This guide explains how papers are served through Türkiye's Central Authority, why mail and local process servers are not the route, how Turkish courts execute letters of request, what Turkish data protection and bank secrecy rules mean for discovery, and why service done today matters for enforcement later.
A complaint filed in a federal district court, or in a state court in New York, Texas or California, can name a defendant whose office is in Istanbul, Izmir or Bursa. The same case may need a witness who lives in Ankara, or invoices kept by a supplier in Gaziantep. At that point the US case meets Turkish law. Papers cannot simply be mailed into Türkiye or handed over by a process server hired there, and evidence cannot be collected in Türkiye as freely as in US discovery.
Two treaties govern the ground. The Hague Service Convention of 1965 has been in force for the United States since 10 February 1969 and for Türkiye since 28 April 1972. The Hague Evidence Convention of 1970 has been in force for the United States since 7 October 1972 and for Türkiye since 12 October 2004. Both countries ratified both treaties, so both apply between them, and Türkiye’s declarations under each one decide most of the practical questions.
This guide is written for US attorneys and litigants who need to serve a defendant or obtain evidence in Türkiye, and for Turkish companies and individuals who have received US court papers. It covers the Turkish side; questions of US procedure belong to US counsel.
Who does what: Türkiye’s Central Authority
Türkiye designated the Ministry of Justice, Directorate General for Foreign Relations and EU Affairs (Dış İlişkiler ve Avrupa Birliği Genel Müdürlüğü), as its Central Authority under both Conventions. Turkish law gives the same unit this work: Presidential Decree No. 1 on the Organization of the Presidency, Article 45(1)(c), lists international judicial assistance in civil and criminal matters, including service (tebligat) and letters of request (istinabe), among its duties.
On the US side, the Service Convention works without a federal gatekeeper. According to the US practical information filed with the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), any court official, any attorney or any other person authorized by the rules of the court may send a service request abroad, and the US Central Authority plays no role in requests to serve persons located abroad in private litigation. A US attorney therefore addresses the request directly to the Ministry of Justice in Ankara.
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(f)(1) allows an individual abroad to be served by any internationally agreed means reasonably calculated to give notice, and names the Hague Service Convention as an example. Rule 4(h)(2) applies the Rule 4(f) methods to corporations served outside the United States, except personal delivery under Rule 4(f)(2)(C)(i). State courts have their own service rules, which US counsel will check.
Serving a summons and complaint in Türkiye
What Türkiye’s declarations rule out
Article 10 of the Service Convention keeps three informal channels open only if the destination state does not object: sending judicial documents by postal channels directly to persons abroad (Article 10(a)), and service directly through the judicial officers, officials or other competent persons of the destination state, either by officials of the state of origin (Article 10(b)) or by any person interested in the proceeding (Article 10(c)). Türkiye declared its opposition to the methods of service in Article 10, and its practical information on the HCCH site lists Article 10(a), (b) and (c) separately, each as an opposition.
For papers going to Türkiye, the routes US attorneys often use at home or with countries that made no such objection therefore lose their footing in the Convention. Registered mail sent straight to the defendant is a postal channel under Article 10(a). A courier envelope, or a process server or other person engaged in Türkiye to deliver the papers, bypasses the Central Authority and is the kind of method Türkiye’s Article 10 objection covers. Rule 4(f)(3) allows “other means not prohibited by international agreement, as the court orders”; whether a US court will order an alternative method for a defendant in Türkiye is a question of US law. A Turkish court asked later to enforce the judgment will look at service separately, under Article 54(1)(ç) of the Code on Private International and Procedural Law (MÖHUK, Law No. 5718), discussed below.
Consular service is not a practical substitute. Article 8 lets a state serve documents through its own diplomatic or consular agents, without compulsion, but Türkiye declared that such agents may serve only their own nationals. The US practical information adds that US consular officers are prohibited by regulation (22 CFR 92.85) from serving legal process or appointing others to do so abroad.
