Cross-Border Commercial Debt Collection & Asset Recovery in Turkey

A foreign creditor can collect an unpaid commercial debt in Turkey through direct enforcement proceedings without a prior court judgment, apply to court for a precautionary attachment to freeze assets, or enforce foreign court judgments and arbitral awards under the Turkish International Private and Civil Procedure Law (Law No. 5718).

We act for foreign creditors, including international manufacturers, exporters, trading houses, and institutional lenders, collecting debts from Turkish companies and individuals. Before initiating recovery, confirm whether your claim is within statutory limitation periods with our debt limitation period checker; the guide below outlines the complete procedural framework.

Step 1: Formal Demand & Default Notice (İhtarname)

Under Article 117(1) of the Turkish Code of Obligations (TBK No. 6098), a debtor of a mature obligation is placed in default upon the formal demand of the creditor. Where a specific performance date was agreed upon in the contract, the debtor falls into default automatically on the expiry of that date without further demand (TBK Article 117(2)). Between merchants, notices placing the other side in default, terminating or rescinding a contract are given through a notary public, by registered letter, by telegram, or by registered electronic mail (KEP) using a secure electronic signature (Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102, TTK Article 18(3)). No statute fixes how much time the notice must give the debtor; in practice it names a short final date for payment.

Step 2: Emergency Precautionary Attachment (İhtiyati Haciz - İİK Art. 257)

Speed is essential. Where there is a risk that the debtor will hide, dissipate, or transfer assets, the creditor can apply for an emergency asset freeze:

• Statutory Grounds: Under İİK Article 257, the creditor of a money debt that is due and not secured by a pledge can have the debtor’s movable and immovable property, receivables and other rights attached as a precaution, whether they are held by the debtor or by a third party. For a debt not yet due, attachment is available only if the debtor has no fixed domicile, or, to escape its obligations, is preparing to hide or remove its assets or to abscond, has absconded, or has engaged in fraudulent acts harming the creditor’s rights.
• Ex-Parte Procedure: Under İİK Article 258, the attachment is ordered by the court competent under İİK Article 50 (in commercial disputes, the commercial court, Asliye Ticaret Mahkemesi), which is free to hear or not to hear the parties. The creditor must put forward evidence that satisfies the court of the claim and, where needed, of the ground for attachment: typically invoices, supply agreements, delivery notes, bills of lading and payment records.
• Statutory Security (Teminat): The creditor must give security against the loss a wrongful attachment may cause the debtor and third parties; the court sets the amount. If the claim rests on a court judgment, security is not required; if it rests on a document having the quality of a judgment, whether security is needed is for the court (İİK Art. 259).
• Execution Timelines: The creditor must ask the enforcement office to carry out the order within ten days of the date of the order, or the order lapses by itself (İİK Art. 261). Where the attachment was obtained before any action or enforcement, the creditor must, within seven days of its execution (or of service of the attachment record if it was executed in the creditor’s absence), file an enforcement request or bring an action (İİK Art. 264(1)); if the debtor then objects to the payment order, the creditor must, within seven days of being served with the objection, ask the enforcement court to remove it or bring an action (İİK Art. 264(2)). Missing these periods makes the attachment void (İİK Art. 264(4)). Where mediation is a condition of the action, the time to sue under Article 264(1) does not run from the application to the mediation bureau until the final minutes (Mediation Law No. 6325, Art. 18/A(16)). For detailed analysis, see our guide on debt collection and enforcement in Turkey.

Step 3: Initiating Summary Enforcement (İlamsız İcra - İİK Art. 58)

In Turkey, creditors do not need a prior court judgment to commence formal debt execution:

• General Track (İlamsız İcra): Based on invoices, contracts, or account balances, an enforcement request is filed with the Enforcement Office (İİK Article 58). The office issues a Payment Order (Ödeme Emri) requiring payment within seven days (İİK Art. 60), and the debtor may object within seven days of its service (İİK Art. 62(1)). Once that period has passed without objection, or after an objection has been removed, the creditor may ask for attachment of bank accounts, vehicles and real property without waiting for the debtor’s statement of assets (İİK Art. 78(1)).
• Negotiable Instruments Track (Kambiyo Senetlerine Özgü Haciz Yolu): If the claim rests on a cheque, a bill of exchange or a promissory note (bono), the creditor may use the special attachment track under İİK Articles 167–168: the payment order gives ten days to pay, and the debtor has five days to raise objections to the debt or to the signature before the enforcement court (İİK Art. 168(1), items 2, 4 and 5).
• Foreign Currency Debts: Under İİK Article 58(2), item 3, an enforcement request for a foreign-currency claim (USD, EUR, GBP) states its Turkish lira amount, the date of the exchange rate on which the claim is made, and the interest.

