Working with a Turkish law firm as a foreign national or international business is a fundamentally different experience from retaining local counsel in your home country—not because the legal work itself is categorically more complex, but because the information asymmetry is much higher. You are operating in a legal system conducted in a language you may not read, under procedural rules you likely don't know, before authorities and courts whose discretionary practices are not visible from abroad. A Turkish law firm that is genuinely useful to international clients is not simply one that speaks English—it is one that can close the gap between what Turkish law requires and what the client can independently understand and verify. ER&GUN&ER is an Istanbul-based law firm whose practice is substantially focused on advising foreign nationals and internationally operating companies on Turkish legal matters. This page explains what that work actually involves across our main practice areas, what differentiates effective Turkish legal representation from inadequate representation in each area, and what a foreign client should reasonably expect when engaging a Turkish law firm for serious legal matters. We do not guarantee outcomes. We explain what Turkish law provides, what the realistic process looks like, and where the risks lie—so that clients can make informed decisions about their legal position in Turkey rather than proceeding on assumptions that may not hold under Turkish law. The Union of Turkish Bar Associations (Türkiye Barolar Birliği) is accessible at barobirlik.org.tr and the Istanbul Bar Association at istanbulbarosu.org.tr.
Who we are and how we work
ER&GUN&ER Law Firm is based in Istanbul and practices Turkish law across a defined set of practice areas where our work regularly involves foreign clients, cross-border documentation, and legal matters at the intersection of Turkish law and international business or family situations. The firm is led by Av. Mirkan Günay Topcu (Istanbul Bar Association, Bar Registration No. 67874), whose practice focuses on matters where evidence discipline, procedural accuracy, and risk control are decisive—categories that describe the majority of serious Turkish legal engagements for foreign clients. Our working language with foreign clients is English. Turkish is the language of Turkish courts, administrative submissions, contracts filed with Turkish authorities, and official correspondence—all of which we produce. But client-facing communication, engagement agreements, strategic advice, and document summaries are in English as a matter of practice rather than as a special accommodation.
Our approach to client engagements is built around three principles that distinguish effective from inadequate Turkish legal representation for foreign clients. The first is evidence architecture: before any submission is made to any Turkish authority, we build a complete, internally consistent documentation package rather than submitting what is available and hoping it passes. This matters because Turkish administrative decisions—permit approvals, citizenship applications, title deed transfers, enforcement proceedings—are made on documents, not on verbal explanations, and a submission that is technically incomplete or internally inconsistent will fail regardless of the merits of the underlying claim. The second is honest assessment: we explain realistic outcome ranges, including the possibility of unfavorable outcomes, rather than providing optimistic framing designed to secure an engagement. A client who understands the actual risk profile of their situation makes better decisions than one who is told what they want to hear. The third is defined scope: every engagement is defined in a written agreement that specifies what we will do, what we will not do, what the fee is, and what the client's obligations are—because misaligned expectations about scope are the most common source of client dissatisfaction in legal engagements. We do not take every matter referred to us—we take matters where we can genuinely add value with the resources and expertise we have.
We work with clients who are physically present in Turkey and with clients who manage their Turkish legal affairs remotely. For remote clients, we act under notarized and apostilled powers of attorney that authorize us to appear before Turkish courts, administrative offices, land registry offices, and notaries on the client's behalf. The power of attorney is a core tool in Turkish legal practice—it is not a workaround but a formally recognized mechanism that allows a client's legal affairs in Turkey to proceed without requiring their physical presence at each step. We prepare powers of attorney specifically drafted to cover the authorized actions in each engagement rather than generic blanket authorizations, and we coordinate the notarization and apostille process with clients abroad. The power of attorney Turkey foreigners framework—covering the preparation and use of powers of attorney for Turkish legal matters—is analyzed in detail in the resource on power of attorney Turkey foreigners.
