The economic and social impacts of the new coronavirus ("COVID 19"), which emerged in Wuhan-China in December/2019, occur at an unprecedented level comparing to crises experienced before. Within this scope, as a precaution for prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey, the time limits in legal proceedings are suspended until April 30, 2020. The General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (“TBMM”) enacted this measure through the Amendments to Certain Laws (“Law No. 7226“) on March 25, 2020. Also on April 30, 2020 the President of the Turkish Republic issued the “The Degree to Extend the Suspension Period to Prevent the Loss of Legal Rights” (“Decree”) and under the Decree, the suspension of time limits in legal proceedings has been extended again from April 30, 2020 to June 15, 2020.

In order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Republic of Turkey’s Ministry of Commerce has taken some measures on how companies should organize their board meetings. Within the scope of these measures, the ordinary general meetings of joint stock and limited companies, which were previously invited to the meeting in accordance with the Turkish Commercial Code numbered 6102 (“TCC”) and the company agreement, were cancelled with a decision to be taken by the governing bodies, without waiting for the general meeting to be held.

Turkey's Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership has confirmed that Partner Sahin Ardiyok has replaced departed Partner Ozgur Akman on the firm's letter-head, conveniently allowing the firm to continue to use its traditional BASEAK acronym without change.

Arbitration, as an alternative dispute resolution method, continues to play an important role on resolving international commercial disputes during Covid-19 Pandemic.

Paksoy and Linklaters have advised I Squared Capital LLP on its indirect acquisition of 45% of the shares in Rubis Terminal.

“Politics are nowadays mostly behind the scenes, and there aren’t a lot of recent highlights about typical topics of tension,” says Dogan Eymirlioglu, Partner at the Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership in Istanbul. “The entire focus is now on how to tackle the impact of the pandemic and deriving lock-down.”

The economic impacts of the new coronavirus ("COVID-19") occur at an unprecedented level comparing to the crises experienced before. For many industries, both the supply chain has been interrupted and customer demand has shrunk at the same time. Restructurings and changes in transfer pricing policies will be inevitable for the continuity of businesses and activities since COVID 19 crisis has caused an unforeseen global risk realization which could not be predicted at the time when the intra-group contractual relationships were established and the group operation model was designed. Although the existence of conditions that require the need for policy changes is often considered as negative, it can also be turned into an opportunity by the multinational enterprises.

Former Herguner Bilgen Ozeke Partner Bige Yucel has joined Siemens as its Deputy General Counsel in Istanbul.

Former Paksoy Partner Selin Barlin Aral has joined Getir as its Chief Legal Officer in Istanbul.

Turkey's Turunc law firm has advised Yu-Ce Medical and its shareholders, Cengiz Balcik and Yumnu Balcik, on the acquisition of the remaining 28% of Yu-Ce shares from the Anatolia Growth Capital Fund. Yuksel Legal advised Anatolia Growth Capital Fund on the deal.

The new coronavirus (“COVID-19”), which emerged in the city of Wuhan, China in December 2019 and spread around the world in a short time with the contribution of interdependence between countries, continues to have significant effects in many areas of life. One of these areas is international tax law, and potential disputes should be expected in the near future regarding taxation rights, which are demarcated by Avoidance of Double Taxation Treaties (“DTT”).

In The Corner Office feature of CEE Legal Matters we ask Managing Partners at leading law firms across Central and Eastern Europe about their unique roles and responsibilities. In light of current events, the question for this online occurrence of the feature is: "What have been the top three most often asked COVID-19 related questions that you have gotten from clients in the last month?”

Turkey's Penezoglu Law Firm has merged with BTS & Partners, with Gokhan Penezoglu assuming leadership over the BTS & Partners' Tax department.

Love them or hate them, conferences are a fundamental part of the successful commercial lawyer’s calendar. But time is precious. Those calendars are full. It’s vital for conference organizers to get them right, and critical for lawyers to choose wisely in determining which events to attend and which to skip.

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, most CEE/SEE countries have introduced provisions to close certain premises, while only some have banned the termination of leases in order to protect tenants who have lost revenues.

I can pinpoint the exact moment when my interest in the law first flourished: I was 13 years old and my mother had given me a book called The Courage of their Convictions by Peter H. Irons, about 16 Americans who had fought for their rights and taken their cases all the way to the Supreme Court, and what I read resonated deeply within me. It later turned out that my mother had only given me the book to improve my English. But it opened the door to so much more.

Turkish lawyers Mehmet Ipek, formerly of Ipek & Akin, and Ceyda Akbal Schwimann have joined forces to launch the new Ipek | Akbal Schwimann law firm in Istanbul. Ipek's former partner at Ipek & Akin, Tansu Akin, has set up Akin | Legal.

Nowadays, alternative methods of dispute resolution, not involving the courts, are increasing. Since disputes are getting ever-more complicated, and general peace between parties is preferable, parties now prefer to solve disputes with more peaceful and flexible alternative dispute resolution methods instead of litigation – and judicial systems are encouraging parties to employ these methods. In this context, mediation has in recent years become the most preferred and fastest-growing alternative dispute resolution method.