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Insult Crime and Punishment (TCK Article 125): Compromise Abolished, Prepayment Period Started Insult, Qualified Cases, Complaint Period and Prepayment Procedure within the Scope of Turkish Penal Code Article 125-131. This guide has been updated as of 2026, based on the Turkish Penal Code, amendments to Law No. 7531 and 7571, and the Supreme Court case law.
The basic penalty for the crime of insult is imprisonment from three months to two years or a judicial fine; If it is committed against a public official because of his duty, because of his expression of belief and thought, or because of mention of sacred values, the penalty cannot be less than one year, and if it is committed publicly, it is increased by one sixth. The procedural regime of the crime has changed radically in 2024 and 2025: With Law No. 7571, insult has been completely removed from the scope of conciliation, and all acts of insult except those committed against a public official due to his/her duty have been included in the scope of prepayment. In addition, the complaint period for complaint-based insult crimes is subject to an absolute upper limit of two years from the date of the act, in addition to the general period of six months.
1. Why are there no more settlement offers in defamation cases?
The most common question that people who complain about defamation or about whom a complaint has been made has recently encountered is this: Why don't I receive a call from the conciliation office? The answer lies not in the material elements of the crime, but in the procedural regime to which it is subject. With two separate amendments to the law made in 2024 and 2025, the crime of insult was removed from the conciliation list, and a prepayment institution based on the perpetrator's payment to the state treasury was introduced.
The practical consequence of this change is direct for both parties. For the complainant, the opportunity to make a financial demand from the other party in exchange for a compromise has been eliminated. For the suspect, a way has emerged in which the case can be closed without filing a public lawsuit by paying a certain amount on time. The guide covers the elements of the crime of insult, its qualified circumstances and penalties, the new absolute limit on the complaint period, the prepayment procedure and the reasons for impunity.
Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code is included in the crimes against honor section and protects the honor, dignity and dignity of the person. The article stipulates that the crime can be committed in two separate acts.
Concrete act or fact imputation: It is the attribution of a behavior to a person whose truth or falsehood can be investigated. Statements such as "he embezzled the company's money" or "he passed the exam by cheating" are included in this scope. The concreteness of the allegation is decisive in terms of the right of proof, which will be discussed later.
Swearing: Attacking a person's reputation with directly insulting words or behavior that are not based on a concrete fact. Blasphemy expressions are typical examples.
It is a rule that the crime is committed in peace. In order for an insult committed in the absence of the victim to be punished, the act must be committed with at least three people. This condition is a statutory element of the crime; In cases where the words do not reach three people and are not perceived by them, the crime of insult does not occur.
The second paragraph of the article states that an insult committed through an audio, written or visual message addressed to the victim is deemed to have been committed in the presence of the victim.
It does. This includes statements sent via text message, e-mail, voice message or direct message. The distinguishing criterion here is that the message addresses the victim directly; In content sent to third parties, the condition of insult and conflict in absentia comes into question.
In the basic case, the penalty is imprisonment from three months to two years or a judicial fine. Since an optional punishment is foreseen, the court prefers one of these two sanctions depending on the characteristics of the concrete case. In qualified cases, the punishment becomes heavier.
Basic case (with arrest in presence or in absentia) Article 125/1 Imprisonment from 3 months to 2 years or judicial fine
Committing it via voice, written or video message, Article 125/2 Same penalty as in the basic case
Article 125/3-a The lower limit of the penalty for a public official due to his/her duty cannot be less than 1 year.
Article 125/3-b Due to expression of belief, thought or opinion, the lower limit of the penalty cannot be less than 1 year.
Article 125/3-c, which is considered sacred by the religion the person belongs to, cannot be less than 1 year.
Public officials working as a Board are deemed to have been committed against each member of the Board, and criminal provisions are applied due to their chained duties in Article 125/5.
In order for the qualified case to be applied, two conditions must be met: the victim must be a public official and the insult must have been committed due to his/her duty. Insulting a public official due to a personal animosity that has nothing to do with his/her duty is not included in this article; The act is evaluated within the scope of the basic situation and remains dependent on the complaint. This distinction radically changes the course of the file, as it determines not only the amount of the penalty, but also whether the investigation will be conducted ex officio or based on a complaint, and whether a prepayment option is available.
Publicity means that the action occurs in a way that is not specific and can be perceived by more than one person. According to the established approach of the Supreme Court, it is not required that the content has actually been seen; It is enough that it is visible. A post made from a public social media account, a statement spoken in a crowded environment, or an open access comment are evaluated in this context. On the other hand, the element of publicity becomes controversial in statements in a closed group or mutual private correspondence.
As a rule, the crime of insult depends on the complaint. Anything committed against a public official due to his/her duty is investigated ex officio and no complaint is sought.
In accordance with the general rule, the complaint period is six months from the day the act and the perpetrator were learned. However, in accordance with the sentence added to the second paragraph of Article 73 of the Turkish Penal Code by Article 14 of Law No. 7531 dated 7 November 2024, the complaint period for the crime of insult based on complaint cannot exceed two years from the date of the act, under any circumstances.
