At least in government decrees, there are laws that clearly stipulate that Turkey only recognizes monogamy, and non-Muslims can marry Muslims without being restricted by Islamic teachings. If Turks want to remarry, they must first go through divorce procedures or show proof that their ex-spouse has died.
In order to get married, Turkish citizens must go to the department in charge of marriage registration of local government agencies, complete the marriage registration accompanied by government officials and two witnesses, and obtain a marriage certificate (Turkish: Ulus Lalasi Ai Le Kuzdani/French: Livre de famille international), which is a necessary document to prove the existence of a legal marriage relationship and is usually kept by the wife.
Because Turkey is a country where politics and religion are separated, although people have the freedom to hold religious weddings (Muslim weddings), only couples married through civil law and their children can be protected by Turkish law and have the right to inherit the legacy left by their spouses or ask their ex-husbands to pay alimony when divorced.
Only a religious wedding has no legal effect, and there is no right to inherit/claim alimony. Civil law marriage registration is required. The law does not recognize religious marriage ceremonies. Once the husband dies, the wife and her children who have not been registered in civil law (regarded as illegitimate children) cannot formally inherit the husband's inheritance and can only live on the kindness of her husband's family.
Extended data:
Turkish law also stipulates that the couple must register for a civil marriage before they can hold a religious wedding: in theory, Muslim clergy cannot hold a religious wedding ceremony for the couple without presenting a civil marriage certificate in advance.
If a couple holds a religious wedding without first registering their marriage in the civil law, the couple and the dean who presided over the ceremony can be sentenced to two to six months' imprisonment according to law.
The civil law reform of 1926 is a top-down one-way reform promoted by the westernized secular ruling class elite, and it is impossible to change the traditional marriage view of Turkish Muslims 1000 years overnight.
In big cities and metropolitan areas, most people realize that civil law marriage is a kind of protection for women, but today, polygamous marriage is still quite common in many rural areas of Turkey, especially in areas where women's right to education and social status are low.
In addition to polygamy, the marriage rate of underage children (especially underage girls) below 18 in Turkey is much higher than that in other European countries. According to the research of Turkish scholars, nearly 30-40% of Turkish brides get married under the age of 18 every year.
References:
Baidu encyclopedia-Turkish cultural customs
Baidu Encyclopedia-Turkey