Force majeure clauses have long occupied a central place in commercial contracts, yet their true scope is rarely understood until a crisis strikes. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the inadequacy of boilerplate force majeure language in Turkish commercial agreements, prompting landmark rulings from the Court of Cassation that have significantly reshaped how these clauses are interpreted.
What Has Changed Since the Pandemic?
Prior to 2020, Turkish courts applied force majeure narrowly — requiring events to be entirely unforeseeable, externally caused, and rendering performance absolutely impossible. Post-pandemic jurisprudence now distinguishes between impossibility and excessive hardship, with the latter potentially triggering adaptation or termination rights under Article 138 of the Turkish Code of Obligations.
The 2025 Landscape: Key Risk Factors
- Geopolitical disruption: Sanctions regimes, export controls, and regional conflicts are generating supply failures that do not fit neatly into traditional force majeure categories.
- Energy market volatility: Long-term energy contracts signed at fixed prices are being challenged as economic conditions shift dramatically.
- Climate events: Extreme weather is increasingly invoked as a force majeure trigger.
Drafting Recommendations
A well-drafted force majeure clause in 2025 should enumerate triggering events with specificity, distinguish between suspension and termination rights, specify notice periods and mitigation obligations, and address the interaction with hardship provisions. At Cebeci Finans, our contract risk analysis service includes a systematic review of force majeure provisions across your entire contract portfolio.