The Central Authority request, step by step
- Find a full address. The Convention does not apply where the address of the person to be served is not known (Article 1). For a company, identify its correct legal name and the address it uses in Türkiye.
- Complete the model request. Article 3 requires a request on the model form annexed to the Convention, without legalization or any equivalent formality, with the document to be served (or a copy) annexed. The request and the document are both furnished in duplicate. The standard terms of the form are in English or French, and the blanks are completed in the language of the requested state, or in English or French (Article 7).
- Attach a Turkish translation of everything to be served (see the next section).
- Send it to the Ministry of Justice in Ankara. If the Central Authority considers that the request does not comply with the Convention, it informs the applicant and specifies its objections (Article 4).
- Service. The Central Authority serves the document itself or arranges for an appropriate agency to serve it (Article 5).
- Certificate. The Central Authority, or an authority it designates, completes a certificate on the model form and sends it directly to the applicant (Article 6).
Türkiye may refuse a request that complies with the Convention only if it deems that compliance would infringe its sovereignty or security. It may not refuse solely because Turkish law claims exclusive jurisdiction over the subject matter or would not permit the action (Article 13).
Translation decides whether the defendant can refuse
Article 5 distinguishes two kinds of service. Under Article 5(1), the Central Authority serves by a method its internal law prescribes for domestic service, or by a particular method the applicant requests unless that method is incompatible with its law; for this formal service it may require the document to be written in, or translated into, its official language (Article 5(3)). Under Article 5(2), the document may always be served by delivery to an addressee who accepts it voluntarily.
Türkiye made no separate declaration under Article 5(3), but its practical information is clear. Documents in Turkish, or with a Turkish translation, are served under Article 5(1): the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office (Cumhuriyet Başsavcılığı) has them served through the post office under Turkish domestic law, and they “may also be served against the addressee’s will”. Documents sent without a translation are served under Article 5(2), and the addressee may refuse to accept them for lack of a translation.
For a US plaintiff the conclusion is simple: send a full Turkish translation of the summons, the complaint and every exhibit that must be served. The summary of the document contained in the request form is served together with the document (Article 5, fourth paragraph).
How service is carried out inside Türkiye
For papers served under Article 5(1), the source on how Türkiye handles an incoming Hague request is its practical information to the HCCH (last updated in June 2022): the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has the papers served via post offices in accordance with Turkish domestic law. The domestic rules on delivery are in the Notification Law (Tebligat Kanunu, Law No. 7201) and its implementing regulation (Tebligat Kanununun Uygulanmasına Dair Yönetmelik):
- Postal service. All service by judicial authorities, including electronic service, is made through the postal organization (PTT) or an officer under the Law (Article 1). The Law requires service on private-law legal persons such as companies to be made electronically (Article 7/a); Türkiye’s practical information describes incoming Hague requests as served via post offices and does not address the electronic channel.
- Address. Service is made at the last known address. If that address proves unsuitable or service there fails, the person’s residence address in the address registration system is treated as the last known address (Article 10).
- Companies. Service on a legal person is made to its authorized representatives, or to one of them if there are several (Article 12). If they are not at the workplace during normal working hours, or cannot take the papers in person, service is made to an employee present there (Article 13).
- Absence or refusal. If nobody who may receive service is found at the address, or the person refuses, the server hands the papers against signature to the neighborhood or village headman (muhtar), a member of the local council of elders, or a police officer and posts a notice on the door of the building. The date the notice is posted counts as the date of service (Article 21). A refusal does not stop service.
- Service report. Service is documented in a service report (tebliğ mazbatası) that records, among other things, the issuing authority, the subject, the person to whom and the place and time at which the papers were delivered, and any reason given for absence or refusal (Article 23).
The Law also has a separate rule for papers that a foreign embassy or consulate hands to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: subject to treaties and reciprocity, they are sent to the competent authority for service and returned, certified, through the same channels (Article 26; Regulation Article 44). That is the diplomatic route. A Hague request goes to the Ministry of Justice as Central Authority instead.
