I heard half the dividend is exempt. Is that right?

It is, but on two conditions. Half of a dividend received from a company abroad that is equivalent to a joint stock or limited liability company is exempt from income tax, provided you hold at least 20% of its paid-in capital and you transfer the dividend to Turkey by the deadline for filing the annual income tax return for the year in which it was received. The ownership threshold dropped from 50% to 20% with effect from 1 January 2026, so the relief now reaches minority shareholders too.