This absolute limit has consequences especially in terms of sharing on the internet. Something that was done years ago
The person who noticed the post later could start the six-month period from the date of learning. According to the new regulation, if two years have passed since the act, learning about the perpetrator or the act later does not revive the right to complain. In applications made after the deadline, an investigation cannot be conducted as the trial requirement is not met.
The procedural regime of the crime of insult has transformed into three stages in a short time. Knowing this process is necessary to understand which rule will be applied to the act committed on which date.
With Law No. 7531, which came into force on November 14, 2024, only certain cases of the crime of insult, especially the form committed through messages, were removed from the scope of conciliation and included in the scope of prepayment. Insults committed face to face are left in the conciliation regime. The resulting dual structure has created a procedural difference between different ways of committing the same crime.
With its decision dated 27 March 2025 and numbered E.2024/197, K.2025/86, the Constitutional Court inspected this distinction in terms of the principles of equality and proportionality and annulled part of the regulation. The enforcement of the cancellation provision has been postponed until February 28, 2026 to give the legislature the opportunity to make regulations. During this period, many insult files were kept waiting for the new regulation.
The gap was filled with Law No. 7571, which came into force on December 25, 2025. By amending Article 24 of the Law and Article 253 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the crime of insult has been completely removed from the scope of mediation. With Article 16 of the Law, the sixth paragraph of Article 75 of the Turkish Penal Code has been rearranged and it has been stipulated that the prepayment provisions will be applied in terms of the crime of insult, except for clause (a) of the third paragraph.
Insult committed against a public official due to his/her duty is outside the scope of both conciliation and prepayment. In this case, the investigation is carried out ex officio and the file may directly result in the filing of a public lawsuit.
6. How Does the Prepayment Procedure Work?
Prepayment is an institution that ensures that a public lawsuit is not filed against the perpetrator if he deposits the specified amount to the treasury within the specified time. The most important aspect that differs from mediation is that the payment is made to the state, not to the victim; The victim's participation and consent in the process is not required.
Here's how it works. When the public prosecutor reaches sufficient suspicion that a crime has been committed, he sends a prepayment notice to the perpetrator before issuing an indictment. The amount is calculated as one hundred Turkish liras for each day, corresponding to the lower limit of the prison sentence.
Since the lower limit for simple insult is three months, that is, ninety days, the calculation is made over ninety days and investigation expenses are added to the amount. The presence of reasons for increase, such as publicity, or an increase in the lower limit in qualified cases, directly increases the amount to be paid.
The perpetrator can make payment within ten days from notification. If requested within the same period, the prosecutor may decide to pay the amount in three equal installments, one month apart. If the payment is completed, a decision is made stating that there is no need for prosecution. If payment is not made, the investigation continues in its normal course and an indictment is issued.
In accordance with the third paragraph of Article 75 of the Turkish Penal Code, if a crime is included in the scope of prepayment with a change in the law made during the investigation or prosecution phase, the prosecutor's office or the court applies the prepayment process. For this reason, the court conducting the trial must also issue a prepayment notice in the defamation files that are pending on the date of entry into force of Law No. 7571.
In accordance with the regulation added to the third paragraph of Article 253 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, if a crime within the scope of prepayment and a crime within the scope of mediation are committed together against the same victim, the provisions of conciliation are applied in terms of the crime within the scope of mediation. If there is both an insult and a threat in the same incident, the prepayment method for the insult and the conciliation method for the threat are processed separately.
7. Reasons for Impunity: In what cases is punishment not given?
The law provides for several special regulations that prevent or reduce the punishment of the perpetrator for the crime of insult. Correct determination of these provisions is decisive in establishing the defense.
In accordance with Article 127 of the Turkish Penal Code, if the alleged act is proven to be real, the perpetrator will not be punished. The accusation is deemed proven if there is a final conviction against the victim for the alleged act. The right of proof is valid only for concrete accusations; Since there is no fact to prove in the insult in the form of swearing, this provision cannot be implemented.
In cases where concrete allegations are made about individuals within the scope of written or oral applications, claims and defenses made before judicial authorities or administrative authorities, no penalty will be imposed as long as the accusation is related to the dispute. The limit here is that the imputation is aimed at resolving the dispute; Statements that are unrelated and only aim to humiliate the other party are not considered within the scope of this protection.
Article 129 of the Turkish Penal Code regulates three separate situations. If the insult is committed as a reaction to an unfair act, the penalty may be reduced by up to one third or not at all. There is no penalty for an insult committed as a reaction to an act of intentional injury. If the insult is mutual, the penalty may be reduced by up to one third or completely abolished for one or both parties. This last provision explains why entering the words exchanged during the discussion into the file has two-way results.
