Astrology services are not banned in Türkiye, but publicly advertising or selling them through promotional language can create regulatory risk. The 2026 changes, entering into force on August 1, make website copy, social media content and AI-generated advertising language more important to handle carefully.
Important note: This article is not legal advice and does not replace advice from a qualified lawyer. It is a general informational summary based on public regulations and official announcements available as of July 31, 2026.
The sensitive area is public advertising: web pages, social media posts, link pages, newsletters or calls to book that invite people to purchase astrology-related services.
The situation in five sentences
Offering astrology services is legal in Türkiye; what is banned is advertising them. That ban is not new either, it has been in force for years. The amendment that took effect on 1 August 2026 added no new prohibition on the astrology side, it only inserted the phrase "illegal games of chance" and signalled stricter enforcement. In Turkish law "advertising" covers far more than paid placements: service pages on your own website and sales-oriented posts on your own social accounts count as well. The safe line comes down to one sentence: any publicly visible content that invites someone to buy the service is risky, while informative content and private one-to-one correspondence with someone who approached you first are free.
What is the basic distinction?
The practical distinction is between public promotion and private communication. A website may explain astrology, offer calculation tools, publish educational articles and maintain a neutral contact page. Public language such as "book a session", "packages", "prices", "limited availability" or "contact us for a personal reading" may be interpreted as advertising.
If a person reaches out on their own initiative, one-to-one communication is a different context. Price, timing and scope should be handled privately rather than in public promotional copy.
Why does Maxis use an informational model?
Maxis has Turkish and international readers, but the website is available to users in Türkiye. For that reason, we use one standard across Turkish and English pages: educational language, free tools, blog content and neutral contact information. Consultation-related pages explain what astrological consultation means; they do not operate as public booking or pricing pages.
Which content is risky and which is safe?
The test is the same in every medium: does the content invite someone to buy the service, or does it inform? Most practitioners do not run a website at all, they publish on social media, so the examples below cover both.
| Risky | Safe |
|---|---|
| A services page with packages, durations, prices and a booking form | A page explaining what an astrological consultation is and what a session examines |
| "Contact us for details" button at the end of an informational page | Links from that page to free tools and educational material |
| Profile bio: "DM for an appointment" | Profile bio: name and title only |
| "Check out my packages to navigate this retrograde" | "Mercury retrograde means this in astrology; in this house it is typically experienced as follows" |
| A client message screenshot: "This session changed my life" | Praise for the service cannot be published in any form; this row has no safe counterpart |
| "Fees depend on the scope of the session" | No mention of price in public content at all |
Is private messaging allowed?
Yes. Replying to someone who contacted you first, quoting a price and agreeing on a time in a direct message or email is not advertising, it is private correspondence. The decisive question is who started it: if the person came to you, you are free; if you called them to you through publicly visible content, you are in advertising territory. Sending unsolicited bulk messages, on the other hand, breaches both this rule and the separate regulations on commercial electronic messages.
Common misconceptions
- "The ban only applies to paid ads." No. The precedent penalties were issued precisely for content on businesses' own websites and own social accounts.
- "Changing the wording solves it." No. Calling a consultation a "workshop" does not change its legal nature, and a deliberate disguise turns the breach into covert advertising, producing a second violation rather than avoiding the first.
- "Writing in English puts me outside the scope." No. The criterion is the target audience, not the language. Content aimed at consumers in Türkiye falls within scope whatever language it is written in.
- "Registering the company abroad solves it." No. The rule looks at where the advertising is aimed, not at the advertiser's jurisdiction, and the enforcement tool is an access block.
- "If I never call myself an astrologer, this does not apply to me." No. The clause says "and the like", which is broad enough to cover relabelling; enforcement looks at the substance of the work.
What changed in 2026?
The 2026 amendments to Türkiye's commercial advertising rules enter into force on August 1, 2026 and address areas such as targeted advertising, social media influencers, AI-generated advertising, consumer reviews and illegal games of chance. The astrology advertising restriction itself was already present in the regulation; the current change mainly confirms a stricter digital advertising environment.