Meet our qualified legal team
Finding an English-speaking lawyer in Turkey is not simply a matter of finding a Turkish lawyer who speaks conversational English. The question is whether the lawyer can conduct a legal engagement—strategic advice, document review, procedural management, risk assessment—at a professional standard in English, so that a foreign client can fully understand what is happening in their legal matter, why specific steps are being taken, and what the realistic outcomes and risks are. At ER&GUN&ER, English is a working language rather than a service add-on. Our client-facing communication, engagement agreements, strategic advice, and document summaries are produced in English as a matter of practice. Turkish is the language of Turkish courts, official submissions, and government correspondence—all of which our team produces—but the client relationship is conducted in English so that there is no information asymmetry between what is happening in the Turkish legal proceedings and what the client understands about their own matter.
The firm is based in Istanbul's Maslak district, at Beybi Giz Plaza, and advises foreign nationals and internationally operating companies across a defined range of practice areas: real estate transactions and disputes, Turkish citizenship by investment, immigration and residence permits, criminal defense for foreign nationals, commercial and corporate law, enforcement and debt collection, inheritance and succession, and cross-border documentation including apostille and sworn translation coordination. The practice areas reflect where foreign clients most frequently need Turkish legal counsel that can operate in English—not a claim to cover every area of Turkish law, but a genuine competence in the areas where our client base most often presents legal needs. The Turkish bar association registry at istanbulbarosu.org.tr allows verification of each attorney's current bar registration status.
Our team
Av. Mirkan Günay Topcu — Managing Partner
Mirkan Topcu is the managing partner of ER&GUN&ER and the primary attorney for matters requiring cross-border coordination, high-stakes risk analysis, and evidence-driven case management. His practice covers criminal defense for foreign nationals, Turkish citizenship by investment, immigration and residence permits, commercial and corporate law, real estate transactions, enforcement proceedings, and cross-border documentation. He regularly advises foreign individuals and international companies on matters where the interaction between Turkish legal procedure and international legal or business considerations is the central challenge—matters where getting the procedural sequence, documentation architecture, and risk assessment right from the outset determines the outcome. Bar Registration No: 67874, Istanbul Bar Association. Istanbul University Faculty of Law (2018); Galatasaray University, LL.M. (2022). Languages: Turkish and English.
His approach to client engagements is built around three disciplines that distinguish effective from inadequate Turkish legal representation for foreign clients: evidence architecture (building a complete, internally consistent documentation package before any submission is made); honest assessment (explaining realistic outcome ranges, including unfavorable possibilities, rather than optimistic framing); and defined scope (every engagement is committed to in writing with clear scope, fee, and communication obligations before work begins). He writes extensively on Turkish legal topics affecting foreign nationals—his published articles on this site cover citizenship by investment, criminal defense, immigration compliance, real estate due diligence, defamation law, internet law, employment termination, and other areas where foreign clients most frequently encounter Turkish legal complexity. LinkedIn: Profile.
Av. Enes Erdoğan — Senior Lawyer
Enes Erdoğan is a senior lawyer at ER&GUN&ER whose practice focuses on enforcement and bankruptcy law, labor law, insurance law, and the law of obligations. He advises on employer-employee disputes—including wrongful dismissal, severance pay claims, and workplace injury cases—drafts and reviews commercial contracts, handles insurance claims and disputes, and manages debt collection and asset recovery through Turkish enforcement proceedings. His enforcement and debt collection work covers the full IIK (Execution and Bankruptcy Law) framework: payment order proceedings, asset seizure and auction, bank account and wage garnishment, and insolvency strategy for creditors pursuing Turkish debtors. Bar Registration No: 68266, Istanbul Bar Association. Istanbul University, Faculty of Law (2018); admitted to the Istanbul Bar Association (2019). Languages: Turkish and English.
For foreign clients, Enes Erdoğan's enforcement practice is particularly relevant in commercial debt collection scenarios—where a foreign company or individual is owed money by a Turkish counterparty and needs to pursue recovery through the Turkish enforcement system—and in employment disputes arising from Turkish employment relationships, where the Turkish Labor Law's severance, notice, and job security reinstatement provisions create obligations and risks that differ significantly from most Western employment law frameworks. His work in insurance disputes covers both claim management for policyholders whose claims have been denied or underpaid and defense of insurance-related litigation. The employment termination Turkey framework—covering the legal grounds, procedural requirements, and financial obligations for valid termination under Turkish Labor Law—is analyzed in the resource on termination of employment in Turkey. The debt collection Turkey framework—covering the IIK enforcement system for creditors—is analyzed in the resource on debt collection in Turkey.
