Turkish enforcement law reaches those assets through the garnishment notice (haciz ihbarnamesi) in Article 89 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law. This guide explains when a creditor can use it, what the third party must do within seven days, how silence turns into liability, the negative declaratory action the third party may bring, and the sanctions for a false answer.
Why the garnishment notice matters for creditors
A commercial debtor in Türkiye may have few assets registered in its own name and still be owed substantial sums: balances in its bank accounts, invoices due from its customers, rent paid by its tenants, goods stored in a third party’s warehouse. For a foreign creditor holding a Turkish judgment, an enforceable foreign award or a final payment order, these third-party assets can be the most direct route to payment. Turkish enforcement law reaches them through the garnishment notice (haciz ihbarnamesi) regulated in Article 89 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law (İcra ve İflas Kanunu, İİK, Law No. 2004).
The mechanism is simple in outline. When the enforcement office attaches a receivable or a claim of the debtor that is not embodied in a bearer or endorsable instrument, or a movable of the debtor held by someone else, it notifies the third party that from now on it may pay its debt only to the enforcement office, that a payment to the debtor is not valid, and that goods must be delivered only to the enforcement office and not to the debtor, failing which the third party will have to pay their value (Article 89(1)). The notice also sets out the third party’s duties and the consequences of silence (Article 89(1), last sentence).
This guide covers the stage at which the notice can be used, the seven-day objection, the second notice and the fifteen-day period, the negative declaratory action open to the third party, the sanctions for a false answer, and practical points for creditors dealing with banks and corporate customers.
When the creditor can use it: attachment and the UYAP search
A garnishment notice is a way of carrying out an attachment, so the creditor must first be entitled to attachment. Under Article 78(1), the creditor may request attachment once the period in the payment order has passed and, if the debtor objected, after the objection has been removed, without waiting for the debtor’s declaration of assets. The same paragraph, as amended in 2020, allows the creditor to search the debtor’s assets, rights and receivables through the National Judiciary Network (UYAP) without first filing an attachment request; the system reports the nature and details of any assets found, attachment can be requested through the system, and the enforcement office then attaches the identified asset electronically. Information obtained through the search may not be shared unlawfully (Article 78(1)).
Timing matters. The right to request attachment lapses one year after service of the payment order; periods during which an objection or lawsuit is pending, and the period of an instalment agreement concluded at the enforcement office until it is breached, are not counted (Article 78(2)).
For a creditor who needs to act before the debt is final, the separate regime of precautionary attachment (ihtiyati haciz) applies; it is explained in our guide on interim attachment for foreign creditors.
The first notice and the third party’s seven days (İİK 89(1)-(2))
The first notice is addressed to the person or legal entity that owes money to the debtor or holds the debtor’s goods. From service, the third party must treat the debt as attached: payment to the debtor is not valid against the creditor, and goods must not be handed to the debtor (Article 89(1)).
The third party may have reasons not to pay. Article 89(2) lists them: it owes nothing; the goods are not in its hands; the debt was paid, or the goods were consumed or destroyed without its fault, before service of the notice; the goods do not belong to the debtor; the goods were pledged to it; or the receivable had already been paid to the debtor or to someone the debtor designated. A third party relying on any such ground must inform the enforcement office in writing or orally within seven days of service of the notice (Article 89(2)).
Where the notice goes matters for large institutions. Under Article 89(7), a notice may be served on the branch of a legal entity or institution where the debtor’s rights and receivables may be found, or on its head office so as to cover all branches; a head office served in this way must give a declaration covering all of its branches and units. The third party’s declaration is free of any fee or duty (Article 89(8)). Since 2018, notices and answers may also be exchanged through UYAP with a secure electronic signature, and notification made in that way takes the place of service (Article 89, last paragraph).
Silence has consequences: the second notice and the fifteen days (İİK 89(3))
If the third party does not object within seven days, the statute draws a conclusion: the goods are deemed to be in its hands or the debt deemed to be owed by it. The enforcement office sends a second notice telling the third party that it did not object in time and is therefore treated as holding the goods or owing the debt, and asking it either to object within seven days on the grounds listed in Article 89(2) or, if it does not object, to pay the debt deemed owed or deliver the goods to the enforcement office (Article 89(3)).
