Debt Collection in Turkey for Foreign Creditors: Procedure, Evidence and Enforcement

1. Start with the transaction, not the unpaid invoice

A foreign supplier has delivered machinery to a Turkish buyer. The invoice is overdue, reminders have gone unanswered, and the finance team wants to start enforcement immediately. The decisive file is rarely the invoice alone. Before choosing a remedy, the creditor should reconstruct the transaction: who signed, what was delivered, when acceptance occurred, which company owes the money, when the debt matured, what currency and interest terms apply, and whether the contract contains governing-law, court or arbitration clauses.

That review begins with the parties. A trade name on an invoice may differ from the contracting company, a branch may have placed the order, or a group company may have made an earlier payment without assuming the debt. Current registry details, tax information, authorised signatories and the debtor’s registered seat should be matched to the contract, purchase order and delivery record. Turkish venue rules ordinarily look to the defendant’s seat and, for contract claims, the place of performance; a written jurisdiction clause between merchants may change the analysis. Cross-border jurisdiction also requires MÖHUK Articles 40 and 47 and HMK Articles 6, 10 and 17–19 to be read with the actual clause.

Governing law and forum are separate questions. MÖHUK Article 24 generally respects an express choice of law, while limitation follows the law governing the underlying relationship under Article 8. Mandatory Turkish rules, public policy, a closer connection, an arbitration agreement or an exclusive forum clause may still matter. A contract governed by English law does not automatically exclude enforcement against assets in Türkiye, and a Turkish court clause does not by itself prove that Turkish substantive law governs every issue.

Build a dated evidence chronology before sending a formal notice. It should record contract and amendment dates, purchase orders, delivery and inspection, invoice transmission and receipt, partial payments, acknowledgments, complaints, default notices and every event that may interrupt or suspend limitation. Keep the original files and their metadata. Do not replace a missing service record, acceptance date or debtor identity with an assumption made for the purpose of filing.

A notice of default may be needed once a debt is due under TBK Article 117, although a fixed maturity date or another statutory rule can make a further notice unnecessary. Between merchants, TTK Article 18(3) prescribes specified forms for default, termination and rescission notices. For qualifying supply transactions between commercial enterprises, TTK Article 1530 contains special late-payment rules, but it does not govern every commercial receivable. The contract, performance, invoice-receipt and acceptance record must determine whether and when default arose.

2. Decide whether ordinary enforcement is the correct route

For a matured, unsecured money claim, the general attachment route under İİK Articles 42 and 58 may be started without first obtaining a judgment on the merits. This is commonly called ilamsız takip, or non-judgment enforcement. The creditor files an enforcement request identifying the parties, amount, interest and start date, currency or conversion election where relevant, the instrument or cause of debt and the selected route. A creditor resident abroad must also address the Turkish-address rule in Article 58.

That general route is not a universal answer. If the claim is secured by a pledge, enforcement of the pledge is generally considered first under İİK Article 45, subject to exceptions. Bills of exchange, promissory notes and cheques have a special track under Article 167. An arbitration clause may require an award rather than merits litigation in a Turkish court. A final foreign civil judgment generally requires recognition and enforcement, known as tenfiz, under MÖHUK Articles 50–54; a foreign arbitral award follows a separate treaty and statutory route.

The creditor should also check the debtor’s present legal status. A bankruptcy, concordat, restructuring, liquidation or existing enforcement record is a warning to stop and review the current official decision before selecting an ordinary route; this guide does not infer the legal effect of an unreviewed record. A guarantee, bank guarantee, retention-of-title clause or security from a third party may offer a different route, but only after the instrument, formalities and triggering conditions are reviewed.

As at the source cut-off date, the operative enforcement statute remains Law No. 2004. The Ministry’s Cebrî İcra Kanunu Taslağı is a consultation draft, and the 2025 Activity Report describes continuing preparatory work. The draft is therefore not used here as current law. Because that status can change, the Official Gazette and the consolidated statute must be checked again before any filing or publication decision.

3. Filing, the payment order and the debtor’s objection

In ordinary enforcement, the request is lodged with a competent enforcement office, and the office issues a payment order rather than deciding whether the claim is valid. Article 61 directs the office to send the order for service within three days of the request. The payment order gives a seven-day statutory baseline to pay or object in the general attachment route. Those periods describe procedural steps; they do not mean that service, attachment or collection will be completed in days.

Service is often the first practical fault line. All private-law legal persons fall within mandatory electronic service under Notification Law Article 7/A. Electronic service is deemed completed at the end of the fifth day after it reaches the electronic address. If electronic service cannot be made for a mandatory reason, other statutory methods apply. An email reminder, SMS or portal alert is not a substitute for the legal UETS service record.