The certificate and what a US court does with it
The Article 6 certificate states that the document has been served and gives the method, place and date of service and the person to whom it was delivered. If the document was not served, the certificate sets out the reasons. It goes directly to the applicant, usually the US attorney who sent the request.
Article 15 protects a defendant who does not appear. Judgment may not be given until it is established that the document was served by a method of the requested state’s internal law, or actually delivered to the defendant or to his residence by another Convention method, and in either case in sufficient time to defend. The United States made the declaration that Article 15(2) permits, so a US judge may give judgment without a certificate if the document was transmitted by a Convention method, a period of at least six months considered adequate by the judge has passed since transmission, and no certificate has been received despite every reasonable effort through the competent authorities of the state addressed.
Article 16 allows a defendant who did not appear to seek relief from the expiry of the time for appeal, if he had no knowledge in time through no fault of his own and shows a prima facie defense on the merits. Under the US declaration, such an application is not entertained after the later of the period set by the procedural rules of the court that entered the judgment or one year from the judgment. Türkiye made its own declarations under Articles 15(2) and 16(3), but those concern judgments of Turkish courts.
If US court papers have reached you in Türkiye
Turkish companies and individuals usually receive US papers in one of three ways:
- Through the Turkish authorities. A Hague request arrives through the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and the postal service, with the summary page and, if the plaintiff supplied one, a Turkish translation.
- Directly from the plaintiff’s side. A courier envelope, a registered letter or an email with a summons and complaint. Türkiye’s Article 10 objection covers postal channels and direct service through officials or competent persons; what effect such a delivery has in the US case is decided by the US court.
- A request to waive service. In federal court, a plaintiff may send a written notice of the lawsuit with a request to waive service of the summons (Federal Rule 4(d)). Whether to sign it is a decision to take with US counsel.
Three points apply whatever the route. First, the date matters: deadlines in the US case are set by US rules and run from events such as service or the sending of a waiver request, and only a US-qualified attorney can calculate them. Second, a Turkish lawyer does not replace US counsel in the US action; Lex Lata advises on Turkish law only. Third, the way service was made now will matter if the plaintiff later asks a Turkish court to enforce a US judgment, because MÖHUK Article 54(1)(ç) lets the defendant object that, under the laws of the place of judgment, he was not duly summoned. Keep the envelope, every page received and the service report, and note the date of receipt.
Taking evidence in Türkiye for a US case
Letters of request under Chapter I
A US court may ask the competent Turkish authority, by a letter of request, to obtain evidence for use in judicial proceedings, commenced or contemplated (Article 1). The letter goes to Türkiye’s Central Authority, which transmits it to the authority competent to execute it (Article 2). Türkiye’s practical information states that letters of request are first sent to the Central Authority of the requesting state before being sent on to the requested state’s, so US counsel should confirm the current US transmission practice.
Article 3 lists the contents: the requesting authority, the parties and their representatives, the nature of the proceedings and the evidence sought, and where appropriate the persons to be examined, the questions or the subject matter, the documents or property to be inspected, any requirement of oath and any special procedure requested. Türkiye made the reservation under Article 33 against Article 4(2), so a letter in English alone is not accepted: it must be in Turkish or come with a Turkish translation. The translation must be certified as correct by a diplomatic officer or consular agent, a sworn translator or another person so authorized in either state (Article 4).
The Turkish court executing the letter applies Turkish law to the methods and procedures, but it follows a request for a special method unless that method is incompatible with Turkish law or impossible in practice (Article 9). It applies the same measures of compulsion as in domestic proceedings (Article 10). A witness may refuse to give evidence on a privilege or duty under Turkish law, or under US law if the privilege is specified in the letter or confirmed by the requesting court (Article 11). Execution may be refused only if it does not fall within the functions of the judiciary or would prejudice sovereignty or security (Article 12). The requesting court may ask to be told the time and place of the hearing so that the parties and their representatives can attend (Article 7).
