Levent Law Firm brings foreign civil judgments into effect for clients with property, business interests, or family records in Izmir. As your Izmir foreign judgment lawyer, we examine the decision and its finality, bring the recognition or enforcement claim before the competent court, and carry the resulting order to the authority that must act on it. A money award, a divorce decree, and a ruling that affects an Izmir property each call for a different use of the foreign decision.
The question is what the judgment should accomplish here: establish a legal fact, support a Turkish registry entry, or permit collection of an obligation. We identify that objective from the operative part of the decision and take responsibility for the documents, court case, and follow-through.
We bring the case under your power of attorney and follow it to a decision
With a power of attorney, we file the recognition or enforcement petition in your name, submit the authenticated judgment and proof that it is final, and conduct the court correspondence. We answer requests for a missing document, monitor hearing and filing dates, and present the legal response to an objection from the other party. The judgment is served on our office as counsel; we review the ruling, its notification, and the next action it authorizes.
Law No. 5718, Articles 52 and 53 expressly contemplates a petition identifying the parties and their lawyers and requires an authenticated judgment and an authenticated finality record. The Regulation on Notification, Article 18 directs notification to counsel in a matter followed through a lawyer. We assemble those records and receive court notices so the case continues through the decision.
Once the Turkish court rules, we obtain the decision and follow its finality. We then use the order for the purpose for which the case was brought: a civil-status entry, reliance on the ruling in a connected proceeding, or execution of an enforceable obligation. We send the final order to the relevant authority and answer its questions about the scope of the foreign ruling.
We choose recognition for legal effect and enforcement for performance
Recognition gives a qualifying foreign judgment the effect of conclusive evidence or a final judgment in Türkiye. Enforcement gives an executable part of that judgment a route to performance through Turkish enforcement authorities. Under Law No. 5718, Articles 50, 57, and 58, we match the claim to the relief in the foreign court's operative order and request the effect the client needs.
For example, a foreign ruling may establish that a marriage ended, while another paragraph orders payment. We separate the status finding from the executable obligation and frame the Turkish petition around each provision. Article 52 permits an enforcement request for a specified part of a judgment; we use that option when only a defined order needs execution in Izmir.
Recognition also has a useful legal advantage: Article 58 excludes the reciprocity condition in Article 54(1)(a) from a recognition claim. We identify whether your objective is recognition alone and present the case on the conditions that actually govern it. Where collection is needed, we investigate the relevant reciprocity basis and put that evidence into the enforcement case.
We establish the foreign judgment's finality and usable record
The court needs a judgment that is final under the law of the country that issued it. We examine the certified decision, the separate certificate or notation of finality, and the court or authority that issued each record. Article 53 of Law No. 5718 requires the authenticated judgment or issuing court's certified copy, and the authenticated proof of finality; we prepare that evidentiary package for the Turkish proceeding.
A decision may contain several orders, while a finality certificate names only part of the case or a later appeal changes one provision. We compare the operative text with the appeal and finality history, identify exactly which provision has become final, and state that scope in the petition. Where the names of parties, a company, or an inherited asset differ between foreign and Turkish records, we connect them with the supporting identity or corporate documents before the court has to resolve the mismatch.
We also examine how the foreign judgment was reached when the other party raises a service or defense objection. Article 54(1)(ç) addresses whether the person against whom enforcement is sought was properly summoned or represented under the issuing country's law, or whether a judgment in that person's absence is challenged on that basis. We obtain the relevant notices and court record, then respond to the objection with the procedure that actually occurred.
We bring the claim before the court that can decide it in Izmir
Law No. 5718, Article 51 places enforcement matters before a court of first instance and ties venue primarily to the person against whom enforcement is requested. If that person has neither a domicile nor a place of residence in Türkiye, the law allows a claim in Ankara, Istanbul, or Izmir. We examine the parties' current addresses and the nature of the foreign decision, then establish the proper venue before filing.
The type of judgment also matters to the court assignment. A commercial payment decision and a family-status decision arise from different underlying relationships, and we identify the appropriate court for the relief requested. We prepare the petition so the court can see the foreign case, the final order, the legal interest in its Turkish effect, and the records that connect that effect to your Izmir matter.