A debtor may object within seven days from valid service. A partial objection must identify the disputed amount, and an objection to a signature must be explicit. A timely objection suspends enforcement for the disputed part under İİK Article 66; it does not prove that the debt is invalid. If only part is disputed, the admitted part may continue. The actual payment order, electronic service certificate, recipient details and objection document must be preserved before calculating the next step.

The legally effective service date can differ from the date someone read an informal notification. Service on a company also engages Articles 12–13 of the Notification Law. Under Article 32, defective service can become effective on the date the recipient states that it learned of it. This makes calendar work evidence based: the creditor should obtain the UETS record or physical return and should not create a date from memory.

Authorised counsel can use UYAP Avukat Portal to initiate judgment or non-judgment enforcement and file documents electronically. Portal access is an operational channel. It does not establish jurisdiction, prove the debt, validate service or show that attachable assets exist.

4. After an objection: annulment and removal are different remedies

Once the debtor has objected, two Turkish terms that sound similar must be kept apart. An action for annulment of objection, itirazın iptali, under İİK Article 67 is an ordinary merits action. The court examines the receivable under the ordinary evidence rules. Removal of objection, itirazın kaldırılması, under Articles 68 and 68/a is a narrower enforcement-court route tied to specified document classes and, for provisional removal, a disputed signature on a private instrument.

The Article 67 action has a one-year period running from service of the objection on the creditor. Missing that period loses the special annulment route, although it does not necessarily extinguish every possible ordinary claim action. Limitation, mediation and the requirements of the alternative action must still be examined. Any claim for enforcement denial compensation (icra inkâr tazminatı) depends on the judgment, a party request and the statutory conditions; it is neither an automatic uplift nor evidence that payment will be recovered.

Definitive removal under Article 68 has a six-month application period from service of the objection and requires a document falling within the listed categories. A commercial invoice, email exchange or unilateral account statement does not automatically qualify. Original signatures, acknowledgments, notarised material and the precise objection should be inspected before choosing this route. The apparent speed of a document-limited procedure is not a reason to force an unsuitable file into it.

The practical choice therefore turns on proof as much as time. A creditor with a fully signed debt acknowledgment may face a different decision from a supplier whose case depends on purchase orders, delivery, acceptance, technical objections and email admissions. The deadline schedule should show both the six-month and one-year statutory windows, the service proof on which they depend, any mandatory mediation requirement and the underlying limitation date.

5. Commercial mediation and litigation under the current 2026 rules

Whether a debt lawsuit is commercial depends on TTK Article 4 or another statute. The debtor’s corporate form and the existence of an invoice do not decide the issue by themselves. The parties, the purpose and subject of the transaction, and any consumer, employment, intellectual-property or special-court element must be identified before selecting the court and procedural route.

TTK Article 5/A makes mediation a precondition to filing specified commercial lawsuits for monetary receivables, damages, annulment of objection, negative declaratory relief and restitution. It expressly includes itirazın iptali. The wording attaches the condition to the covered lawsuit, not to the act of initiating ordinary non-judgment enforcement. Voluntary mediation remains possible at other stages. Under HUAK Article 18/A, the claimant must append the original or a mediator-certified copy of the non-settlement record; a covered lawsuit filed without first using mandatory mediation is procedurally dismissed.

For commercial disputes within Article 5/A, the mediator has six weeks from appointment, extendable by at most two weeks in compulsory circumstances. That is a statutory mediation window, not an overall debt-recovery estimate. The period between application to the mediation office and the final record suspends limitation and prevents forfeiture periods from running. Separate enforcement, service and post-record dates still need their own calendar.

A merits claim should plead the parties, transaction, performance, maturity, default, principal, currency, interest basis and relief in a form consistent with the evidence. Foreign-language documents must be translated into Turkish, and the court may require an official translation. Foreign official documents require the authentication stated in HMK Article 224 unless a treaty provides otherwise. Apostille, consular legalisation, sworn translation and original or copy rules depend on the country and document.

One 2026 change is particularly important. As of 31 July 2026, HMK Article 107 is repealed, and HMK Article 109(4) provides a new one-time mechanism to increase a partial claim, with the effect on limitation stated in that provision. Older commentary about an unquantified claim under the former Article 107 is stale. The amount, fees, interest, evidence and transitional position must be decided from the file under the current consolidated HMK and Law No. 7589 amendment notice.

A judgment in the creditor’s favour can support judgment enforcement, but a judgment is not the same as payment. Appeal, stay questions, service, finality where required, the debtor’s asset position, competing creditors and insolvency may all affect the next stage. A foreign judgment cannot simply be presented as an unpaid invoice; its Turkish enforceability generally depends on a tenfiz decision under MÖHUK Articles 50–54.

