The Return of the Ordinary Suretyship Contract

The Turkish Code of Obligations essentially provides for two different types of suretyships. One of them is ordinary suretyship and the other one is joint and several suretyship. Joint and several suretyship is commonly preferred in practice since this type of suretyship, as analyzed below, provides creditors with more security. For example, banks typically impose joint and several suretyship on their customers Legislation, however, prohibits joint and several suretyship contract by Articles 10 and 10/B of the Law on the Protection of Consumers and by Article 24 of the Law on Bank Cards and Credit Cards. Consequently, due to this prohibition, it can be concluded that ordinary suretyship has been reinstated. This article first analyzes the essential features of the two types of suretyship contracts, and then, it discusses amendments that are legally related to the two types of suretyships.