Real estate law for foreign buyers and investors
Real estate is the practice area where foreign clients most frequently encounter the gap between what Turkish property transactions appear to involve from the outside and what they actually require under Turkish law. The core legal work in a Turkish property transaction for a foreign buyer is not primarily about drafting a purchase agreement—it is about verifying, before the purchase commitment is made, that the transaction will actually deliver what the buyer expects: clean title, a property that can be used for its intended purpose, a payment structure that satisfies legal requirements and creates a defensible record, and documentation that holds up under administrative review if the purchase is also intended to qualify for citizenship or a residence permit. Each of these elements requires specific due diligence work that is separate from what real estate agents—whose interest is in completing a transaction—perform as part of their commercial role.
The specific due diligence work we conduct for foreign property buyers includes: title chain verification at the Turkish land registry to confirm that the seller's ownership is clean and unencumbered; encumbrance review identifying any mortgages, liens, seizures, easements, or court orders registered against the property that would survive the transfer or block it; zoning and occupancy permit review to confirm that the property's recorded use and occupancy status matches its marketed purpose; developer credibility assessment for off-plan purchases; SPK-licensed appraisal risk assessment for citizenship qualifying transactions where the appraisal value—not the purchase price—determines eligibility; and payment structure advice to ensure the bank transfer documentation satisfies Turkish regulatory requirements. We produce a written due diligence memorandum before the purchase contract is signed, not after—because the due diligence findings should inform the contract terms and conditions rather than being a post-commitment paperwork exercise. The real estate due diligence for foreigners Turkey framework is analyzed in the resource on real estate due diligence for foreigners Turkey.
We also represent clients in Turkish real estate disputes—title deed fraud cases, developer default, boundary and encumbrance conflicts, and tenancy disputes—where the evidentiary record, the procedural sequencing, and the enforcement strategy are what determine the outcome rather than the strength of the underlying claim alone. A legitimate grievance in Turkish real estate litigation that is inadequately documented or procedurally mismanaged loses cases it should win. Our real estate dispute work focuses on building the evidentiary record correctly from the earliest stage and on pursuing enforcement action that is calibrated to the assets that can actually be reached. The real estate law Turkey framework—covering the complete picture of Turkish property law for foreign buyers and investors—is analyzed in the resource on real estate law Turkey.
Turkish citizenship by investment
Turkish citizenship by investment is the practice area where the gap between program marketing and legal reality is widest—and where the consequences of that gap are most significant. The Turkish citizenship by investment program allows foreign nationals to acquire Turkish citizenship through a qualifying investment, primarily a real estate purchase with a minimum declared title deed value of $400,000. The program is real, it functions, and it has been used successfully by thousands of investors. But the marketing around it is aggressively optimistic in ways that consistently mislead investors about processing times, appraisal risk, source of funds documentation requirements, and the post-citizenship implications—particularly military service obligations for male applicants—that most citizenship brokers do not mention at all.
Our role in citizenship by investment engagements is strategic advisory and process management from before the property is selected through to passport issuance. Strategic advisory means that we assess the investor's specific situation—source of funds profile, nationality, family composition, male applicant military service status, existing Turkish presence, exit timeline—before the investment is committed, identify the specific risks that apply to that profile, and advise on how to structure the transaction to address those risks. Process management means that we handle each sequential administrative stage: coordinating the SPK-licensed appraisal, managing the title deed transfer appointment, submitting the Certificate of Conformity application to the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, managing the residence permit application stage, compiling and submitting the citizenship application to the Presidency of Migration Management, and following up through each authority until the passport is issued. The citizenship revocation risk that arises when investment transactions are structured incorrectly—through inflated appraisals, circular fund flows, or source of funds that cannot be documented—is analyzed honestly in the resource on citizenship risk and revocation Turkey. The complete legal process, documentation requirements, and realistic timeline are covered in the resource on Turkish citizenship by investment 2025.
We do not take citizenship by investment engagements where we have not had the opportunity to assess the investment structure before the property is purchased. The most common and most costly mistakes in Turkish citizenship applications occur at the property selection and transaction structuring stage—which is before the application process itself begins. An investor who purchases a property based on agent recommendations and then approaches us to "handle the paperwork" has already made decisions that we cannot undo, and which may have created eligibility or revocation exposure that we can manage but not eliminate. Our policy is to be engaged before the investment decision, not after. The strategic advisory framework for citizenship investment—distinguishing process management from genuine strategic advisory—is analyzed in the resource on Turkish citizenship by investment: legal process and strategic advisory.