6. Provisional attachment: preservation with a demanding calendar

Provisional attachment, ihtiyati haciz, is a preservation measure rather than a judgment on the debt. Under İİK Article 257, it may be requested for a matured, unsecured money debt. For an unmatured debt, the statute limits the remedy to specified risk grounds. Late payment by itself does not make every application automatic; the debt, maturity and any special ground must be supported with evidence sufficient to persuade the court.

The court may hear both sides or act without hearing the debtor under Article 258. An ex parte order remains open to statutory objections and appeal mechanisms. The creditor normally provides security for damage if the attachment later proves unjustified. Article 259 removes that requirement for a judgment-based claim and gives the court discretion for a judgment-equivalent document. This security is separate from the foreign-claimant security considered under MÖHUK Article 48.

The timetable is exacting. The creditor must request execution of the provisional-attachment order within ten days from the order date, or the order lapses automatically. If attachment was executed before the main action or enforcement, Article 264 generally requires the follow-on action or enforcement within seven days from execution or, where carried out in the creditor’s absence, service of the attachment record. Additional seven-day steps arise if the debtor objects.

Mandatory mediation can interact with that calendar. HUAK Article 18/A(16) stops the Article 264 lawsuit period during the mediation interval in the stated circumstances, but it does not remove the need to perform the other required acts. The order, execution record, service, mediation application and final record should therefore be entered on the same day-by-day timeline.

Even a properly executed provisional attachment does not create a priority right by itself under Article 268. Existing pledges, public receivables, earlier attachments, insolvency rules and the ranking process may determine distribution. The measure can preserve a position; it cannot promise that sufficient assets exist or that the creditor will receive payment.

7. Evidence: prove the full commercial story

A useful evidence file connects formation, performance and non-payment. It normally begins with the signed contract and amendments, purchase orders and confirmations. It then adds delivery notes, transport and customs records where relevant, inspection or acceptance documents, invoices and proof of transmission, account statements, payment history, credit notes and the correspondence in which defects, set-off or extensions were discussed.

Electronic data can be a document under HMK Article 199. Preserve complete email files with headers, platform exports, server records and the surrounding conversation rather than isolated screenshots. Written-proof rules, evidence agreements, authenticity and the annually adjusted monetary threshold should be checked for the transaction and filing dates. The nominal amount printed in HMK Article 200 should not be presented as the current threshold without the applicable adjustment.

Merchants must retain commercial books and supporting correspondence and documents for ten years under TTK Articles 82–83. A court may order the production of commercial books, but favourable evidentiary effect depends on the conditions in HMK Article 222. One party’s ledger is not automatically conclusive. Opening and closing certifications, internal consistency, counterpart books and contrary definitive evidence may matter.

Foreign corporate authority documents also need attention. The creditor may require an up-to-date registry extract, constitutional documents, board or signatory authority, power of attorney and proof of good standing. The country of issue determines apostille or consular legalisation. Turkish translation and any notarisation should be arranged for actual procedural use, not guessed from a generic checklist.

An internal case table can list each proposition and its supporting record: contract, delivery, acceptance, amount, maturity, notice, default, interest, debtor identity, jurisdiction, applicable law and limitation event. Gaps should be identified before the first filing. A later witness statement cannot necessarily repair a missing writing where the applicable evidentiary rule requires documentary proof.

8. Foreign-creditor issues: security, translation and service abroad

Under MÖHUK Article 48, a foreign natural or legal person who files or participates in Turkish litigation or initiates enforcement must generally provide security for costs and potential counterparty loss. The court grants an exemption on the basis of reciprocity. Nationality, place of incorporation, treaty rules and reciprocal practice must be checked; there is no responsible generic statement that every foreign creditor always pays security or that every one is exempt.

The court or enforcement office determines security in the procedural setting before it. It should not be confused with provisional-attachment security under İİK Article 259, a contractual bank guarantee, security for enforcement of a foreign judgment, or costs deposited for service and translation. Each has a different legal basis and purpose.

Where a document must be served abroad, the file should be classified before any deadline estimate is given. Notification Law Articles 25–26 must be checked together with the destination state, the document, the available address and any applicable treaty. This guide does not prescribe one international-service channel for every country. The legally recognised service record, rather than an informal email exchange, must support any later deadline calculation.

Service on the Turkish debtor company will often use UETS, while service on a foreign creditor or foreign corporate representative may use a different mechanism. The file should distinguish the debtor’s payment-order service from service of an objection on the creditor and from court service during litigation. Each may start a different period. The relevant record, rather than the date on a status screen, controls the calendar.

