An interview with Stephanie Beghe Sonmez of Paksoy, about her path from France to Turkey.

On June 3, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that White & Case and its associated Turkish firm, GKC Partners, had advised interactive entertainment company Zynga Inc. on its USD 1.8 billion acquisition of Istanbul-based mobile gaming company Peak Oyun Yazilim ve Pazarlama, A.S. Baker McKenzie, working with its Turkish affiliate, the Esin Attorney Partnership, advised Peak on the transaction, which represented the largest acquisition of a start-up in Turkey to date, and makes Peak the country’s first “unicorn.” Dentons, along with its affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Avukatlik Ortakligi, advised selling shareholder Hummingbird Ventures CVA, Abcoo advised Peak Founder and CEO Sidar Sahin, the Verdi Law Firm advised selling shareholders Earlybird Verwaltungs GmbH, Evren Ucok, and Demet Suzan Mutlu Ucok, and BTS & Partners advised selling shareholder Endeavour Catalyst.

The year started with expectations of growth and stability. Along came COVID-19, and the focus shifted to stability and survival. The Turkish banking sector, used to market turmoil, took proactive steps, and the authorities matched the effort.

As national borders lose their importance when it comes to capital mobility, tax revenues have decreased significantly and tax avoidance has become a matter of common concern for countries. Therefore, exchange of information in tax matters has become one of the most important topics on the agenda of countries and international organizations in recent years.

Personal data, one of the most discussed topics in the legal world, is protected in many countries, and it is regulated in Turkey under the Personal Data Protection Law, number 6698 (the “Law”), and secondary legislation. In addition, the decisions of the Personal Data Protection Board established under the Law (the “Board”), provide insight on the rules applicable to data controllers and processors.

The Turkish capital markets have undergone many regulatory amendments and adjustments this year to provide a more robust environment in terms of transparency, competition, and stability for investors. As regulators have kept manipulative transactions in their sights to overcome the panic created by COVID-19, the Turkish Capital Markets Board (CMB) has imposed many sanctions and penalties.

COVID-19 has swiftly become a global outbreak, affecting not only people’s lives but also the global economic conjuncture. Like most countries, the Republic of Turkey, has adopted several measures to eliminate or lessen impacts of COVID-19 on the economy. With this article, we will provide an overview of the Turkish legal market and key legislation enacted during the COVID-19 outbreak.

A CEE Legal Matters special report on how international firms operate in Turkey – and the echoing silence that greets attempts to investigate.

Are you still reading? Despite the title this is not a COVID-19 piece. Quite frankly we have had enough of that. We want life to go back to how it was – but it won’t. Something new is happening. People have been humbled by the effects of the C-word on their very existence. Everyone is suddenly more aware of the need to change – in Turkey, for example, we always kiss and hug upon meeting, and we are not used to the concept of social distancing at all. Now we stand a meter apart and elbow or fist bump – which still feels odd to me. We are aware and we are asking ourselves – “what needs to change? Was this our fault? What is biodiversity? What can we do?”

Lawyers Kubilay Altinkaya and Sinan Sezer Sancakli have joined forces to open up the Altinkaya & Sancakli Law Office in Istanbul.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised the EBRD, SACE, DEG, IFC, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Barings, Credit Agricole CIB, Deutsche Bank, UniCredit, Akbank, Isbank, and the Turkish Industrial Development Bank on the EUR 1.1 billion restructuring of the PPP agreement related to the development, construction, maintenance and operation of the Ankara Etlik Integrated Health Campus.

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.