Inside the Turkish courtroom, the Code of Civil Procedure (Hukuk Muhakemeleri Kanunu, HMK, Law No. 6100) applies; Türkiye’s practical information points to its Articles 187 to 293 for the rules on evidence:
- A person summoned as a witness must appear. A witness duly summoned who fails to appear without giving an excuse is brought by force and ordered to pay the costs caused and a disciplinary fine (HMK Article 245).
- Relatives listed in Article 248 may refuse to testify. A witness may also refuse on information that must be kept secret by law (Article 249), or where the testimony would cause direct material loss to the witness or a listed relative, harm their honor, expose them to criminal investigation or reveal professional secrets (Article 250).
- Before testifying, the witness is told the importance of telling the truth and the penalty for false testimony (Article 256) and takes the oath before being heard (Article 258); persons under fifteen and persons unable to grasp the nature of the oath are heard without one (Article 257).
- The judge hears each witness separately; the witness speaks without interruption and may not read from written notes unless the judge allows (Article 261). Party representatives attending the hearing may put questions to witnesses directly, within the discipline of the hearing, and the judge decides on an objection to a question (Article 152).
- No photographs or audio or video recordings may be made during a hearing, although the court itself may film and record where the proceedings make it necessary, keeping the recording in the file (Article 153). A request for a videotaped examination is therefore a special method the court weighs under Article 9 of the Convention.
Türkiye’s practical information adds that a list of questions is preferred, that the hearing is public unless the judge decides otherwise, and that the testimony is written into the minutes, read to the witness and signed by the witness, the judge and the clerk. US lawyers used to verbatim transcripts should note Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 28(b)(4): evidence obtained in response to a letter of request need not be excluded merely because it is not a verbatim transcript, because the testimony was not taken under oath, or because of a similar departure from US deposition requirements.
Documents and Türkiye’s Article 23 declaration
Türkiye declared under Article 23 that it will not execute letters of request issued for the purpose of obtaining pre-trial discovery of documents as known in common law countries, and its practical information calls this a full exclusion. Turkish procedure has its own, narrower production rules. Parties must produce the documents they hold that either side relies on as evidence (HMK Article 219). The court gives the opposing party a definite period to produce a document when it is satisfied that the document is necessary to prove the point and the request is lawful, and the opposing party admits holding it, stays silent on the request, or its existence appears from an official record or another document (Article 220). Where the court decides that a document held by a third person or institution is necessary to prove a point, it orders its production (Article 221).
A letter of request asking for all documents relating to a broad subject reads as discovery. A request that names particular documents, explains why each one is needed at trial and says who holds it is closer to what HMK Articles 220 and 221 describe. Whether a given request falls within the declaration is decided in Türkiye.
Chapter II: consuls and commissioners
Chapter II allows evidence to be taken without compulsion by diplomatic or consular officers and by commissioners.
- US nationals before a US consular officer (Article 15). A consular officer may take evidence, without compulsion, from nationals of the state he represents, in aid of proceedings in that state’s courts. Türkiye made no declaration requiring permission for this. Whether a US consular post in Türkiye provides the service is a question for the US Department of State.
- Other witnesses (Articles 16 and 17). Evidence from Turkish or third-country nationals before a US consular officer, and from any person before a commissioner appointed by the US court, needs permission. Türkiye designated the Ministry of Justice to grant it. The permission may set conditions, for example on time and place, and may require advance notice so that a representative of the authority can attend (Article 19).
- No compulsion. Türkiye made no declaration under Article 18, so a consul or commissioner cannot apply to the Turkish authorities for assistance in compelling a witness. A request to appear must say that the person may be legally represented and is not compelled to appear or give evidence (Article 21(c)), and it must be in Turkish or translated unless the person is a national of the state where the action is pending (Article 21(b)). Evidence may be taken in the manner of the law of the US court, provided Turkish law does not forbid it (Article 21(d)).