Immigration and residence permits
Turkish immigration law is administered by the Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM) through the e-İkamet online application system and provincial migration offices, and it is a system in which small documentation errors and administrative inconsistencies have disproportionate consequences. A residence permit application with a name spelling discrepancy between the passport and the insurance policy, an address that doesn't match across the application and the lease document, or a health insurance policy that doesn't meet the DGMM's current minimum coverage standards will be rejected or stalled regardless of how substantively qualified the applicant is. The Turkish immigration compliance work we do is built around preventing these technical failures rather than arguing against them after they occur—because after a rejection, the available remedies are more limited and more time-consuming than preventing the issue in the first place.
We handle residence permit applications across the main categories available to foreign nationals: short-term permits based on property ownership, tourism, language study, and other defined grounds; family permits for spouses and dependent children of Turkish citizens and permit holders; student permits; and long-term permits for foreign nationals with eight or more years of continuous lawful Turkish residence. For each application, we build a complete documentation package before the e-İkamet submission is made, verify that identity details are consistent across all documents in all languages, confirm that health insurance coverage meets current DGMM standards, and manage the submission and follow-up process through to the permit card issuance. We also handle permit renewals, which are continuity tests that scrutinize the consistency of the applicant's prior declarations with their current circumstances—and where unexplained address changes, insurance gaps, or travel patterns create vulnerability that pre-renewal review can identify and address. The residence permit Turkey framework—covering each permit category, documentation requirements, and renewal compliance—is analyzed comprehensively in the resource on citizenship and immigration law Turkey.
We also handle the enforcement side of Turkish immigration—deportation defense and removal order challenges, entry ban appeals, visa overstay remediation, and immigration compliance management for employers of foreign nationals. Deportation proceedings in Turkey are administrative rather than criminal—they are initiated by the provincial governor's office or DGMM and can be challenged through administrative objection and judicial review in the administrative courts. The challenge period is short (typically fifteen days from service of the decision), and the outcome depends almost entirely on the quality of the documentary record: whether the evidence shows that the stated factual basis for the removal is incorrect, that the procedure was not followed, or that the family ties and humanitarian circumstances were not adequately assessed in proportion to the severity of the measure. Cases where the documentary record is poor and the challenge is purely narrative rarely succeed. Cases where the documentary record is strong and the specific legal and factual error in the removal decision is clearly identified have much better prospects. The deportation defense law Turkey framework is analyzed in the resource on deportation defense law Turkey.
Criminal defense
Criminal defense for foreign nationals in Turkey requires a practitioner who understands both Turkish criminal procedure and the specific vulnerabilities that foreign defendants face in that system—language barriers at the investigation stage, consular rights that may not be proactively explained, pretrial detention decisions that assess flight risk more aggressively for non-residents, and the intersection between criminal proceedings and immigration consequences that can result in deportation following a conviction or even following an acquittal in specific circumstances. Turkish criminal procedure (governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure, CMK) provides the right to remain silent, the right to legal counsel from the moment of detention, and the right to an interpreter—but these rights must be actively asserted, and the investigation stage is where the most consequential decisions about how to respond to questioning are made.
Our criminal defense practice for foreign nationals covers the full spectrum from initial detention through investigation, indictment, trial, and appeal. We handle drug-related offenses—including the prescription drug possession cases that arise when foreign visitors carry medications that are controlled under Turkish drug law without adequate documentation; firearms and weapons offenses under Law No. 6136; property and financial offenses; defamation and insult cases under TCK Articles 125-131 and TCK Article 299; cybercrime and digital content offenses under the internet law framework; and white collar cases involving tax evasion, fraud, and money laundering allegations. For foreign nationals whose criminal proceedings also have immigration dimensions—where a conviction may result in deportation and entry ban, or where an acquittal may nonetheless trigger an immigration enforcement proceeding—we coordinate the criminal defense and immigration defense as a unified strategy rather than managing them in parallel without coordination. The prescription drug possession Turkey framework is analyzed in the resource on prescription drug possession Turkey. The defamation and criminal expression framework is analyzed in the resource on defamation and insult criminal law Turkey.