If the third party neither objects to the second notice in time nor pays or delivers, it receives a further communication: it must pay the money or deliver the goods within fifteen days, or bring a negative declaratory action (menfi tespit davası) within that period, failing which it will be compelled to pay the debt deemed owed or deliver the goods (Article 89(3)). In Turkish practice this communication is referred to as the third notice; the statute simply calls it a notification.
The third party’s lawsuit. The negative declaratory action is brought at the court of the place where the enforcement proceedings are conducted or where the third party is domiciled. If, within twenty days of the notification, the third party delivers to the enforcement office a document showing that it filed the action in time, enforcement measures against it are suspended until the judgment becomes final, and the periods in Article 106 do not run in the meantime (Article 89(3)). In that action the burden lies on the third party: it must prove that it does not owe the debtor or that the goods do not belong to the debtor. A third party that loses the action is ordered to pay compensation of not less than twenty percent of the amount in dispute. These actions are subject to a fixed court fee (Article 89(3)).
When delivery is impossible. If goods cannot be delivered, the creditor may apply to the enforcement court to have their value paid by the third party (Article 89(6)).
False answers, obstacles and restitution (İİK 89(4)-(5), 338)
A timely objection is not the end of the matter if it is untrue. Where the third party objected within the period, the creditor may prove the contrary of the third party’s answer before the enforcement court and ask that the third party be punished under Article 338(1) and ordered to pay compensation; the enforcement court decides the compensation claim under general rules (Article 89(4)). Article 338(1) provides that a person who gives a declaration required by the Law contrary to the truth is punished, on the creditor’s complaint, with three months to one year’s imprisonment. The rule also applies to public officials who give an untrue declaration in their official capacity (Article 89(9)).
The statute also protects a third party that acted in good faith. If it could not object in time because of an obstacle and without fault, Article 65 applies (Article 89(5)): an objection can then be made until the realisation of assets is completed, provided it is filed within three days of the obstacle ceasing, with evidence of the excuse (Article 65). And in every case the third party may sue the debtor and a creditor acting in bad faith for the return of money it was compelled to pay or goods it delivered (Article 89(5)).
Comparing the third party’s options
| Third party’s reaction | Legal consequence | Deadline | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Objects to the first notice on a listed ground | Not treated as debtor; creditor may prove the contrary before the enforcement court | 7 days from service | İİK 89(2), 89(4) |
| Silent after the first notice | Deemed to owe the debt or hold the goods; second notice sent | 7 days from service | İİK 89(3) |
| Objects to the second notice | Objection considered on the Article 89(2) grounds | 7 days from service of the second notice | İİK 89(3) |
| Silent and unpaid after the second notice | Told to pay or sue; otherwise compelled to pay | 15 days | İİK 89(3) |
| Brings a negative declaratory action | Enforcement against it suspended if proof of filing reaches the office | Filing within 15 days; proof within 20 days | İİK 89(3) |
| Loses that action | Compensation of at least 20% of the amount in dispute | — | İİK 89(3) |
| Gives an untrue answer | Imprisonment of 3 months to 1 year on complaint, plus compensation | Creditor’s proof before the enforcement court | İİK 89(4), 338(1) |
Practical points for foreign creditors
- Search before you serve. The UYAP search under Article 78(1) shows which banks, registries and institutions report assets, rights or receivables of the debtor; notices can then be targeted rather than sent blindly.
- Serve the head office of banks and large customers. A notice on the head office covers all branches and obliges the head office to answer for all units (Article 89(7)).
- Diarise every period. Seven days for the first objection, seven days for the second, fifteen days to pay or sue, twenty days for the third party’s proof of filing (Article 89(2)-(3)). The one-year limit for requesting attachment also runs from service of the payment order (Article 78(2)).
- Keep the answers. A written or recorded oral answer is the basis for proving its falsity before the enforcement court and for the Article 338(1) complaint (Article 89(4)).
- Do not accept direct payment from the third party. After service, payment to the debtor is not valid against the creditor (Article 89(1)); collection runs through the enforcement office.
- Combine with other tools. Where the debtor’s position is deteriorating, compare the garnishment route with collecting through the bankruptcy route and with precautionary attachment before the debt is final.
Lex Lata represents foreign creditors in Turkish enforcement proceedings, including UYAP asset searches, garnishment notices to banks and trade debtors, proceedings before the enforcement court and the defence of negative declaratory actions brought by third parties.
