Advertising healthcare services is prohibited in Türkiye, but that does not mean clinics and physicians can do nothing online. The line is drawn between “advertising” and “promotion and information”, and that line was redefined by the new regulation that came into force on 12 November 2025. In this article we summarise what is allowed and what is prohibited for clinics, health tourism providers, and pharmaceutical and medical device companies.
Note: This article is for general information and is not legal advice. Legislation last checked: 26 October 2026; as of that date, the regulation in force is the one dated 12.11.2025. Legislation may change; check the current text before planning a campaign and consult a healthcare law specialist where needed.
Which rules apply?
Several regulations apply at the same time in digital healthcare marketing:
- Regulation on Promotion and Information Activities in Health Services (Ministry of Health, Official Gazette 12.11.2025, No. 33075). It repealed the regulation of the same name dated 29.07.2023, No. 32263. It covers healthcare professionals, private healthcare facilities and international health tourism facilitators.
- Medical Deontology Regulation (Official Gazette 19.02.1960). It states that the medical profession cannot be given a commercial appearance and that physicians cannot advertise (Article 8), and limits the information that can appear on signs and notices (Article 9).
- Regulation on International Health Tourism and Tourist Health (Official Gazette 26.04.2025, No. 32882). It sets out the authorisation certificate requirement for facilities and facilitators in health tourism.
- Regulation on the Promotion of Medicinal Products for Human Use (TİTCK, Official Gazette 03.07.2015, No. 29405). It governs the promotion of medicines.
- Regulation on the Sale, Advertising and Promotion of Medical Devices (TİTCK, Official Gazette 15.05.2014, No. 29001). It governs consumer advertising of medical devices.
- Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices (Ministry of Trade, Official Gazette 10.01.2015, No. 29232). It sets general principles for all commercial advertising.
The basic rule for clinics and physicians: no advertising, but information is allowed
The difference between advertising and promotion
The 2025 regulation defines advertising as any activity that puts a product, service, person or organisation in the healthcare field in the foreground and goes beyond the limits of promotion and information (Article 4). Open or covert advertising is prohibited (Article 5). Promotion and information, by contrast, are limited to content such as titles, specialties, contact details and information that protects and improves health. Information may only be provided by authorised healthcare professionals.
Sponsored ads and search engines
From a digital marketing perspective, the most important provisions are paragraphs (i) and (j) of Article 5. Under the regulation, healthcare facilities and professionals may register on social media platforms and search engines provided this is not paid, sponsored or aimed at gaining prominence; the keywords used and result pages must also comply with the regulation. As an exception, healthcare facilities may run compliant sponsored promotion on all platforms during the first month after their opening date, and a similar option is provided for new medical technologies and methods accepted by the Ministry.
In practice: apart from these exceptions, paid Google Ads, Meta or similar campaigns aimed at patients in Türkiye conflict with the regulation. Organic social media accounts, websites and SEO can be used as long as they stay within the limits of information. Websites must also show the date of the last update and the editor’s contact details (Article 5/1-ı).
Prices, campaigns and patient reviews
Under Article 5, in promotion aimed at Türkiye:
- Promotion cannot use expressions of thanks and satisfaction from patients or their relatives (5/1-e).
- Healthcare services cannot be the subject of incentives, prize draws, gifts or similar marketing activities (5/1-l).
- Fees, discounts, campaigns or promotions cannot be mentioned (5/1-m).
- Promotion cannot be carried out by phone, message or email without people’s knowledge and consent (5/1-k).
The same rules apply on social media and websites, and those who publish and those who share non-compliant content are equally responsible (Article 5/2).
Images and before-and-after posts
Article 7 makes patient images subject to strict conditions: the patient’s explicit consent (Annex 1 form), images taken in the same setting and technical conditions, procedure and imaging dates stated, and no misleading editing or make-up. Images taken during surgery or procedures and of intimate areas cannot be shared. Visual content cannot be published as sponsored or paid content, and must be closed to interactions such as comments, likes and reshares. Images used domestically must legibly carry the warning that “Results may vary from person to person in every surgical or interventional procedure” and a recommendation to consult a physician. In addition, the Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices states that ads cannot contain statements or images of patients before and after treatment (Article 5/1-ğ).
Health tourism: separate rules for promotion aimed abroad
For healthcare facilities and facilitators holding an international health tourism authorisation certificate, Article 8 of the 2025 regulation sets a separate framework:
- Promotion is carried out on a separate website or social media platform aimed at audiences abroad; sponsored promotion is allowed in official languages other than Turkish (8/1-a).
- The authorisation certificate is published on the website or social media (8/1-b).
- Promotion aimed at creating demand among people living in Türkiye is prohibited; domestic and automatic targeting must be switched off (8/1-c).
- Provided consent is documented, patient stories, reviews and thank-you messages may be used on these channels (8/1-ç).
- The “HealthTürkiye” logo must be used on all channels (8/1-e).
- Facilitators cannot give the impression of being a healthcare facility (8/1-g).
- Treatments banned by the Ministry or without approval for use in Türkiye cannot be promoted (8/2).
- Discounts, campaigns and price announcements are allowed only within this scope (8/3).
On the certification side, the Regulation on International Health Tourism and Tourist Health of 26.04.2025 requires healthcare facilities to obtain an authorisation certificate from the Ministry and facilitators from USHAŞ for health tourism activity (Article 5). In campaigns, this means excluding Türkiye from location targeting, not using Turkish copy and switching off automatic audience expansion.
