Pelister Atayilmaz Enkur has advised the Greece's Elton Group on the acquisition of the final 20% of Turkish chemical resellers Elton Marmara Kimya Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi from the Senlen Family. PwC Legal advised the Senlen Family on the deal.

Turkish Constitutional Court granted a decision (“Decision”) on September 17, 2020 regarding an applicant’s claims on violation of right to request protection of personal data under right to privacy and freedom of communication due to inspection of correspondences on corporate e-mail account and termination of employment contract on the grounds of these correspondences.

Former Allen & Overy Senior Associate Utku Unver has joined the Projects and Energy practice of Norton Rose Fulbright’s Istanbul-based associated firm, which has rebranded as a result as the Inal Unver Attorney Partnership.

The Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) recently published its Guidelines on Examination of Digital Data during On-site Inspections (“Guidelines”), which set forth the general principles with respect to the examination, processing and storage of data and documents held in the electronic media and information systems, during the on-site inspections to be conducted by the TCA. According to the recitals of the Guidelines, the TCA deemed that it was necessary to determine and set out these relevant principles, in light of the recent amendment to Article 15 (“On-Site Inspections”) of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”).

On October 1, 2020, the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the Government of the People’s Republic of China Concerning the Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments (the “Agreement”) was published in the Turkish Official Gazette to ratify an amendment protocol signed by the contracting parties.

Former Emaar Turkey Director of Legal Affairs Huseyin Topuzoglu has joined Alliance Healthcare as its Legal Director in Istanbul.

The Turkish Competition Board’s (“Board”) Yozgat Ready Mixed Cement decision (“Decision”) was published on September 7, 2020. The Board concluded that certain ready mixed concrete producers operating in Yozgat province of Turkey entered into a cartel agreement by way of forming two legal entities (namely, Güven Beton and Sorgun Emek Beton) for the purposes of coordinating the sales they make to customers via collectively determining prices and allocating customers. The Board decided that this amounted to a violation of Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”) and imposed administrative fines amounting to 1.2% of the turnovers of the investigated parties.

HS Attorney Partnership has advised Poland's Ster Sp. z.o.o on its acquisition of 51% of the shares of Fource Koltuk Sistemleri from shareholders Koray Ucar, Nedim Guler, and Tuncer Cevik.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”), in its recent decision with regard to the two joint cases (C‑807/18 and C‑39/19) brought before it for preliminary ruling, addressed how incompatibility with net neutrality shall be assessed under the relevant legislation regarding open internet access. In order to analyse this decision, we will first explain what net neutrality is and briefly discuss its possible links with the competition law. We will then move on to the relevant legislation surrounding the net neutrality. Lastly, we will discuss the aforementioned preliminary ruling of the CJEU and conclude.

Erdem & Erdem has advised the Sisecam Group on its acquisition of five Turkish companies: Anadolu Cam, Denizli Cam, Pasabahce, Soda Sanayii, and Trakya Cam.

ICTA’s Procedures and Principles on Social Network Provider (“Procedures”) were published on the Official Gazette on October 2, 2020. The Procedures provide the detailed framework for the obligations of “social network providers”, a new concept that was introduced at the end of July by the Amendment Law on the Law No. 5651 on Regulation of Broadcasts via Internet and Prevention of Crimes Committed Through Such Broadcasts (“Amendment Law”).

White & Case is mourning the loss of Turkish Managing Partner Asli Basgoz, who has recently passed away.

Former KocSistem Senior Legal Counsel Gamze Bedirkurum has joined Ericsson as Group Legal Counsel in Turkey.

The SEE Legal law firm alliance has announced the formal launch of two new practice groups, one dedicated to Employment and Immigration, headed by Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli Counsel Maral Minasyan, and one dedicated to Intellectual Property, headed by Selih & Partnerji Partner Natasa Pipan Nahtigal.

Founding Partner Haluk Bilgic reports that BilgicLegal’s busiest team was the one focused on restructuring transactions and debt financing in the first half of 2020. “That includes not just project and transaction financing but also shipping finance transactions,” Bilgic explains, while noting that the primary focus has been on restructuring existing deals, “since it’s not the best time to initiate new transactions.”

On August 5, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that the Aksan Law Firm had advised Albaraka Asset Management on its investment in Clotie, an e-commerce company that provides personalized clothing services. CEEIHM talked to Albaraka Asset Management General Manager Emin Ozer to learn more about the deal.

Master Destek has brought on Fatma Ozen Karaca as its Chief Legal Counsel in Istanbul.

“We should talk about politics and economy together, because they go hand in hand,” says Zeynep Cakmak, Managing Partner of the Cakmak law firm in Istanbul. “Despite the trend of having snap elections in recent years, Turkey has been stable for a while. However, that might change soon, since rumors have surfaced that we will have elections in the fall.”