Through a divorce lawsuit, the parties may request material and moral damages and alimony from each other pursuant to Articles 174 and 175 of the Turkish Civil Code. However, for both the request for material and moral damages and the acceptance of the alimony request, the law explicitly stipulates the condition that the requesting party must be less at fault than the other party or faultless. The regulations regarding the damages and alimony that can be requested in a divorce lawsuit are set forth in Articles 174 and 175 of the TCC.
Article 174 of the TCC: “The faultless or less at fault party, whose existing or expected interests are damaged due to divorce, may request appropriate material damages from the party at fault. The party whose personal rights have been attacked due to the events causing the divorce may request the payment of an appropriate amount of money as moral damages from the other party at fault.”
And Article 175 of the TCC: “The party who will fall into poverty due to divorce may request alimony from the other party for their maintenance indefinitely, in proportion to the other party’s financial power, provided that their fault is not more severe. The fault of the alimony obligor is not required.”
As seen in these regulations, the parties may request material and moral damages as well as poverty alimony in divorce lawsuits. However, the law explicitly seeks the condition that the fault of the requesting party must not be more severe for the acceptance of said requests. In light of these regulations in the law, it has also been accepted in the precedents of the Court of Cassation that the requesting party must be faultless or less at fault for the acceptance of material-moral damages and alimony requests.
The Court of Cassation 2nd Civil Chamber, in its decree dated 23.06.2016, with Basis No. 2016/11706 and Decision No. 2016/12145, stated: “… 2- As explained in point 1 above, the defendant woman is completely at fault in the events leading to the divorce. The conditions of Article 174/1 and 2 of the Turkish Civil Code have been met in favor of the man. Under these circumstances, while appropriate amounts of material and moral damages should have been awarded in favor of the plaintiff man, the rejection of the request was not found correct.
3- The party who will fall into poverty due to divorce may request alimony from the other party for their maintenance indefinitely, in proportion to the other party’s financial power, provided that their fault is not more severe (TCC Art. 175). Poverty alimony cannot be awarded in favor of a completely at fault woman. Therefore, while the woman’s request for poverty alimony should have been rejected, its acceptance in the manner written was not found correct.”
Pursuant to this regulation, if it is decided at the end of the trial of the divorce lawsuit that the woman is more severely at fault than the man in the termination of the marriage union, the woman will not be able to receive material-moral damages or poverty alimony.
In other words, it is not the case that material and moral damages and alimony are awarded in favor of the woman under all conditions in divorce lawsuits. If, during the trial process, the man proves that the woman is more severely at fault or completely at fault in the divorce, it has been established both by the decisions of the Court of Cassation and in Articles 174 and 175 of the TCC that material-moral damages and alimony shall not be awarded in favor of the woman.