Not every harsh or disturbing word constitutes the crime of insult. Freedom of expression includes not only favorable evaluations but also
It also protects disturbing and shocking views. In order for criminal liability to arise, the words must be capable of offending the honor and dignity of the person and must exceed the limits of criticism.
When evaluating in practice, the following criteria are taken into account: the context and environment in which the statement was made, the attributes of the parties, whether the statement contributes to a public debate, whether the imputation is based on a concrete fact, and whether the statement is directed towards the person's action or directly to his personality. People who hold public office are expected to show greater tolerance towards criticism of their activities; however, this expansion does not include direct derogatory expressions.
A significant portion of defamation cases remain inconclusive due to lack of evidence. In verbal insults, it is decisive that the identity information of the witnesses is clearly shown in the complaint petition, and in digital insults, it is determined that the content is detected before it is lost.
When taking a screenshot, the account address, date and time information, as well as the content, must be visible.
Having the post identified through a notary in case it is deleted creates a strong basis for the source of the evidence.
Voicemail and video contents must be stored in their original file format.
In anonymous accounts, access records should be requested from the relevant institutions after determining the content.
Since there is an absolute complaint period of two years, delaying the complaint in anticipation of collecting evidence may lead to loss of rights.
During a dispute over the management of an apartment building, a flat owner made derogatory remarks towards his neighbor in a public social media post. On the same day, he also sent a direct message to his neighbor's phone, repeating similar words. The victim filed a complaint three months after seeing the post.
Since public sharing is suitable for the perception of an undetermined number of people, the element of publicity is deemed to have occurred and the penalty is increased by one sixth. Since the message sent directly is a message addressed to the victim, it is considered to have been processed in the presence of the victim. Since the complaint was made within a period of six months from the date of learning and without exceeding the absolute limit of two years from the date of the act, the trial requirement was met. Since the act was not committed by a public official due to his/her duty, mediation is not applicable; The file is within the scope of prepayment and a payment warning is sent to the suspect. If the payment is made on time, it is decided that there is no need for prosecution.
Will there be a settlement offer in the defamation file?
No. With Law No. 7571, the crime of insult has been completely removed from the scope of mediation. A warning for prepayment, not reconciliation, is sent to the suspect. Conciliation can only be brought to the agenda in terms of another crime, such as a threat committed in the same incident.
Does accepting the down payment mean admitting guilt? In order to benefit from the prepayment provisions, the perpetrator is not required to confess the crime. If the payment is made on time, a decision is made that there is no need for prosecution and a public lawsuit is not filed.
Does the money paid go to the victim?
No. The amount of prepayment is deposited to the state treasury. It is not possible for the victim to receive a share of this payment. In order to compensate for material or moral damage, a lawsuit for compensation must also be filed in the civil court.
I just noticed a post made years ago, can I report it?
If two years have passed since the date of the act, the right to complain lapses. Learning later does not restart this absolute period.
In case of mutual insult, will both parties be punished? In accordance with Article 129 of the Turkish Penal Code, in mutual insults, the court may reduce the penalty by up to one third or not impose any penalty for one or both parties. The outcome is determined by the severity of the provocation and the reciprocity of the words.
Is it possible to make a down payment for insulting a police officer or officer?
If the insult is committed due to duty, no prepayment will be applied. However, since insulting a public official due to a personal animosity that is unrelated to his/her duty remains within the scope of the basic case, the option of prepayment is open in this case.
Overlooking the two-year absolute period: Applications that rely on the six-month period and exceed two years from the date of the act will remain inconclusive because the condition of trial is not met.
Failure to respond to the prepayment notice: Failure to make payment or request installments within the ten-day period will lead to the file turning directly into a public lawsuit.
Wrong determination of qualified situation: It is a common mistake to assume that every insult committed against a public official is considered a qualified situation. In cases where there is no connection with the duty, the defense must be established in this direction.
Ignoring mutual remarks: The statements used by the complainant during the argument are also included in the file and may result in a reduction or impunity in favor of the other party.
Failure to properly identify digital content: Relying solely on screenshots in deleted posts will cause the source of the content to be open to discussion.
Although the crime of insult may seem limited at first glance in terms of the amount of punishment, it is a type of crime whose consequences can extend from criminal record to professional life. With the abolition of conciliation and the introduction of prepayment, the parties' field of action in the management of the process has also changed: for the complainant, the correct calculation of the deadlines and the proper determination of the evidence, and for the suspect, the timely evaluation of the prepayment warning and the correct determination of the reasons for qualified conduct and impunity have become decisive. Küheylan Law Firm provides legal support in the preparation of the complaint petition in files related to insult and crimes against honor, detection of digital evidence, evaluation of the prepayment process and conduct of the defense during the trial phase.
Important Legal Notice: The legal explanations and sample scenarios in this guide have been prepared by Küheylan Law Firm for general information purposes and do not constitute legal advice. Since the unique circumstances of each case may change the outcome, it is recommended to seek legal support from a lawyer from the first stage of the process. © 2026 Küheylan Law Firm. All rights reserved.
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