Healthcare advertising rules in Turkey: what doctors and clinics may share on social media

Under the healthcare advertising rules in Turkey, doctors and private health facilities may not advertise to people in the country, including through sponsored or boosted posts on social media and search engines. The rules are set by the Regulation on Promotion and Information Activities in Health Services (Sağlık Hizmetlerinde Tanıtım ve Bilgilendirme Faaliyetleri Hakkında Yönetmelik).

We plan content for health brands in aesthetics, urology, physiotherapy and optics within these rules. This article is general information, not legal advice; for your own case, consult a lawyer or your professional association.

Short answer: Doctors and facilities may say who they are, where and when they work and what they specialise in, and post organic, informative content. For audiences in Turkey, sponsored ads, fees and campaigns, patient testimonials and unproven methods are banned. Before-and-after images need strict conditions.

Which rules apply, and who do they cover?

• The regulation replaced an earlier text of the same name; many online guides still quote the old text, so check your source.
• The Basic Law on Health Services bars private facilities from advertising-like activity and limits promotion to address, hours, specialties, titles and health-protective information.
• The Law on the Practice of Medicine and Its Branches lets doctors announce only their practice address, hours and specialties; dentists have a similar rule.

The regulation covers health professionals such as doctors, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, midwives, opticians, physiotherapists and clinical psychologists, as well as private facilities and health tourism intermediaries. According to the Ministry’s Q&A, Ministry hospitals are outside its scope, but their staff are covered. Beauty salons fall under municipal licensing and may not promote procedures reserved for doctors; see our spa and wellness guide.

What may be shared, and what is banned?

Allowed

• Facility details: address, contact details, opening days and hours, specialties and staff titles.
• Doctor details: main and sub-specialty, academic titles, place and hours of practice.
• Training and achievements within the specialty on the registered diploma: courses, registered certificates, publications, awards and memberships.
• Health-protective information: evidence-based content on prevention and healthy living that doesn’t steer patients.
• Accounts and listings on social media and search engines that aren’t paid, sponsored or designed to be featured, with compliant keywords.

Banned

• open or covert advertising, including paid, sponsored or boosted posts
• fees, discounts and campaigns (a “discounted check-up package”, for instance), raffles, gifts and incentives
• posts built on patients’ or relatives’ thanks and satisfaction, such as a screenshot of a thank-you message
• specialist titles based on certificates
• methods that are not scientifically proven
• claims of superiority, misleading statistics and comparisons
• promoting or linking to a company, product or brand, such as a doctor recommending a cream
• steering patients to a particular doctor or facility via check-ups or consultations
• calls, SMS, e-mails or messages without consent
• images of patients during surgery or procedures
• sponsored or paid distribution of visual content

Not only those who create non-compliant promotion but also those who spread it can face sanctions, and a post by someone else doesn’t clear the doctor or facility. Agencies and influencers are exposed too; check every post against this list.

Before-and-after images: the conditions

They aren’t banned outright, but every condition below must be met:

• Explicit consent on the Visual Content Recording and Processing Consent Form annexed to the regulation; the patient sees the image beforehand and can withdraw consent at any time.
• No payment, discount or gift in return for consent.
• Matching setting and technical conditions for the before and after images, with procedure and shooting dates.
• No misleading make-up and no editing afterwards.
• A note on whether the image shows a real patient and, if borrowed, its source.
• Comments, likes and reshares switched off.
• No sponsored or paid distribution.
• For audiences in Turkey, the mandatory Turkish warning that results vary from person to person and that patients should consult their doctor before any surgical or interventional procedure.

Exceptions and platform rules

• The opening period: for a limited period right after opening, the regulation lets facilities run compliant sponsored promotion. The ban on paid or sponsored distribution of visual content still applies in this period, and the law on doctors has no such exception, so plan the opening campaign carefully.
• New medical technologies: the Ministry may, at its discretion, allow promotion of new methods it accepts.
• Health tourism: authorised facilities and intermediaries may run sponsored promotion in languages other than Turkish from a separate account or website aimed abroad, with targeting of Turkey and automatic audiences switched off, the authorisation published on the site and the HealthTürkiye logo shown. Fees, campaigns and reviews backed by documented consent are allowed there, but not procedures banned in Turkey.

Meta bans ads that assert or imply a person’s health condition (“Do you have diabetes?”) and shows cosmetic procedure and weight-loss ads only to adults. Google restricts personalised ads for health conditions, sexual health and invasive procedures such as cosmetic surgery and injections, ruling out tools like customer lists. Where rules differ, the stricter rule wins.

How to stay visible within the rules

An advertising ban isn’t a ban on being visible:

• Videos in the doctor’s own words: short, subtitled videos on a general topic such as prevention, warning signs or preparing for an appointment, with no promises, comparisons or steering. The same video is fine organically and banned as a sponsored post. Our guide on how to make a promo film covers production.
• Website: plain specialty pages, registered titles and, as the regulation requires, the last update date and the site editor’s contact details. The Turkish Medical Association also wants an information-only notice, keywords limited to the licensed specialty and no wording about fees. More in our corporate website guide.
• Google Business Profile: accurate address, hours and specialty, without turning patient reviews into promotion there or on your website; see our Google Business Profile guide.

We plan health brands’ calendars, doctor videos and posting within these rules; our social media management page explains how.

Frequently asked questions

Can doctors advertise on Instagram in Turkey?

Not with paid or sponsored posts aimed at audiences in Turkey; compliant, informative, organic posts are fine. Facilities can use the opening-period exception, and authorised health tourism providers can advertise abroad from separate accounts.

Can clinics in Turkey use Google Ads?

Paid search ads aimed at Turkey conflict with the rule that search listings must not be paid, sponsored or designed to be featured. The exceptions are the opening period and health tourism campaigns abroad. A Google Business Profile and organic results are fine.

What happens if the rules are broken?

The Ministry of Health and provincial health directorates regularly scan the press, social media and websites. Facilities face administrative fines based on their service revenue, with a minimum amount; repeat breaches raise the fine and can lead to a temporary suspension. Employed doctors face sanctions under the law on medical practice, other health professionals are referred to the Advertising Board, and unlicensed providers are also reported to prosecutors.