[STARTING UP IN TURKEY] Freelancing: surviving the legal gap!

However, there are a couple of risks involved in freelance work, too. Today’s Zaman has mapped the field for you and will try to help out with some answers.

If, for example, you take a look at the legal provisions related to foreigners working in Turkey -- as they are stated in the Law on Work Permits for Foreigners -- you should not be surprised to discover that it doesn’t contain the term “freelancing” at all. Instead, the law informs you in the very first sentence that all “foreigners have to obtain a permit prior to starting work in Turkey dependently or independently.” Indeed, according to the law, freelancing does not exist in Turkey. Hence, freelancing is illegal -- for Turkish citizens as well as for foreigners.

Sure, in practical terms freelancers can survive for some time in this gap in the law without getting into bigger trouble. And many do just that, Turks as well as foreigners. But, speaking frankly, one should not take these regulations too lightly. Over the last year, authorities have intensified efforts to go after illegal foreign workers. When discovered, foreigners face serious consequences, ranging from losing their job to fines of up to several thousand euros and even deportation. Just to cite one example: According to statistics from the Turkish Employment Organization (İŞKUR), 90,000 women illegally employed in the service industry as caregivers for children, medical patients and the elderly were deported in 2008.

In addition to such legal hurdles, working for Turkish companies as a freelancer includes many practical difficulties. Due to the fact that many companies are well aware of the situation, freelancers in Turkey sometimes find that their employers do not pay them. If they don’t pay you after you have done the job, you will have no way to appeal to the authorities because you would have to admit that you have been working illegally.

This was, for instance, what happened to a Swiss national, August, who came to Turkey about two years ago. “A company had asked me to design their Web site. So happy that I had found my first job, I worked for two weeks round the clock to finish everything on time,” he remembers. But then came an awakening. “The site went online, but they refused to pay me. The more I insisted on them giving me my money, the ruder these guys got. In the end I was simply scared and gave up trying,” he says. August, however, learned from the experience: Today he keeps the codes that are needed to get the Web site published until he gets paid.

Becoming your own boss

Well, August found a way to survive in the legal gap. But this may not be the case for everyone. Working as a freelancer means also agreeing to some “pitiable” conditions, in particular the lack of social security.

The only legal route for doing freelance work in Turkey on a regular basis is to start your own company. Sure, it’s a big step and must be thought out carefully in advance, but it’s not impossible. Thanks to the Foreign Direct Investment Law, which was enacted in 2003, the procedures for establishing a business are now much easier compared to previous years.

A company may be established with 100 percent foreign capital, and almost all business sectors are open to foreign interests. The formation of a company by a foreign investor no longer requires permission from the Treasury’s Foreign Investment General Directorate nor does it require the earlier TL 50, 000 deposit in a Turkish bank. Applications for the establishment of a company must be filed with the Ministry of Industry and Trade or with a provincial trade registration office. Articles of incorporation -- detailing the company’s structure and management -- are required and should be notarized. The exact amount of time it takes to complete these procedures will vary for each company, but on average just two weeks should be expected. Though, if you decide to become self-employed in Turkey you will be obliged to apply for a work permit.

If you are thinking about becoming your own boss, you should have a more detailed look at the law. It can be found at the Web site of the Turkish Prime Ministry’s Investment Support and Promotion Agency (ISPAT) at www.invest.gov.tr.

But in the end, a crucial question remains: Is there any way for a freelancer in Turkey to avoid risks involved in what he or she is dong -- apart from opening a company? There is! You can work only for foreign, rather than Turkish, companies. If you, for instance, work at home over the Internet and get your pay deposited in your bank account in your home country, you should be safe. Your salary never enters Turkey. You are also not taking any work from a Turk. Basically, you aren’t doing anything in Turkey except sitting and typing on a keyboard, or maybe talking with a Web cam -- which are both absolutely in accordance with Turkish laws. Don’t forget, however, to learn whether there are regulations that apply to you as a freelancer with regard to your home country. You may still be obligated to pay taxes for the money you are earning.