Robbery
Compelling a person by force or threat to hand over property. The basic penalty is 6–10 years’ imprisonment; robbery with a weapon, at night or in a dwelling is punishable by 10–15 years.
The offence the Turkish press calls gasp is named yağma (robbery) in the Turkish Penal Code. What distinguishes it from theft is force or threat: the offender does not take the property secretly but compels the victim to hand it over or not to resist its taking.
Elements of the offence
Robbery is compelling a person to hand over property, or not to resist its taking, by using force or by threatening that the life, bodily or sexual integrity of that person or someone close to them will be attacked, or that serious damage will be done to their property (TCK 148/1).
- Forcing a person to sign or hand over a promissory note or a similar document is also robbery (TCK 148/2).
- Rendering the victim unconscious and unable to defend themselves by any means, for example by sedating them, counts as force (TCK 148/3).
Penalty
- Basic form (TCK 148): 6–10 years’ imprisonment.
- Aggravated robbery (TCK 149): 10–15 years’ imprisonment, where the offence is committed:
- with a weapon,
- by disguising oneself,
- jointly by more than one person,
- by blocking a road, or in a dwelling, a workplace or their annexes,
- against a person unable to defend themselves,
- by exploiting the intimidating power of criminal organisations,
- to benefit a criminal organisation,
- at night.
If an injury aggravated by its consequences occurs during the robbery, the provisions on intentional injury also apply (TCK 149/2).
Circumstances with a lower penalty
- If a person uses threat or force to collect a debt arising from a legal relationship, the provisions on threat or intentional injury apply instead of robbery (TCK 150/1).
- Because of the low value of the property, the penalty may be reduced by one third to one half (TCK 150/2).
Prosecution
Robbery (TCK 148, 149) is in the pre-trial detention catalogue (CMK 100/3). It is not eligible for mediation.
In the data
Robbery incidents are available in the institutional API as location-level records (data access). Robberies committed with a firearm or a knife or blade that ended in death or injury are counted in the armed assault indicator.