Step 4: Overcoming Debtor Objections (İtirazın Kaldırılması & İptali)

An objection made within the seven-day period stops the enforcement (İİK Art. 66). The creditor then has two routes:

1. Removal of the Objection (İtirazın Kaldırılması - İİK Art. 68): If the claim rests on a document containing an acknowledgment of debt whose signature is admitted or certified by a notary, or on a receipt or document issued by an official authority within its powers, the creditor may ask the Enforcement Court (İcra Hukuk Mahkemesi) to remove the objection within six months of being served with it (İİK Art. 68(1)).
2. Action for Annulment of the Objection (İtirazın İptali - İİK Art. 67): Where the claim rests on invoices, delivery notes, account statements and correspondence, the creditor may, within one year of being served with the objection, sue to annul it by proving the claim under the general rules (İİK Art. 67(1)); a creditor who misses that year keeps the right to sue for the debt under the general rules. In a commercial case, applying to a mediator before filing is a condition of the action (TTK Art. 5/A(1)).

• Execution Denial Compensation (İcra İnkâr Tazminatı): Under İİK Article 67(2), if the court finds the debtor’s objection unjustified, on the creditor’s request it orders the debtor to pay an appropriate compensation of not less than 20% of the amount awarded, in addition to the debt, interest and costs.

Step 5: The Bankruptcy Route (İflas Yoluyla Takip)

Against merchants and other debtors subject to bankruptcy, the creditor can also proceed through bankruptcy:

• Ordinary Bankruptcy Enforcement (İİK Arts. 155–158): The payment order gives the debtor seven days to pay and to object (İİK Art. 155). If the debtor does not object, the creditor may ask the commercial court for a bankruptcy decision; if it objects, the creditor asks the commercial court to remove the objection and declare the bankruptcy, in either case within one year of service of the payment order (İİK Art. 156). Before deciding, the court orders the debtor to pay the debt with interest and costs, or deposit that amount, within seven days, and declares bankruptcy if it does not (İİK Art. 158(2)).
• Direct Bankruptcy (İİK Art. 177): Without prior enforcement, a creditor can ask for the bankruptcy of a debtor subject to bankruptcy that has no known domicile, absconds to escape its obligations, engages in or attempts fraudulent acts harming creditors, hides assets during attachment proceedings, or has suspended its payments. For procedural specifics, consult our dedicated analysis on the bankruptcy route to debt collection in Turkey under İİK 155–158.

1. Power of Attorney (Vekâletname): Signed before a notary in the creditor’s country and apostilled, or, where the Apostille Convention does not apply, legalised by the Turkish consulate. Without express authority a lawyer may not, among other things, settle, lift an attachment, resort to alternative dispute resolution, waive the claim or release the other party (HMK Art. 74(1)), so the power should expressly cover the steps the file may need.
2. Corporate Registry Excerpt: A certified excerpt from the foreign company’s home trade register (e.g., Certificate of Good Standing / Commercial Register Extract) confirming its legal capacity and authorized officers.
3. Substantive Claim Documentation:
   • Unpaid commercial invoices and contracts.
   • Purchase orders, order confirmations, and credit terms.
   • Evidence of delivery: International consignment notes (CMR), ocean bills of lading (B/L), airway bills (AWB), customs declarations, or signed warehouse receipts.
   • Commercial correspondence, emails, and debtor payment acknowledgments.
4. Translations: Documents in a foreign language are filed with a Turkish translation; in practice a sworn translator’s translation certified by a Turkish notary is used.
5. Security for costs: A foreign person who sues or starts enforcement in Turkey must give the security the court sets for the costs and the other side’s loss, unless exempted on the basis of reciprocity (Law No. 5718, Art. 48).

• Foreign Court Judgments (MÖHUK Arts. 50–57): A foreign judgment in a civil matter that is final (kesinleşmiş) under the law of the state where it was given can be enforced in Turkey only after a competent Turkish court grants an enforcement decision (tenfiz kararı) (Law No. 5718, Art. 50(1)); the court of first instance (asliye mahkemesi) hears the request (Art. 51(1)). Under Article 54 the court checks, among other conditions, reciprocity with the issuing state, that the matter is not within the exclusive jurisdiction of Turkish courts, that the judgment is not manifestly contrary to public order, and, if the defendant objects on that ground, that it was properly summoned and represented. Once granted, the judgment is enforced like a Turkish judgment (Art. 57(1)). See our detailed guide on enforcing foreign court judgments in Turkey and our practice overview on foreign judgment & arbitral award enforcement.
• Foreign Arbitral Awards: Enforcement is sought under the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards or MÖHUK Articles 60–63. Once enforcement is granted, the award is enforced like a Turkish court judgment (MÖHUK Arts. 57 and 61(2)), through judgment enforcement (ilamlı icra, İİK Art. 24 et seq.).

Turkish enforcement law provides an extraordinary weapon against this practice: the Action for Annulment of Fraudulent Conveyance (Tasarrufun İptali Davası under İİK Articles 277 to 284), explained step by step in our guide to the action for annulment of fraudulent conveyance (İİK 277).