A foreign creditor should prepare the corporate authority and filing documents required for the selected procedure, but it should send personal or commercially sensitive records only through an agreed secure channel and only after the need is defined. A public information page cannot determine which original, apostille, translation or corporate resolution is required for a particular country and proceeding.

9. Interest, currency, limitation and the danger of fixed assumptions

Interest must be calculated by date, currency, contract and claim type. Law No. 3095 Article 1 changed on 31 July 2026 and now uses a formula tied to the Central Bank rediscount rate rather than the former fixed statutory statement. Article 2 addresses default interest and a commercial advance-rate election, while Article 4/A concerns foreign-currency claims. A current calculation must use Law No. 3095 together with the dated official TCMB rate table; this article does not state a percentage that may later become stale.

The contract may specify a rate, but enforceability, currency, compounding, default date and mandatory limits still need review. TTK Article 1530 can matter for qualifying supply-of-goods or services transactions between commercial enterprises. It should not be extended to unrelated debt types. The enforcement request and later pleading should state the principal, currency, legal or contractual basis, start date and method without converting uncertainty into an invented figure.

Under Turkish obligations law, the general limitation period is ten years unless another rule applies, and TBK Article 147 lists five-year categories. The period generally begins at maturity. Acknowledgment, litigation, arbitration, enforcement or filing in bankruptcy can interrupt limitation, after which a new period begins under the applicable provisions. Special rules for negotiable instruments, transport, agency and other relationships may be shorter or otherwise different.

In a cross-border file, MÖHUK Article 8 generally sends limitation to the law governing the underlying relationship. Mediation may suspend limitation during the statutory interval, and a valid interruption depends on the event and the correct debtor or claim. A generic ten-year statement is therefore not a case deadline. The chronology should be reviewed with the contract type, choice of law, maturity, acknowledgments, proceedings and service evidence before a date is communicated.

10. Assets, priority, bankruptcy and concordat

Winning a procedural step does not establish that the debtor has reachable value. Asset review should distinguish registry information from verified ownership and should record the date and lawful source of each lead. Real estate, vehicles, bank accounts, receivables from third parties, movable equipment, intellectual property and shares may be subject to earlier security, attachment, transfer restrictions or third-party claims.

Attachment is governed by statutory procedure and proportionality; it is not a free-ranging investigation. A creditor cannot assume that every account will be found, that every asset belongs to the debtor or that a court will preserve property merely because a debt is alleged. Third parties may contest ownership or the existence of a receivable. The cost and evidential value of a step should be assessed against the amount, security and known debtor position.

Bankruptcy, concordat, restructuring or liquidation information is a route-selection warning. If the file or an official record indicates one of those processes, the current decision, moratorium or registry status should be obtained before an ordinary enforcement step is chosen. This guide does not state the effects of an unreviewed insolvency order or infer personal liability from the existence of a corporate debt.

Competing claims also affect recovery. A provisional attachment gives no automatic priority, and existing security, earlier attachments or an insolvency process may shape distribution. Currency movement, judicial costs, translation, security, service and enforcement expenses may affect the commercial result even where the merits are strong.

For this reason, duration and outcome should be expressed as variables rather than promises. Service, objection, mandatory mediation, court workload, evidence, expert review, appeal, asset discovery and insolvency each change the path. The seven-day objection period and six-week mediation period are not collection timelines. A file plan should identify statutory dates, dependencies and decision points without predicting when or whether payment will occur.

11. Frequently asked questions and official sources

The following answers describe the current general framework. They do not replace a review of the contract, evidence, service records, governing law, jurisdiction, debtor status and limitation history.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Law No. 2004 on Enforcement and Bankruptcy (İİK)
• Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 (TTK)
• Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098 (TBK)
• Code of Civil Procedure No. 6100 (HMK)
• Mediation in Civil Disputes Law No. 6325 (HUAK)
• Private International Law and International Civil Procedure Law No. 5718 (MÖHUK)
• Notification Law No. 7201
• Law No. 3095 on Legal and Default Interest
• Ministry of Justice — Cebrî İcra Kanunu Taslağı
• Ministry of Justice 2025 Activity Report
• Ministry of Justice — UYAP services
• TBB Advertising Ban Regulation
• TBB notice on the 2026 amendment
• TBB Advertising Ban Monitoring Centre notice
• Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye — rediscount and advance rates
• Ministry of Justice notice on Law No. 7589

The appropriate route, documentary standard and procedural calendar should be assessed from the actual file and the law in force on the relevant date. An initial description can identify the transaction, principal documents, present stage and known service dates without transmitting unnecessary personal or confidential material.