Alcohol Sales Licence for Restaurants and Cafes in Türkiye: How to Get the On-Premises Alcohol Sales Certificate

The ministry issues four types of alcohol sales certificate: retail, on-premises (açık alkollü içki), exclusive retail and wholesale.

• •On-premises alcohol sales certificate: for drinks whose container is opened for the customer and served by the glass, bottle or tap. This is the certificate restaurants, cafes, bars and taverns need.
• •Retail sales certificate: for places that sell sealed bottles to take away, such as supermarkets and liquor shops. A restaurant that only serves at the table does not need it.
• •No retail certificate is issued for a unit inside a venue that sells alcohol on-premises, or in a part of it that is not fully independent. Accommodation facilities, picnic areas and campsites are exempt from this rule.
• •At a venue with on-premises permission, alcohol may not be sold or served to be consumed outside the premises.

1. 1Get your venue licence first: the municipal iş yeri açma ve çalışma ruhsatı or a tourism operation certificate. The sales certificate application is based on this licence and must be filed within thirty days of the licence being issued.
2. 2Log in to the ministry's Satış Belgesi Sistemi (Sales Certificate System) with e-Devlet, choose the application type and fill in the form. The system gives you a reference number.
3. 3Print the form, sign every page and submit it with the required documents to the Agriculture and Forestry directorate of the province or district where your business is located, in person, through a representative or by post.
4. 4For individuals the required documents generally include the workplace licence (or tourism certificate), tax office and tax ID details, proof of payment of the certificate fee and the document showing the distance rule is met. Companies add a trade registry gazette copy, a signature circular or power of attorney and an e-notification address.
5. 5The directorate reviews the file; if it is in order, the certificate is issued with the district governor's approval and takes effect on the signing date. You can follow the application in the e-Belge System.

The two documents do not replace each other. The municipal licence covers the venue's location, hygiene, fire safety and similar conditions; the sales certificate covers the right to serve alcohol. The sales certificate application asks for the licence, and no certificate is issued to an unlicensed venue.

• •The licence and the certificate are tied to the same business address. If the workplace licence is cancelled, the ministry also cancels the sales certificate.
• •If your licence does not state an activity type that covers serving alcohol, ask your municipality in writing which licence type and permits you need.
• •For venues with a tourism operation certificate, that certificate can be used as the basis in place of the municipal licence, and the distance rule does not apply to them.

Places where alcohol may not be served

Alcohol may not be sold or served at student dormitories, places providing health services, stadiums and indoor sports halls, any educational institution, coffeehouses, reading rooms, pastry shops, bezique and bridge halls, and businesses inside fuel stations. On highways and state roads, sale and consumption at facilities are also banned, except in settlements and accommodation facilities.

The 100 metre distance rule

The venue must be at least 100 metres, door to door, from the relevant school, course centre, student dormitory and place of worship. The distance is assessed as of the date the sales certificate is issued; a school or place of worship opening nearby afterwards does not end an existing certificate. The rule does not apply to businesses with a tourism certificate.

The 18+ rule

• •Alcohol may not be sold or served to anyone under 18.
• •If there is doubt about age, the seller must ask for ID.
• •People under 18 may not be employed in the production, marketing, sale or on-premises service of alcohol. Document the age of your service staff.

Time restriction

Law No. 4250 bans the retail sale of alcohol between 22:00 and 06:00. The statute sets this ban for retail sale; it does not separately set an hour limit for on-premises service at the table in restaurants and bars. Your opening and closing hours still depend on your licence and your municipality's working-hours rules. Ask your municipality and district authority whether any local night-time restriction applies.

• •Renewal: sales certificates are renewed every year through the extension procedure, from January to the end of March. The renewal fee is paid through the Ziraat Bank channels named by the ministry; EFT or bank transfer is not accepted.
• •If the deadline is missed, the certificate expires thirty days after the end of the renewal period, and only remaining stock may then be sold.
• •Changes: changes to the details in the application require written notice; they and application steps can also be handled in the e-Belge System.
• •Transfer: a person taking over a business with a sales certificate submits the transfer documents and, where required, proof of kinship with the previous holder. If everything is in order, a new certificate is issued in the new holder's name.
• •Ceasing operations: notify the ministry, sell remaining stock within the set period and return the certificate.

Sanctions for alcohol sales are set out in Article 7 of Law No. 4250 and in the administrative sanction provisions of Law No. 4733. Fine amounts are revalued every year; for the current amount, see the ministry's official announcement.

• •Selling or serving alcohol to persons under 18 and employing them in on-premises service: administrative fine. If a child's health is endangered, the relevant article of the Turkish Penal Code also applies.
• •Breaching the ban on retail sale between 22:00 and 06:00: administrative fine. Since 20 June 2026, district governorships and provincial governorships impose this fine.
• •Selling alcohol for consumption outside the premises at a venue with on-premises permission, and breaching certificate conditions: administrative sanction by reference to Law No. 4733.
• •A third breach by the same seller of the age or hours ban within five years: the ministry cancels all the seller's retail and on-premises alcohol sales certificates, and no new certificate is issued for two years.
• •Cancellation of the workplace licence: the ministry also cancels the sales certificate. Reports of unlicensed alcohol sales are made to the district governor's office.