Voluntary remote depositions
US practice often uses remote depositions, with the witness in one country and the lawyers in another. Türkiye’s published practical information under the Evidence Convention leaves its video-link questions unanswered, and this guide does not treat a remote deposition of a witness located in Türkiye as either permitted or prohibited. Whether a deposition conducted from the United States, with the witness in Türkiye, counts as evidence taken in Turkish territory under Chapter II, and so needs Ministry of Justice permission, should be raised with the Central Authority before the deposition is scheduled. On the US side, Federal Rule 28(b)(1) lists the options for a deposition in a foreign country: under a treaty or convention, under a letter of request, on notice before a person authorized to administer oaths, or before a person commissioned by the court.
Moving documents out of Türkiye: data protection and bank secrecy
Records held in Türkiye often contain personal data: employee files, customer lists, emails. The Personal Data Protection Law (Kişisel Verilerin Korunması Kanunu, KVKK, Law No. 6698) governs transfers abroad in Article 9, rewritten by Law No. 7499 and in force in its new form since 1 June 2024. A Turkish company that gathers its own files and sends them to a US law firm is a data controller making a transfer abroad, and Article 9 sets three tiers:
- Adequacy decision. Personal data may be transferred where a processing condition in Article 5 or 6 exists and the Personal Data Protection Board has issued an adequacy decision for the country, sector or international organization concerned (Article 9(1)); the Board publishes the decision in the Official Gazette (Article 9(2)). Check whether such a decision covers the recipient before relying on this tier.
- Appropriate safeguards. Without an adequacy decision, data may be transferred where an Article 5 or 6 condition exists, the data subject can exercise his rights and seek effective remedies in the destination country, and the parties provide one of the safeguards in Article 9(4): an agreement, not amounting to an international treaty, between public bodies or international organizations abroad and Turkish public bodies or professional organizations with public-institution status, with Board permission; binding corporate rules approved by the Board; a standard contract announced by the Board; or a written undertaking containing provisions that ensure adequate protection, with Board permission. A standard contract is notified to the Authority within five business days of signature (Article 9(5)).
- Incidental transfers. Only where neither tier is available, and only incidentally, data may be transferred in the cases listed in Article 9(6), among them explicit consent given after being informed of the possible risks (Article 9(6)(a)) and a transfer necessary to establish, exercise or protect a right (Article 9(6)(d)). The implementing regulation treats as incidental a transfer that is not regular, occurs once or a few times, is not continuous and is not part of the ordinary course of business (Regulation on the Procedures and Principles for the Transfer of Personal Data Abroad, Article 16(1)).
Two further rules matter in litigation. Where the interests of Türkiye or of the data subject would be seriously harmed, data may be transferred abroad only with the Board’s permission after the opinion of the relevant public body, subject to international agreements (Article 9(9)). Provisions on transfers abroad in other laws are reserved (Article 9(10)). The Law does not apply to processing by judicial authorities or enforcement authorities in connection with investigation, prosecution, adjudication or enforcement (Article 28(1)(d)); that exemption is defined by the authority doing the processing, and a private company collecting files for US counsel is not such an authority. For the wider picture, see our guide to KVKK for foreign companies and our personal data protection practice.
Bank records carry a separate layer. Under Article 73(3) of the Banking Law (Bankacılık Kanunu, Law No. 5411), persons who learn the secrets of banks or their customers through their position may not disclose them to anyone other than the authorities expressly authorized by law. The same paragraph provides that, subject to mandatory provisions of other laws, information that is a customer secret may not, outside the exceptions listed in the Article, be shared with or transferred to third parties in Türkiye or abroad without a request or instruction from the customer, even if the customer has given explicit consent under the KVKK. Outside the Article’s exceptions and the authorities expressly authorized by law, the paragraph therefore makes a request or instruction from the customer the condition for a bank to share customer information with a US litigant or its counsel.