We are frequently engaged in criminal matters at the investigation stage, before charges are filed—because this is when the strategic choices about cooperation, silence, and evidence management most significantly affect the ultimate outcome. A foreign national who makes detailed statements to Turkish police without legal counsel present, in a language they do not fully understand, often creates evidentiary problems for their own defense that are difficult to overcome later. The strongest criminal defense posture in Turkey starts with asserting the right to counsel at the first moment of detention, saying nothing substantive until counsel is present, and building the defense strategy from a position of understanding what the prosecution's theory of the case is—not from reactive denial of allegations whose specific legal framing the defendant does not yet know.
Commercial and corporate law
International businesses operating in Turkey face a legal environment that is substantively governed by Turkish law regardless of what the contract says about governing law or jurisdiction—because Turkish mandatory rules in areas including employment, consumer protection, competition, and certain aspects of commercial contracts apply to activity in Turkey regardless of contractual choice of law provisions. A foreign company whose contract says "governed by English law" but whose Turkish employees are nonetheless entitled to Turkish Labor Law severance rights, whose Turkish customers are protected by Turkish consumer law, and whose Turkish competition law obligations exist regardless of corporate nationality is not well-served by counsel who does not understand this mandatory application dimension of Turkish law.
Our corporate and commercial practice for international clients covers Turkish company formation and ongoing governance; commercial contract drafting and negotiation for supply, distribution, licensing, service, and partnership arrangements with Turkish counterparties; shareholder dispute management in Turkish entities; and the employment law compliance obligations of foreign-owned companies in Turkey including work permit management, labor contract structuring, and termination strategy for qualifying and non-qualifying employees. The Turkish company formation framework, the foreign ownership rules, and the ongoing corporate compliance obligations are areas where we work with both newly entering foreign companies and established foreign businesses that have encountered compliance gaps in their Turkish operations. The employment termination Turkey framework—covering the valid grounds, procedural requirements, severance obligations, and reinstatement risk for Turkish Labor Law—is analyzed in the resource on termination of employment in Turkey.
We also advise on the specific Turkish legal dimensions of cross-border transactions where Turkey is one of multiple jurisdictions involved—due diligence on Turkish entities in M&A processes, Turkish law opinions for foreign lending transactions with Turkish security, Turkish regulatory clearance requirements for foreign investments in regulated sectors, and the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in Turkey. The recognition and enforcement framework—the tenfiz procedure for foreign court judgments and the New York Convention procedure for foreign arbitral awards—determines whether a commercial dispute win in a foreign jurisdiction can actually be collected from a Turkish-located defendant, and understanding this framework before commercial relationships with Turkish counterparties are established influences both contract drafting decisions and dispute resolution strategy. The enforcement and bankruptcy law Turkey framework—covering Turkish enforcement proceedings, asset seizure, and insolvency strategy—is analyzed in the resource on enforcement and bankruptcy law Turkey.
Tax and financial crime
Turkish tax law creates real obligations for foreign individuals and businesses with Turkish connections that are frequently underestimated, incorrectly assessed, or simply not addressed until an enforcement action or audit makes them impossible to ignore. Turkish tax residency—which triggers worldwide income tax obligations—applies to individuals who spend more than 183 days in Turkey in a calendar year regardless of their citizenship status, meaning that a foreign national who is not a Turkish citizen but who spends significant time in Turkey may be a Turkish tax resident subject to declaring and paying Turkish tax on their global income. Turkish VAT (KDV) obligations for foreign digital service providers selling to Turkish customers apply above defined thresholds regardless of whether the foreign provider has any Turkish entity. Turkish corporate tax obligations for foreign companies arise where there is a permanent establishment in Turkey—a concept that extends well beyond physical offices to include dependent agents, warehousing arrangements, and other forms of Turkish economic presence.
