In Turkey, parties of a dispute tend to resort to courts even if they have a valid arbitration clause for the respective dispute. In the Final Award in Case 8887 (“Case”), International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) ruled that the defendant Turkish company (“Defendant”), by pursuing an action in the Turkish Courts despite the existence of a valid arbitration clause, breached its agreement to arbitrate and therefore it is liable for damages which the claimant Italian company (“Claimant”) might suffer due to this breach. In this article, we will briefly share the details of the Case and touch upon the reasoning of the ICC for deciding that Defendant is liable for the damages that the Claimant might suffered due to this breach.

On October 26, 2022, the Turkish Competition Board (“Board”) published its reasoned decision dated June 23, 2022 and numbered 22-28/443-180, upon its preliminary investigation initiated against six undertakings (i.e. Ahmet Tanrıbuyurdu, Emin Helal Et ve Gıda A.Ş., Göktaşlar Et-Et Ürünleri Yan San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti, Namet Gıda Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., Pınar Entegre ve Un Sanayi A.Ş. and Sultan Et ve Gıda Üretim Tic. Paz. Ltd. Şti.) that are active in the red meat industry to determine whether the undertakings have violated Article 4 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No. 4054”).

Koutalidis, working alongside White & Case’s London office, has advised Wren House Infrastructure on its USD 88 million acquisition of equity stakes in Turkish EV charging station company Zorlu Enerji and its Dutch subsidiary, ZES NV. 

Cemile Demir Gokyayla has joined KP Law as a Partner and Head of the firm's Arbitration/ADR practice along with her team.

Divjak Topic Bahtijarevic & Krka and Tus & Grzic have advised Prvo Plinarsko Drustvo and INA, respectively, on the sale of their stakes in joint-venture company Terra Mineral Fertilizer to the Yildirim Group. CMS advised the Yildirim Group.

Contributed by KP Law.

Dentons Turkish affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership advised APY Ventures on its investment in Sorwe.

The Draft Regulation Amending the Regulation on Bank Cards and Credit Cards ("Draft Regulation") was published on the website of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency ("BRSA") on 28/10/2022 to receive sector and public opinions.

Akol Law has advised EIS Eczacibasi Ilac on its USD 135 million acquisition of Gensenta from the Amgen Group. Baker McKenzie Turkish affiliate Esin Attorney Partnership advised the seller.

Akol Law has advised Paket Mutfak on its USD 3 million seed investment round from Nokta Yatirim, Kadri Samsunlu, and Ersan Ozturk, alongside existing investors. The Surmen Law Firm reportedly advised Nokta Yatirim.

Ilker & Colak has advised the Yildizlar Group on its collaboration with Enercon for the high-volume capacity extension project for the Gulpinar Wind Farm.

Turkish lawyer Asli Yildiz has joined S4 Capital Group as its Head of Legal - Global Privacy in London.

Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 [“TCC”] stipulates that the carrier shall be liable for the damages caused by the loss, damage or delay of delivery of commodity within the period from the takeover of commodity for carriage to delivery of it. The legal nature of the carrier's liability in this context is strict liability. This means that even if the carrier has no fault in incurrence of damages, they should still be liable. However, this liability is not absolute. As a matter of fact, the carrier can be released from liability on the grounds set out in the law or by proving that they have taken the greatest care.

Former Loomis Turkey Legal Affairs & Compliance Manager Nihat Ozbek has joined Guleryuz Partners as a Partner.

Bezen & Partners has advised the EBRD on its EUR 75 million loan to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality for the construction of the Goztepe-Atasehir-Umraniye metro line in Istanbul.

The main obligation of the transport and logistics companies, i.e., carrier in contracts of carriage is to take the commodity from one place to another and deliver it to the consignee. The carrier is obliged to deliver the commodity in the form and condition in which it was received. Therefore, the carrier also undertakes the obligation to preserve the commodity under its control while performing the contract of carriage.

Law No. 7418 on Amendment of Press Law and Certain Laws (“Amendment Law”) is published in Official Gazette of October 18, 2022 and introduced significant amendments on certain laws including the Press Law No. 5187, the Turkish Criminal Code No. 5237 and the Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Broadcasts via the Internet and the Prevention of Crimes Committed through Such Broadcast (“Law No. 5651”) and the Law No. 5809 Electronic Communications Law (“Law No. 5809”).

The Turkish Competition Board (“Board”) conditionally approved the acquisition of sole control over Ferro Corporation (“Ferro”) by American Securities LLC (“American Securities”) through its solely controlled affiliate ASP Prince Holdings Inc. (“Prince”). The Board determined that the transaction would result in the significant impediment of effective competition in the market for glass coatings for home appliances in Turkey. That being said, the Board conditionally approved the transaction subject to the commitments submitted by the parties to the European Commission (“Commission”) on the grounds that the commitments removed the entire horizontal overlap between the parties in the horizontally affected markets in Turkey.