Turkish Debt Collection

GK Partners’ Turkish Debt Collection lawyers are prepared to collect your debts in Turkey.
Our Turkish Debt Collection lawyers provide mediation, consultancy, and negotiation services to our individual and legal entity clients in the process of debt collection, objection, bankruptcy, cancelation, or removal of objection.

Turkish Bankruptcy Law and the Process

According to the Turkish Enforcement Code, there are two types of enforcement processes in Turkey. Enforcement Proceedings with or without a Court Judgment. The first option for debt collection in Turkey is through enforcement proceedings without judgment.

1- Enforcement Proceedings without a Court Judgment

There are three methods of enforcement proceedings:

• General enforcement proceedings
• Enforcement of bonds, bills, and checks
• Eviction of rented properties

For this article, we will be focusing more on the general enforcement proceedings in detail.

The first step in the enforcement process is for the creditor to submit a «debt collection request» to the relevant debt execution office, which is generally located in the debtor’s place of residence. Once the request is received, the debtor will be given 7 days to make payment. If the debtor fails to pay or objects to the payment order, the creditor may need to take legal action to enforce the debt collection.

A.Objecting to the signature:

If the debt is established by a deed and the debtor claims that the signature on the deed does not belong to him/her (in other words, forged/fraudulent), he/she may submit an objection to the Debt Execution Office by contesting the signature on that deed.

B.Objecting to the debt:

If the debtor claims he/she does not owe a part of the relevant debt or the debt itself entirely or he/she claims that the creditor does not have the authority to request debt collection against him/her, he/she may submit an objection to the Debt Execution Office and contest the debt.

In case of the debtor objects to the payment order, the execution proceedings will stop. Therefore, to enforce the continuity of the execution proceedings and to nullify the objection decision, the creditor needs to file a lawsuit to cancel this objection.  If there is no objection to the order within 7 days, you will be able to foreclose the debtor’s assets.

2- Enforcement Proceedings with a Court Judgment

This is the type of claim based on an enforceable court judgment. In this case, any objection the debtor may claim within 7 days after the receipt of the summons will be disregarded by the court in a summary proceeding.

The debtor needs to pay his/her debt within 7 days, if not, you can foreclose the asset to collect your money.

Since 2019, commercial and customer law disputes require a mandatory mediation process before initiating litigation. This new law extends the scope of mediation as an alternative dispute resolution tool beyond employment matters to include commercial disputes. We recommend that you work with a  Turkish Debt Collection lawyer to avoid any loss of rights.

At our firm, we specialize in providing expert advice and guidance to clients navigating the complex legal landscape of Turkish debt collection. Contact our Turkish Debt Collection lawyers today to learn more about our services and how we can help you achieve your debt collection goals.