An employer may terminate the employment contract with no valid or justified reason by providing the employee with notice period stipulated in the Article 17 of the Labor Code.
However, the Turkish Labor Code sets out job security provisions for employees with at least six months of seniority who work in workplaces where at least 30 employees are employed. Employers are obliged to reason the termination of employees falling under the scope of the job security provisions on a valid cause such as Inadequacy of the employee, behaviors of the employee, requirements originating from the needs of the business or the necessities of work. An employee is entitled to sue their employer for reinstatement to work under the job security provisions if s/he believes that there is no valid or just cause.
As per Article 25 of the Labor Code, there are certain cases where employers are entitled to terminate the employment on the basis of a just cause, that, for reasons of health; for immoral, dishonorable or malicious conduct or other similar behavior; force majeure (force majeure necessitating the suspension of work for more than one week in the establishment where the employee is working). If the employment contract is terminated by the employer due to a just reason, s/he is not obliged to comply with the legal notice periods and the termination can be effective immediately. . In the case of termination based on just cause, the employee is not entitled to a notice period payment as well.