Our tax advisory work for foreign clients covers Turkish tax residency analysis and planning; Turkish KDV registration and compliance for foreign digital service providers; corporate tax and permanent establishment analysis for foreign businesses with Turkish operations; transfer pricing compliance for related-party transactions with Turkish entities; and voluntary disclosure strategy for foreign clients who have prior periods of Turkish tax non-compliance and who want to regularize their position before the Turkish Revenue Administration identifies them through exchange of information or audit programs. The crypto taxation Turkey framework—which covers income classification, capital gains calculation, and voluntary disclosure for Turkish-resident crypto holders—is analyzed in the resource on crypto taxation in Turkey. The e-commerce tax obligations for foreign sellers—covering Turkish KDV registration for digital services and customs obligations for physical goods—is analyzed in the resource on e-commerce tax obligations for foreign dropshipping companies in Turkey.
We also work in financial crime defense—representing individuals and entities facing Turkish tax evasion investigations, money laundering investigations by MASAK (the Turkish Financial Intelligence Unit), and related criminal proceedings. Financial crime defense in Turkey requires understanding both the criminal procedure dimension (investigating officers, prosecutors, and courts) and the regulatory dimension (MASAK, BDDK, the Turkish Revenue Administration), because financial crime cases often involve parallel administrative and criminal proceedings that must be managed in a coordinated way. A client who cooperates fully with the regulatory investigation without understanding the criminal dimension, or who focuses on the criminal defense without addressing the underlying regulatory exposure, is not well-served by either approach in isolation.
Inheritance, family law, and cross-border documentation
Foreign nationals who own Turkish assets—property, bank accounts, company shares—create Turkish succession law issues for their heirs regardless of whether those heirs are Turkish citizens, and regardless of whether the foreign national has made any Turkish estate planning arrangements. When a Turkish-asset-holding foreign national dies, their Turkish property becomes subject to Turkish succession proceedings, which require: Turkish court issuance of an inheritance certificate (veraset ilamı) or recognition of the equivalent foreign inheritance document; registration of the inherited property in the heirs' names at the Turkish land registry; payment of Turkish inheritance tax; and ongoing management of the Turkish assets during the administration period. For foreign heirs who do not speak Turkish and are unfamiliar with Turkish legal procedure, this process requires coordinating with Turkish counsel who can manage the complete Turkish-side proceeding while the heirs handle the foreign-jurisdiction aspects through their own local counsel.
We handle Turkish inheritance proceedings for foreign heirs of Turkish-asset-holding decedents: obtaining inheritance certificates or having foreign inheritance documents recognized in Turkey; registering inherited Turkish property in the heirs' names; managing Turkish inheritance tax compliance; and coordinating with heirs' foreign counsel on the cross-border dimensions of the estate. We also provide Turkish will preparation for foreign nationals who own Turkish assets and want to establish a clear Turkish succession plan rather than leaving their heirs to navigate the intestate succession rules without preparation. The inheritance law Turkey framework—covering Turkish succession rights, cross-border inheritance issues, and documentation requirements for foreign heirs—is analyzed in the resource on inheritance law Turkey.
On the family law side, we represent foreign nationals in Turkish divorce proceedings, including international divorces where Turkish courts have jurisdiction over one or both spouses—which can arise from Turkish domicile, Turkish nationality of one spouse, or Turkish property being part of the divorce settlement. Turkish divorce law provides for both contested and uncontested divorce procedures, and the financial outcomes—alimony, child support, property division—are governed by Turkish law where Turkish courts have jurisdiction. Foreign nationals who are going through divorce with a Turkish citizen spouse or who have Turkish property subject to division in a foreign divorce proceeding need specific Turkish legal advice on how Turkish law will treat the specific assets and obligations involved. The alimony Turkey framework—covering nafaka types, calculation, enforcement, modification, and international divorce dimensions—is analyzed in the resource on things to know about alimony in Turkey.
Document authentication, apostille, and legal translation
A large volume of the cross-border legal work involving Turkey involves neither litigation nor transactions but documentation—getting Turkish documents into a form that foreign authorities and institutions will accept, and getting foreign documents into a form that Turkish authorities and institutions will accept. The apostille mechanism—established under the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation—is the primary tool for authenticating public documents between Turkey and other Convention member countries, but it authenticates the signature and seal on the document rather than its content, and it is the first step in a chain that often also requires sworn translation, notarization of the translation, and in some cases additional institutional certifications that differ by destination jurisdiction and document type.
