Originally from Arbitration Law of Turkey: Practice and Procedure

Arbitration in Turkey is governed both by the relevant Turkish Codes and by the international treaties to which Turkey is a party. The Turkish International Arbitration Law is the main source of law for international arbitration taking place in Turkey. The Turkish International Private and Procedural Law (Law numbered 5718) has provisions related to the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards; however after Turkey became a party to the New York Convention, it began to govern enforcement of foreign awards in Turkey. The Law Numbered 4501, 2001, governs concession contracts, important for projects such as Build-Operate and Build-Operate-Transfer contracts. The Turkish Civil Procedural Code governs domestic arbitration only and is not applicable to international arbitration unless the Turkish International Arbitration Law expressly refers to it.

Turkey is party to almost all multinational international conventions in the field of arbitration, including the New York Convention of 1958, the European Convention of 1961 and ICSID. Besides multinational arbitration conventions, Turkey has signed 81 Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT’s) with different countries and 64 of them have entered into force1. These BIT’s include provisions on international arbitration to prescribe more effective methods of dispute settlement for any disputes that might occur among investors and the host state. One should note that under Article 90.5 of the Turkish Constitution, the provisions of international treaties in force in Turkey override the provisions of the laws on domestic and international arbitration2.