Av. Emircan Erkılınç — Senior Lawyer
Emircan Erkılınç is a senior lawyer at ER&GUN&ER whose practice concentrates on contract law, inheritance law, and real estate law. He advises local and international clients on civil and commercial matters with a particular focus on real estate transactions, succession planning, and contract drafting and dispute resolution. His real estate work covers the complete transactional cycle for foreign buyers: title deed due diligence at the Turkish land registry, encumbrance and annotation review, zoning and occupancy permit verification, purchase agreement drafting, payment structure compliance, and coordination of the title deed transfer process. His inheritance practice covers Turkish succession proceedings for foreign heirs of Turkish-asset-holding decedents, including inheritance certificate applications, property registration for heirs, and cross-border succession coordination where multiple jurisdictions are involved. Bar Registration No: 65729, Istanbul Bar Association. Altınbaş University, Faculty of Law (2018); ELS Vancouver Law School, Canada (2020); admitted to the Istanbul Bar Association (2018). Languages: Turkish and English.
For foreign clients purchasing property in Turkey, Emircan Erkılınç's real estate practice is built around the pre-purchase due diligence work that most effectively prevents the costly errors that occur when buyers commit to a purchase without adequate independent legal review—specifically, the SPK appraisal risk assessment for citizenship qualifying transactions, the encumbrance clearance planning, and the payment structure documentation that satisfies Turkish regulatory requirements and creates a defensible ownership record. His contract drafting and review work covers commercial supply, service, distribution, and partnership agreements where Turkish law governs the relationship. The real estate due diligence for foreigners Turkey framework—covering the complete due diligence scope for foreign property buyers—is analyzed in the resource on real estate due diligence for foreigners Turkey. The inheritance law Turkey framework—covering succession rights for foreign nationals with Turkish assets—is analyzed in the resource on inheritance law Turkey.
What English-language legal representation in Turkey actually requires
A foreign client whose Turkish legal matter is handled entirely in Turkish—where court filings, administrative submissions, and substantive advice are produced and communicated in Turkish without adequate English translation and explanation—is not receiving legal representation that fully protects their interests, because they cannot independently verify the accuracy or completeness of what is being done in their name. The information asymmetry this creates is the most common structural problem in Turkish legal engagements for foreign clients: the client relies entirely on their lawyer's characterization of what Turkish proceedings require and what Turkish authorities have decided, with no independent ability to verify either. English-language legal representation closes this gap by ensuring that the client receives accurate, complete explanations of what is happening in their matter in a language they can read and evaluate—not a simplified summary designed to avoid complexity, but a professional-quality account of the legal situation, the options, the risks, and the reasoning behind recommended steps.
This does not mean that Turkish-language work is translated word for word in every instance—that would be operationally impractical and often unhelpful because Turkish legal text reads differently from the English-language explanation of what that text means for the client's situation. What it means is that the client always has access to a clear English-language explanation of: what each Turkish submission contains and why it was structured that way; what each Turkish authority decision means for their matter; what the next steps are and what they require from the client; and where the risks and uncertainties lie in the current legal position. It also means that engagement agreements, billing statements, and procedural updates are in English—so that the client can assess whether the work they are being charged for was actually performed and whether the process is progressing as expected. The guide to hiring a lawyer in Turkey—covering the full evaluation framework for foreign clients selecting Turkish legal counsel—is available in the resource on how to hire a lawyer in Turkey.
Practice areas for foreign clients
Our work with foreign clients is concentrated in the practice areas where the combination of English-language legal advice and Turkish legal expertise is most consequential. In real estate, we conduct independent due diligence for foreign buyers, draft purchase agreements that reflect the verified facts rather than the seller's representations, and manage the title deed transfer process including the payment structure documentation required for both standard purchases and citizenship qualifying transactions. The real estate law Turkey framework is analyzed at real estate law Turkey.
In Turkish citizenship by investment, we provide strategic advisory from before the property is selected through to passport issuance—including investment structure analysis, SPK appraisal risk assessment, source of funds documentation strategy, and the sequential administrative applications across the Ministry of Environment, the Presidency of Migration Management, and the civil registry. The citizenship by investment framework is analyzed at Turkish citizenship by investment 2025.
In immigration and residence permits, we build complete documentation packages for all main permit categories, manage renewals and compliance tracking, and handle enforcement-side matters including deportation defense and entry ban appeals. The immigration framework is analyzed at citizenship and immigration law Turkey.
In criminal defense, we represent foreign nationals from initial detention through investigation, indictment, and trial—with specific experience in drug and prescription medication cases, firearms offenses, defamation and online expression cases, and financial crime proceedings. The criminal defense framework for foreigners is addressed across multiple resources on this site.
In commercial and corporate law, we advise on company formation and governance, commercial contract drafting and review, shareholder disputes, and the employment law compliance obligations of foreign-owned Turkish companies. In enforcement and debt collection, we manage IIK proceedings for creditors pursuing Turkish debtors including bank account seizure, wage garnishment, and real property auction. In inheritance, we handle Turkish succession proceedings for foreign heirs of Turkish-asset-holding decedents and coordinate with foreign counsel on cross-border estate matters. In documentation, we coordinate the apostille, sworn translation, and notarization processes for documents moving between Turkey and foreign jurisdictions. Each of these practice areas is covered in detail in the resources linked throughout this site.