations where it is not required to perform first are assessed separately. Consequences of breach are determined by considering contract-specific and general provisions together; not every breach directly terminates the contract.

Legal Basis: Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, Articles 1, 19, 26, 27, 97, and 112. Official legislative text.

This article has been prepared for general legal information purposes.