On May 30, 2019, Ministry of Justice (“Ministry”) prepared the judicial reform strategy document (“Strategy Document”) which introduces comprehensive changes and improvements to the Turkish judicial system. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey announced and presented the new reforms brought by the Strategy Document to the attendees of a conference on judicial reform strategy. 

The Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency (“Agency”) announced¹ the Draft Regulation on Sales, Advertising and Promotion of Medical Devices (“Draft Regulation”) on May 9, 2019. The Draft Regulation will replace the Regulation on Sales, Advertising and Promotion of Medical Devices (“Regulation”) currently in force. Through the announcement, the Agency expressed that the Regulation requires an amendment as a result of practical matters presented during the implementation of the Regulation and the current needs of the sector. The Agency has invited suggestions and comments from concerned parties until close of business on June 9, 2019, by post or through the Agency’s official e-mail address.

Basak Gurbuz is a Counsel at The Walt Disney Company Turkey, where she oversees the company’s legal and compliance matters. Prior to assuming her current in-house role, she was a Managing Associate with Gun + Partners. Her experience also includes time with Pekin & Bayar, the Yazici Law Firm, the Kasaroglu Law Firm, and Bayindir Holding.

Bahar Yenerer is the General Counsel of Atos in Turkey. Prior to joining Atos in 2012 she spent two years as a Senior Lawyer with ELIG. Prior to that she was a Senior Legal Counsel with Turkcell, Head of M&A and Corporate Affairs with the Yamaner & Yamaner Law Office, a Lawyer with Tekin Law Office, and a Legal Consultant with the Serap Zuvin Law Offices.

Introduction: As one of the top twenty energy consumers worldwide, Turkey experienced rapid economic growth beginning in the early 2000s, and its energy requirements increased accordingly. The demand for energy in Turkey has been growing at an average rate of 6.5% over the past decade and official reports predict that the country will continue at this pace through 2020. The high demand for energy, liberal market conditions, and government incentives are attracting both domestic and foreign investors to the Turkish renewable energy market.

Baseak has advised Taxim Capital on Besifarma Ilac A.S. on an undefined investment in Alke Saglik Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.

Turkish lawyer Ceren Kartari has become Associate General Counsel at Facebook, working in London.

Baker McKenzie has advised BNP Paribas on matters of English and Turkish law related to its EUR 50 million sustainability-linked loan to Turkcell for a three-year term. Unsal Avukatlik Ortakligi reportedly advised Turkcell.

Gide, working alongside global counsel O'Melveny, has advised Electronics For Imaging Inc., a Silicon Valley-based digital imaging company, on the acquisition of BDR Boya Kimya Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi.

Paksoy has advised the Ergo insurance company on the May 2, 2019 sale of Ergo Sigorta, the company's non-life insurance subsidiary, to HDI Sigorta. Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli advised HDI on the deal.

Developing and establishing an effective anti-money laundering (“AML”) compliance program is a requirement for financial institutions in order to combat laundering the proceeds of crime and terrorist financing worldwide. 

Former ELIG Gurkaynak Attorneys-at-Law Partner Ilay Yilmaz and Associates Turker Doygun and Berk Bengi have joined the Esin Attorney Partnership, a member of Baker & McKenzie International, in Turkey.

For a long time, Turkey has been a significant manufacturing hub for supplying the European market, and its significance has become even greater since joining the customs union with the European Union. Following a significant fall in the value of the Turkish lira in 2018, manufacturing costs in Turkey are now lower. As setting up manufacturing operations in a new country often entails a number of pitfalls and requires local insight from specialists of various fields, here is a short guide for Turkey.

Joe Clinton is a Partner at Allen & Overy in Istanbul, where he advises sponsors, borrowers, and lenders on a range of transactions, including project development and financing as well as real estate, leveraged and structured financing transactions, and general lending, with particular emphasis in the Middle East and Eastern European energy and infrastructure sectors.

The Deal: In May, 2018, CEE Legal Matters reported that Linklaters, Kocian Solc Balastik, the BLC Law Office, Paksoy, and Tsvetkova Bebov Komarevski had provided advice on Czech, English, Georgian, Turkish, and Bulgarian law, respectively, to Energo-Pro a.s. on its EUR 250 million Eurobond issue in London. Allen & Overy, BGI Legal in Tbilisi, Boyanov & Co. in Bulgaria, and Turkey’s Gedik & Eraksoy advised the joint bookrunners, BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets Limited and J.P. Morgan Securities plc, and the Trustee, Citibank, N.A., London Branch.

Turkey’s Law Regarding Procedures for Initiating Legal Proceedings for Monetary Claims Deriving from Subscription Agreements numbered 7155 (“Law No. 7155”), which was published in the Official Gazette on December 19, 2018, has certainly opened a new period in Turkish Mediation Law. Law No. 7155 has introduced mandatory mediation for commercial disputes into the Turkish Commercial Code and set the procedural rules for mandatory mediation under the Civil Mediation Law.

The slowdown in global growth and the Turkish economy as well as the depreciation in the Turkish lira in 2018 created financial instability and payment difficulties for companies, in particular regarding foreign currency debts.

The accelerating growth of the global digital economy has yielded new challenges for international taxation, an issue that has pervaded the agenda of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in recent years. Published in 2015, the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan 1 regarding the taxation of the digital economy primarily focused on the challenges arising from the distribution of the right of tax collection among the states from revenues derived from cross-border activities.