Adults convicted of drug trafficking (Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) art. 188) can be conditionally released once they have served three quarters of their sentence in prison with good conduct (Law on the Execution of Sentences and Security Measures (CGTİK) art. 108(9)). For example, for a person sentenced to 10 years, this period is 7 years 6 months. If the conditions are met, the last year of this can be spent outside under supervised release; for offences committed on or before 31 July 2023, this period may be longer. The “serve half” rule that applies to most offences does not apply to this offence.
Why three quarters?
The general rule is that half of a fixed-term prison sentence is served in prison (CGTİK art. 107(2)). The law places drug trafficking, together with sexual assault and child sexual abuse, under a special regime and sets the conditional release ratio for fixed-term sentences at three quarters (CGTİK art. 108(9)).
The ratio is different for children: for those who committed the offence as a child, the ratio is two thirds (CGTİK art. 107(2)(g)). Under CGTİK art. 107(5), as reorganised in August 2026, the rule that one day spent in prison before the age of 15 counts as two days also does not apply to drug trafficking.
Worked examples
| Sentence imposed | Conditional release (¾) | Minimum time in prison if the last year is spent under supervised release* |
|---|---|---|
| 10 years | 7 years 6 months | 6 years 6 months |
| 12 years 6 months | 9 years 4 months 15 days | 8 years 4 months 15 days |
| 15 years | 11 years 3 months | 10 years 3 months |
* Time spent in police custody and pre-trial detention is deducted from the sentence. The good-conduct requirement and the conditions for transfer to an open prison apply separately. For offences committed on or before 31 July 2023, the time spent in prison may be shorter because of the transitional rule explained below. The table gives a general idea; an exact calculation requires examining the judgment and the execution records. To see an approximate result with your own dates, you can use our sentence execution calculator.
Open prison and supervised release
- Open prison: decisions of the administration and observation board on transferring persons convicted of drug trafficking to an open prison take effect only after approval by the enforcement judge (infaz hâkimi) (CGTİK art. 14(4)). In these assessments, the board is chaired by the chief public prosecutor or a prosecutor designated by them (CGTİK art. 89).
- Supervised release (CGTİK art. 105/A): a prisoner of good conduct who is in an open prison and has one year or less left until conditional release can, on request, spend the remaining part outside under supervised release (denetimli serbestlik). Since the June 2025 amendment, it is also required that at least one tenth of the time to be spent in prison until conditional release has actually been served. This requirement does not apply to offences committed before 4 June 2025 (CGTİK provisional art. 11).
- The Covid-era “3 years” rule does not apply: the transitional rule that raised the supervised release period to three years for offences committed up to 30 March 2020 excludes drug trafficking (CGTİK provisional art. 6).
- Offences committed on or before 31 July 2023: under the transitional provision reorganised in December 2025, a prisoner in a closed prison for an offence committed up to that date may be transferred to an open prison if they have served one month in a closed prison (where the total sentence is under ten years) or three months (where it is ten years or more) and have three years or less left until transfer to an open prison. A prisoner who has stayed in an open prison for at least three months is, on request, allowed to benefit from supervised release three years earlier (CGTİK provisional art. 10(6)). Drug trafficking is not listed among the exceptions to this provision; however, offences committed as part of the activities of a criminal organisation are excluded.
Supervised release periods are longer for women prisoners with young children and for prisoners who cannot live on their own because of a serious illness or disability (CGTİK art. 105/A(3)).
Repeat offenders
- First repeat offence: the execution regime for repeat offenders applies. However, since the ratio for drug trafficking is already three quarters, that ratio is kept (CGTİK art. 108(1)).
- Second repeat offence: before June 2025, persons who were repeat offenders for the second time could not benefit from conditional release at all. This changed with the June 2025 amendment. Conditional release is now possible on a second repeat offence too, and the ratio for fixed-term sentences is three quarters (CGTİK art. 108(3)). The Court of Cassation (Yargıtay) is correcting judgments given before this amendment that state “no conditional release”.
News about a “drug execution regulation”
As of 2 October 2026, the execution law in force contains no new reduction or amnesty specific to drug trafficking. The transitional rule for offences up to 31 July 2023 described above is not specific to this offence. News about bills under discussion in Parliament has no effect until they are published in the Official Gazette (Resmî Gazete) and enter into force. If anything changes, we will update this article.
Recent Court of Cassation decisions
- Court of Cassation 8th Criminal Chamber, 09.02.2026, E. 2025/5096, K. 2026/1660: The trial court had ruled that “the conditional release provisions shall not apply” to a defendant who was a repeat offender for the second time for drug trafficking. Under CGTİK art. 108(3) as amended in June 2025, the Court of Cassation removed this wording and replaced it with “the conditional release provisions shall apply”. Text of the decision
- Court of Cassation 8th Criminal Chamber, 21.01.2026, E. 2024/24347, K. 2026/966: To the same effect. In addition, the failure to order deduction of the time spent in police custody and pre-trial detention from the sentence was found unlawful and corrected. Text of the decision
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. For your specific situation, please seek advice from a lawyer.