Routes compared
| Route | Who starts it | What Türkiye requires | What comes back | Main limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service through the Central Authority | US attorney or court official | Model request, papers in duplicate, Turkish translation for formal service | Certificate under Article 6 | Untranslated papers may be refused (Art. 5(2)) |
| Mail, courier or process server in Türkiye | Plaintiff’s side | No Convention channel Türkiye accepts: it opposed Art. 10(a), (b) and (c) | Proof of delivery only | Open to objection at the Turkish enforcement stage |
| Service by a US consul (Art. 8) | US consular post | Only on US nationals (Türkiye’s declaration) | Consular record | US consular officers barred by 22 CFR 92.85 |
| Letter of request (Chapter I) | US court | Turkish translation; no pre-trial document discovery (Art. 23) | Minutes and documents through the same channel (Art. 13) | Turkish court applies HMK procedure |
| Evidence before a consul or commissioner (Chapter II) | US court or party | Ministry of Justice permission (Arts. 16, 17); none for US nationals before a US consul (Art. 15) | Testimony taken by the consul or commissioner | No compulsion (no Art. 18 declaration) |
| Voluntary production by a company in Türkiye | Party holding the records | A basis under KVKK Article 9; Banking Law Article 73 for bank data | Files delivered to US counsel | The transfer basis must exist before data leave |
The reverse direction: US discovery for a Turkish case
Sometimes the evidence is in the United States and the case is in Türkiye. Under 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a), the district court of the district in which a person resides or is found may order him to give testimony or a statement, or to produce a document or other thing, for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal. The order may be made on a letter rogatory or request from the foreign tribunal, or on the application of any interested person. It may prescribe the practice and procedure, which may be in whole or in part that of the foreign country; to the extent it does not, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure apply. A person may not be compelled to testify or produce in violation of any legally applicable privilege. Section 1782(b) adds that a person in the United States may voluntarily give testimony or produce documents for a foreign proceeding before any person and in any manner acceptable to him.
Whether a particular Turkish court or body counts as a tribunal under the statute is a question of US law. Material obtained in the United States must still meet Turkish rules once it is filed: a party relying on a document in a foreign language must file its translation, and the court may ask for an official translation (HMK Article 223).
What a Turkish lawyer does in these files
- Checks the Turkish translation of the summons, complaint and request, so that formal service under Article 5(1) is possible.
- Confirms the defendant’s legal name and address in Türkiye and, for a company, who represents it.
- Follows the request in Türkiye and obtains the Turkish service report.
- Prepares letters of request to fit HMK procedure and Türkiye’s Article 23 declaration, and can attend the Turkish hearing for a party.
- Advises a Turkish recipient of US papers on data protection and bank secrecy before records leave Türkiye, and on keeping enforcement objections available.
- Prepares the ground for enforcement. A foreign civil judgment can be executed in Türkiye only after a Turkish court grants enforcement (MÖHUK Article 50(1)), and under Article 54(1)(ç) enforcement is not granted where, under the laws of the place of judgment, the person against whom enforcement is sought was not duly summoned to, or not represented before, the court that gave judgment, or judgment was given in default or in his absence contrary to those laws, and that person objects on one of these grounds. If the papers reached the defendant only by a method of the kind Türkiye opposed under Article 10, the defendant can be expected to raise this objection, and the Turkish court decides it on the file. Our guide on enforcing a US court judgment in Türkiye covers the other conditions.
A US exporter weighing a lawsuit at home against proceedings in Türkiye can compare the routes in our guide for US exporters recovering unpaid invoices from Turkish buyers.
Working with Lex Lata from the United States
Lex Lata acts for clients in the United States on the Turkish side of cross-border litigation: service and evidence requests into Türkiye, the Turkish position of a company that has received US papers, and the later enforcement of judgments. We work remotely and in English, alongside the client’s US counsel, who handles the US case. Türkiye stays on UTC+3 all year, so New York is seven hours behind Istanbul during US daylight saving time and eight hours behind in winter, and Los Angeles ten or eleven. Where a Turkish proceeding is needed, a power of attorney signed in the United States is usually the first document. For commercial matters, see our commercial litigation and arbitration practice. To discuss a file, use the contact page, or return to our overview for people and companies in the United States.
