Obligations and contracts

Ordinary partnership

A partnership without legal personality in which two or more persons combine efforts and assets to pursue a common purpose.

All terms

Under Turkish law, an ordinary partnership is a contract by which two or more persons undertake to combine their efforts and assets to achieve a common purpose. Unlike commercial companies it has no legal personality: it cannot own property or sue in its own name, and rights and debts belong directly to the partners.

In practice, construction consortia, joint ventures and business activities carried on together without incorporating a company are frequently classified as ordinary partnerships. No form is required; even a purely de facto collaboration can create the relationship.

Partners are jointly and severally liable without limit for partnership debts. Unless agreed otherwise, profits and losses are shared equally, a flexibility that is also the main source of disputes between partners.

Not to be confused with

Ticaret şirketleriyle karıştırılmamalıdır: limited ve anonim şirketler tüzel kişiliğe sahiptir ve ortakların sorumluluğu kural olarak sınırlıdır.

Statutory basis

  • TBK m.620

The glossary is provided for information only and does not constitute legal advice. What a term means in a specific case depends on the details of the file.