The Turkish proceeding focuses on the statutory conditions for recognition or enforcement. Article 54 covers reciprocity for enforcement, Turkish courts' exclusive jurisdiction, public policy, and objections concerning the other party's opportunity to defend the foreign case. We address the condition relevant to the particular decree and the objection actually made, using the foreign case file and Turkish records to keep the claim focused.
We turn a foreign money award into an Izmir collection case
A creditor with a foreign civil money judgment can seek an enforcement decision and then pursue the obligation through Turkish enforcement authorities. Article 57 of Law No. 5718 provides that a foreign judgment approved for enforcement is executed like a judgment of a Turkish court. We examine the amount and payment terms in the operative order, obtain the Turkish enforcement ruling, and pursue the authorized collection work against a debtor with relevant interests in Izmir.
Before filing, we compare the judgment with any payments, settlement records, or later orders that affect what remains due. Article 55 allows the opposing party to raise partial or full performance or another obstacle to performance; we put the current account and supporting records before the court so the enforceable part is clear. Where a judgment contains several monetary and nonmonetary orders, we isolate the part that calls for execution and avoid a claim broader than the foreign court's final order.
An Izmir business may hold a foreign judgment against a counterparty with assets here, or an investor may need to enforce a payment decision arising from a cross-border transaction. We review the company identity, transaction documents, foreign decision, and available Turkish asset information together. After the Turkish court grants enforcement, we bring the executable order to the enforcement office.
We use the judgment in property and inheritance matters with a Turkish connection
A foreign ruling may establish a family or contractual fact relevant to an Izmir home, a share in a business, or an estate. Recognition can let that ruling operate as conclusive evidence or a final judgment in the Turkish matter under Article 58. We examine the ruling alongside title, company, or succession records and define the legal effect to request from the Turkish court.
Article 59 sets the timing: the foreign judgment's conclusive-evidence or final-judgment effect runs from the date the foreign judgment became final. We establish that date from the issuing authority's record and present it when the timing of a marriage, ownership claim, or other legal status affects an Izmir dispute. The Turkish recognition decision gives the foreign determination its legal effect from that date.
A decision dealing directly with rights over Turkish real estate raises a jurisdiction question under Article 54. We read the operative order and the Izmir land record, then identify which finding can be relied on and which property claim requires a Turkish court. For a foreign heir or investor, we plead the usable foreign findings alongside the local title record.
We secure the effect of a foreign divorce decision on the civil record
A foreign divorce decision may call for a Turkish civil-register entry as well as a court claim concerning payments, property division, or another executable order. We examine the decree provision by provision and handle the registry or judicial route that fits each one. This keeps the status record and the financial claim aligned without turning the entire file into a new divorce case.
The Regulation on Registration of Foreign Judicial or Administrative Decisions, Articles 5 to 7 permits qualifying foreign divorce and related status decisions to be submitted to a provincial civil registry or Turkish mission through an authorized representative. It expressly says the parties need not appear together at the authority. We prepare the special power of attorney and authenticated decision record, file the registration request for the client, answer any missing-document request, and follow the commission's response.
Under Article 9 of that Regulation, the registration commission can address the status part of a decree while its custody, maintenance, property-regime, or compensation provisions remain available for a recognition or enforcement claim in court. We separate those effects and pursue the necessary court order for the provision the client needs to use in Izmir. If the commission rejects registration, Article 11 provides a route to the competent family court, which we take up with the rejection and underlying foreign judgment.
KL Law Firm, our related corporate practice, also handles recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. Levent Law Firm takes the file for clients whose decree affects a home, an estate, a business or a family record in Izmir, and brings the registry request or court claim that gives the decision its effect here.
Place your foreign judgment in our hands
Send us the foreign court's decision, proof that it became final, any Turkish notice or registry response, and the document showing the property, business, or family interest in Izmir. We will identify the relief supported by the decree, prepare the power of attorney and authenticated record, bring the proper claim, and carry the Turkish decision through to the authority that must apply it.
Levent Law Firm handles the recognition and enforcement case from the first reading of the foreign judgment to its practical effect in Izmir. You can see our practice areas in Izmir and the attorney's background, then contact us about your foreign judgment. Put the decision and the interest it affects before us, and we will take responsibility for the Turkish case.