Pharmaceutical and medical device companies
Medicinal products for human use
The short answer to whether medicine advertising is banned: medicinal products for human use cannot be promoted to the public in any publicly accessible medium, including the internet (Regulation on the Promotion of Medicinal Products, Article 5/3). Promotional activities are aimed at physicians, dentists and pharmacists. Approved product information can only be published in media defined by the Agency and on the marketing authorisation holder’s own website (Article 5/4). Information for the public is limited to Ministry campaigns on topics such as vaccines and epidemics, and requires permission (Article 6/1). For this reason, digital communication at pharmaceutical companies is mostly built around the corporate brand and channels aimed at healthcare professionals.
Medical devices
Under the Regulation on the Sale, Advertising and Promotion of Medical Devices, devices used or applied only by healthcare professionals, and devices sold or applied at hearing, orthotics and prosthetics, optical and dental prosthesis centres, cannot be advertised to consumers (Article 15/1-a, b). Other devices can only be advertised to consumers in the online environment where they are sold, while advertising of devices on the Annex 3 list is unrestricted (Article 15/1-c). Communication at clinical engineering and hospital equipment companies is therefore built as B2B; for details, see our article on B2B digital marketing .
Platform rules: Google and Meta
A campaign that complies with the law must also comply with platform policies:
- Google Ads healthcare and medicines policy: It includes restrictions in areas such as prescription drug terms, online pharmacies, unapproved substances and unproven or experimental treatments, and requires certification in some countries. Google also expects compliance with local laws in the targeted location.
- Google personalised advertising policy: Health is among the sensitive categories. Advertiser-created audiences such as customer match, remarketing and similar audiences cannot be used in ads in this category.
- Meta advertising standards: There are separate rules under Health and Wellness, and Meta updates them from time to time; check the current text before a campaign. Meta may also restrict the data that some advertisers it classifies as health-related can share through the Pixel and Conversions API, in which case optimisation for lower-funnel events may not be possible. Check Events Manager for any restriction warning on your account.
Summary table: allowed, risky and prohibited
| Status | Examples | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Allowed | Title, specialty, address, contact details and opening hours; health protection and promotion information prepared by an authorised professional; a website with update date and editor details; free social media and search engine registration | 2025 Regulation Art. 4, 5; Deontology Regulation Art. 9 |
| Allowed (conditional) | Sponsored promotion in the first month after opening; sponsored promotion abroad in languages other than Turkish by certified providers | 2025 Regulation Art. 5/1-j, Art. 8 |
| Risky | Before-and-after and patient images (consent, same conditions, dates, warning text and closed interactions required); appearances on TV and radio programmes (written undertaking); consumer advertising of medical devices (depending on device type) | 2025 Regulation Art. 7, 9; Medical Device Regulation Art. 15 |
| Prohibited | Open or covert advertising; sponsored ads aimed at Türkiye (apart from exceptions); prices, discounts, campaigns, prize draws and gifts; patient thanks and satisfaction statements; sponsored patient images; images taken during surgery or of intimate areas; targeting people in Türkiye with health tourism promotion; promoting medicines to the public | 2025 Regulation Art. 5, 7, 8; Medicinal Products Regulation Art. 5 |
Frequently asked questions
Does the ban on physician advertising also cover posting on social media?
Opening a social media account and sharing informative content is not prohibited. However, under the 2025 regulation the same principles apply on social media: content must not be advertising in nature, must not be sponsored and must not include prices, campaigns or patient satisfaction.
Can a clinic not advertise on social media?
Sponsored promotion aimed at Türkiye is not provided for in the regulation, apart from exceptions such as the first month after opening and new medical technologies and methods accepted by the Ministry. Organisations holding a health tourism authorisation certificate, however, can run sponsored promotion aimed abroad, in languages other than Turkish and on separate platforms.
What happens if the rules are not followed?
Under the 2025 regulation, an evaluation committee set up in each province reviews cases (Article 10). Sanctions listed in the administrative sanctions form in Annex 2 apply to healthcare facilities and facilitators; for professionals, the relevant legal provisions apply, along with options such as notification to the Ministry of Trade in some cases and requests to block access to content that endangers health (Article 12). Commercial ads may also be reviewed by the Advertising Board, which can order an ad to be stopped or corrected or impose an administrative fine.
If our agency prepares non-compliant content, who is responsible?
The regulation states that those who publish and those who share non-compliant content on social media and websites are equally responsible. That is why both the healthcare organisation and the agency need to know the rules in the content approval process.
At Crow Dijital Ajans, in health tourism and pharma and life sciences , we put regulations and platform rules at the very start of the campaign plan. For international patient acquisition, see our Google Ads and Meta adsservices, and for information-led visibility in Türkiye, our SEO services. To discuss your plan, reach us via our contact page.
Sources
- Regulation on Promotion and Information Activities in Health Services (2025)
- Text of the 2025 regulation
- Regulation on International Health Tourism and Tourist Health
- Medical Deontology Regulation
- Regulation on the Promotion of Medicinal Products for Human Use
- Regulation on the Sale, Advertising and Promotion of Medical Devices
- Official Gazette: Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices
- Regulation on Commercial Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices (consolidated)
- Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Trade: How to apply to the Advertising Board
- Google Ads policies: Healthcare and medicines
- Google Ads policies: Personalized advertising
- Meta Advertising Standards: Health and Wellness
- Search Engine Land: Meta health and wellness restrictions
