Originally from American Review of International Arbitration - ARIA

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In this short article I will briefly reflect on recent developments in Turkish
international arbitration law and discuss some issues which may be of
interest for those foreign lawyers who work in arbitration.
I. INTRODUCTION
Turkey is at the point of actively harmonizing its laws, particularly those of an
economic nature, with law reform efforts in other parts of the world. This is
inevitable if an integration of the global economy is to be achieved. The
possibility of full membership in the European Union further necessitates
Turkey’s adaption of its legal system. In fact, however, Turkey long ago
established a legal system based on Western European law and in steadily
following the developments there, has remained a part of the civil-law system.
The most recent reflection of this harmonization process is the enactment of a
Law on International Arbitration. With the passage of this law Turkey also
expects to become an arbitration center for the geographic areas stretching from
Eastern Europe to the Turkic states of Central Asia as well as those in the Middle
East.
Ever since the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923, domestic arbitration
has been regulated by a limited number of articles in the Code of Civil Procedure.1
For many years there was no serious desire to extend these provisions to the
international field (except some provisions in bilateral agreements), until the
Statute Regarding International Private Law and Procedural Law (PIL)2 instituted
a new regulation on the recognition of foreign arbitral awards. Subsequently