• Effect (İİK Art. 283): if the action succeeds, the creditor may enforce against the asset that was transferred; for land, attachment and sale can be requested without first correcting the third party’s registration. Where the third party has disposed of the asset, it is ordered to pay its value in money, up to the creditor’s claim.
• Grounds for Annulment:
  1. Gratuitous and Below-Market Dispositions (İİK Art. 278): All donations and uncompensated transfers other than customary gifts, and transactions where the consideration received was substantially below market value, made within 1 year before the provisional or definitive certificate of insolvency, the attachment record having that quality, or the opening of bankruptcy (the period was reduced from two years to one by Law No. 7571 of 24 December 2025; under the current wording each deemed-gift category can be rebutted).
  2. Transactions in a State of Insolvency (İİK Art. 279): Pledges granted for existing debts (unless the debtor had earlier undertaken to provide security), payments made with non-standard payment methods (e.g. barter instead of cash), or premature debt settlements made within 1 year before the attachment, the certificate of insolvency for lack of assets or the opening of bankruptcy; the action fails if the beneficiary proves it did not know the debtor’s position.
  3. Intent to Harm Creditors (İİK Art. 280): acts of an over-indebted debtor made with intent to harm creditors, where the other party knew, or there were clear signs that should have told it, of the debtor’s position and intent, provided enforcement by attachment or bankruptcy was started against the debtor within 5 years of the act. Knowledge is presumed for the debtor’s spouse, ascendants and descendants, relatives by blood or marriage up to the third degree and adoptive parent or child, and for whoever takes over all or a major part of the debtor’s business or stock.

1. Liability under TTK Art. 553: founders, board members, managers and liquidators who culpably breach duties under the law or the articles, for example by failing to act on capital loss (TTK Art. 376) or by diverting company funds, are liable for the damage they cause, including to company creditors. Where several are liable, each answers jointly only to the extent the damage can be attributed to that person’s fault and circumstances (TTK Art. 557); in bankruptcy, creditors’ claims for the company’s loss are first pursued by the bankruptcy administration (TTK Art. 556).
2. Fraudulent and negligent bankruptcy (TCK Arts. 161 and 162; İİK Arts. 310 and 311): where the debtor is declared bankrupt, hiding or destroying assets, concealing books or falsifying accounts can be fraudulent bankruptcy (TCK Art. 161), and causing bankruptcy by failing to take the care required of a merchant can be negligent bankruptcy (TCK Art. 162); a creditor may report these to the public prosecutor.
3. Piercing the Corporate Veil (Tüzel Kişilik Perdesinin Aralanması): Turkish law has no general statutory rule on piercing the corporate veil, and limited liability is the statutory starting point (TTK Art. 329 for joint stock companies, Art. 602 for limited companies). A claim against a parent company or majority shareholder for the company’s debts therefore has to rest on the prohibition of manifest abuse of rights in Article 2 of Turkish Civil Code No. 4721; it is exceptional and depends on proof, typically that the company’s and the shareholder’s assets and identity have been commingled.

• Valuation: the enforcement office has the attached asset valued by an expert; for real property, those served with the valuation report may complain to the enforcement court within seven days of its service (İİK Arts. 128, 128/a).
• Electronic Bidding: Assets are sold via open online bidding to the highest bidder, provided the bid exceeds the higher of 50% of the appraised value or the total of claims secured by that asset and ranking ahead of the requesting creditor, plus the realisation and distribution costs (İİK Art. 115(1)).
• Payment Out: Sale proceeds are paid into the enforcement office account and, once distributed, transferred to the creditor or to us for the creditor.

The same portal is open from the other side of the table. A foreign bidder faces two questions an ordinary bidder does not, whether Land Registry Law Art. 35 permits the holding at all, and whether İİK Art. 134 allows it to be heard if the sale is later attacked, and both are addressed in buying property at a Turkish enforcement auction as a foreigner.

• Reading the file. We look at the contract, invoices, delivery documents, correspondence and any note or cheque, and tell you which route fits: enforcement without a judgment, enforcement on a bill or cheque, a court action, or a precautionary attachment first.
• Checking time. We confirm the limitation period on your dates before the first step.
• Running the proceedings from Türkiye. With a power of attorney, we file the enforcement request, answer the debtor’s objection, conduct the mediation and the court case where one is needed, and take the attachment and sale steps.
• Reporting in English. You receive each step and each document summarised in English.

If you would like us to look at a debt, send a short summary and the main documents through the contact options on this page. We reply in English. Creditors based in Germany can read how the payment order, mediation and the CISG apply to their invoices in our guide for creditors in Germany.

• Debt Collection and Enforcement in Türkiye: How a Foreign Creditor Gets Paid: Step-by-step guide to enforcement proceedings, the seven-day objection window and precautionary attachment (İİK 257).
• Action for Annulment of Fraudulent Conveyance (İİK 277): who may sue, the one-year and five-year look-back periods and what the judgment allows the creditor to seize.
• Foreign Judgment & Arbitral Award Enforcement (Tenfiz): Exequatur proceedings under MÖHUK No. 5718 and the 1958 New York Convention.
• Commercial Fraud & White-Collar Crime: Emergency CMK 128 asset freezing, director embezzlement, and MASAK investigations.
• Legal Matters in Istanbul for Foreign Clients and Companies: Strategic litigation and court representation across Çağlayan, Kartal, and Bakırköy courthouses.