We coordinate the complete document authentication process for Turkish documents being used abroad and for foreign documents being used in Turkey: obtaining apostilles at the competent Turkish Civil Courts of Peace; arranging sworn translations by TKGM-approved or notary-certified translators; managing the translation notarization step; coordinating with foreign embassies and consulates where consular legalization is required for documents from non-Hague countries; and advising on the specific format and certification requirements of the foreign authority that will receive the document—because different countries' immigration authorities, universities, professional licensing bodies, and courts have different requirements that must be met beyond simply having a Hague apostille. The court apostille Turkey framework—covering the complete apostille process, processing times, common errors, and specific use cases for different document types—is analyzed in the resource on court apostille in Turkey.
The converse situation—foreign documents being used in Turkish legal proceedings, administrative applications, or notarial acts—requires the foreign document to be apostilled in the issuing country, translated into Turkish by a sworn translator in Turkey, and the translation notarized by a Turkish notary. This four-component package (original document + apostille + Turkish sworn translation + Turkish notarization of translation) is the standard requirement for most Turkish authorities. Missing any component causes the Turkish authority to reject the document, requiring re-scheduling of appointments and restarting the submission. Getting this right the first time—which requires knowing specifically what format each authority requires—is a practical service we provide as part of any engagement that involves foreign documents in Turkish proceedings.
What to expect when working with us
Every engagement with ER&GUN&ER begins with an initial consultation—either in person at our Istanbul office or by video call for clients outside Turkey. The consultation is where we assess the specific facts of the matter, explain the relevant Turkish legal framework as it applies to those facts, discuss the realistic options and their consequences, and answer the client's specific questions. We charge a consultation fee for initial consultations on substantive legal matters; this fee reflects the professional time invested and does not obligate the client to proceed with an engagement. Following the consultation, if we determine we are well-positioned to handle the matter and the client decides to proceed, we provide a written engagement letter in English that defines the scope of work, the fee structure, the payment terms, and the communication approach—before any substantive work begins.
Our fee structures are matter-specific. For defined-scope matters with a predictable workload—residence permit applications, citizenship by investment management, specific document transactions, company formation—we offer fixed fee arrangements that provide cost certainty. For matters with variable scope—litigation, commercial disputes, ongoing advisory relationships—we use hourly billing with regular billing summaries. Disbursements (court filing fees, notarization fees, translation fees, apostille fees, government application fees) are billed separately and are discussed at the outset so the client has an accurate total cost picture before committing. We provide detailed invoices and accept payment by international bank transfer. We maintain professional liability insurance.
We do not take every matter referred to us. We decline matters where we do not have the expertise or resources to serve the client well, where there is a conflict of interest with an existing client, or where the client's expectations are materially inconsistent with what Turkish law can deliver. When we decline a matter, we tell the client clearly and where possible suggest alternative sources of assistance. The Istanbul Bar Association's referral service at istanbulbarosu.org.tr provides resources for identifying qualified practitioners in specific areas. The guide on how to hire a lawyer in Turkey—covering bar verification, fee structures, engagement agreements, red flags, and the consultation process—is available in the resource on how to hire a lawyer in Turkey. We are available for initial consultations at the contact details below. Practice may vary by authority and year — check current guidance from the relevant Turkish authorities before acting on any information on this page.
Author: Mirkan Topcu is an attorney registered with the Istanbul Bar Association (Istanbul 1st Bar), Bar Registration No: 67874. His practice focuses on cross-border and high-stakes matters where evidence discipline, procedural accuracy, and risk control are decisive.
He advises individuals and companies across Citizenship and Immigration, Real Estate Law, Criminal Defense, Commercial and Corporate Law, Tax Law, Enforcement and Insolvency, Family Law, and cross-border documentation matters where procedural accuracy and evidence discipline are decisive.
Education: Istanbul University Faculty of Law (2018); Galatasaray University, LL.M. (2022). LinkedIn: Profile. Istanbul Bar Association: Official website.