Enforcement Before Judgment, Not After
In most civil law systems a creditor sues first and enforces afterwards. Türkiye inverts that. A creditor may open enforcement proceedings at an enforcement office without holding a judgment at all; the office issues a payment order to the debtor. This is not a preliminary step or a warning letter - it is the enforcement process itself, opened on the strength of the claim as stated.
The consequence for a foreign creditor is that the sequence of costs is reversed. You are not funding a trial in the hope of enforcing later; you are opening enforcement now and finding out immediately whether the debtor is prepared to contest it.
The Seven-Day Objection Window
From service of the payment order the debtor has seven days to object. There are two outcomes and they diverge sharply.
If no objection is filed, the proceedings become final and enforcement measures - attachment of bank accounts, receivables and movable property - follow without any court hearing. If the debtor does object, the proceedings are suspended and the burden shifts to you: the objection has to be removed through the courts before enforcement can resume.
Objecting requires no reasons and no evidence. A debtor who simply wants to buy time can file one, which is why the assessment of how likely an objection is - and how substantive it would be - is the first thing to establish, not the last.
Two Routes, and the Document Decides
Where the debtor objects, the route depends on what you hold. If the debt rests on a document the law recognises for this purpose - a notarised instrument, or a document bearing the debtor's signature acknowledging the debt - the objection can be removed at the enforcement court on the papers, which is comparatively quick. Where no such document exists, the claim proceeds as an annulment action before the commercial court, which is ordinary litigation with the timetable that implies.
This is the single most useful thing a supplier can act on in advance. A signed acknowledgement of the balance, or a notarised undertaking taken while the relationship is still good, moves a future dispute from the slow route to the fast one at almost no cost.
Compensation for an Unjustified Objection
Turkish enforcement law attaches a real price to objecting without cause. Where the court finds the debtor's objection unjustified, it may order compensation of not less than twenty per cent of the claim in favour of the creditor, in addition to the debt, interest and costs. A mirror provision protects debtors against unfounded claims.
For a foreign creditor this changes the negotiating position. A debtor weighing a tactical objection is weighing a possible twenty per cent uplift against a few months of delay, and a demand that quantifies that exposure is read differently from one that does not.
Commercial Mediation Is Compulsory
Since 2019, a commercial claim for a sum of money cannot be filed in Türkiye until mediation has been attempted. It is a condition of the action: a claim filed without the mediation record is dismissed on procedural grounds. The process is short - measured in weeks - and a settlement reached in mediation carries the force of a court judgment.
Mediation is a precondition for litigation, not for enforcement proceedings. Opening enforcement does not require it, which is one more reason the enforcement route is usually tried first.
Cheques and Negotiable Paper
Where the debt is represented by a cheque, a bill of exchange or a promissory note, a separate and faster enforcement track applies. Under that track an objection does not automatically suspend enforcement - the debtor must obtain a court order to stay it - which reverses the pressure entirely.
Cheques remain widely used as a payment instrument in Turkish commercial practice, frequently post-dated. A foreign supplier who accepts one is holding a materially stronger instrument than an invoice, and should know that before deciding how to structure payment terms.
Commercial Courts and the Electronic File
Commercial disputes are heard by the Asliye Ticaret Mahkemesi, which sits as a specialised commercial court; in the larger cities these are established divisions with commercial caseloads. Proceedings and enforcement files run through UYAP, the national judicial IT system, which makes filing, service tracking and asset enquiries faster than in many comparable jurisdictions.
Court and enforcement records are electronic end to end. For a creditor assessing whether a debtor is worth pursuing, that means the picture - other enforcement files against the same company, for instance - can usually be established early rather than after the money is committed.
How Long Does a Turkish Claim Take?
| Stage | Typical Duration | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Formal demand Notarised notice, quantified in TRY or contract currency | 2–4 weeks | Low |
| Enforcement proceedings Payment order issued and served | 2–5 weeks | Low |
| Objection window Seven days from service | 1 week | Low |
| Removing the objection Enforcement court, on documents | 3–8 months | Medium |
| Annulment action Commercial court, after mediation | 12–24 months | High |
| Attachment and sale Accounts, receivables, movables | 2–5 months | Medium |
Getting Paid in the Contract Currency
The Turkish lira has been volatile, and a claim expressed in lira can lose real value while a file runs. Where a cross-border contract is denominated in a foreign currency, Turkish law allows the creditor to seek payment in that currency or its lira equivalent - the choice of reference date matters and belongs in the settlement terms rather than being left open.
Transfer out is an ordinary banking operation supported by trade documentation. The practical risk on a Turkish file is therefore erosion during delay rather than an inability to move the money.
Limitation Under the Code of Obligations
The general limitation period under the Turkish Code of Obligations is ten years, with shorter periods of five years applying to defined categories of claim. Which period governs a particular supply relationship depends on how the claim is characterised, so an aged file should have its limitation position established before any step is taken.
Time is interrupted by commencing enforcement proceedings or an action, and in many cases by the debtor acknowledging the debt. An email in which a Turkish buyer accepts the balance is worth locating before you write the claim off.
Recognition Is Rarely the Fast Route
A judgment obtained elsewhere can be recognised and enforced in Türkiye, subject to the conditions of the international private law code including reciprocity. In practice recognition proceedings take their own timetable, and for an undisputed commercial debt they are frequently slower than simply opening enforcement in Türkiye in the first place.
Where you already hold a foreign judgment the calculation is different, and where an arbitration award is involved Türkiye is a party to the New York Convention. Which of the three routes is shortest is a question worth answering before, not after, proceedings are started somewhere else.
How Does SXB Global Handle a Turkish Case?
Our first step on a Turkish file is to establish whether the enforcement route can be opened and what happens if the debtor objects - because those two answers set the cost and the timetable for everything else. Where the documents support the fast track we say so; where they do not, we say that too, before the expense is committed. Where legal proceedings become appropriate, SXB Global coordinates the instruction of appropriately authorised local counsel. Legal services are provided by the relevant independent legal professionals.