ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law is proud to announce that Mr. Harun Gündüz –the chief legal counsel of the Turkish Competition Authority with more than 16 years of specific competition law experience at the Turkish Competition Authority- has joined its competition law team of 48 specialized competition lawyers as Counsel.

Mr. Gönenç Gürkaynak, the founding partner of ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law, has indicated that “ELIG Gürkaynak is growing stronger and stronger at the competition law front, with the addition of a carefully-picked roster of experienced, wise and energetic senior figures of Turkish competition law, the last example of which is Mr. Harun Gündüz. With his knowledge and experience, he will no doubt be instrumental in ELIG Gürkaynak’s journey of providing top-quality assistance to clients in the competition law field, while also helping us develop our extremely talented and enthusiastic junior competition law specialist lawyers toward their true potential.”

Having graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Law in 2003, Mr. Gündüz received his LL.M. degree in Competition Law from King’s College London in 2012 and an MA degree in Administrative Law from Ankara University in 2013.

Since 2005, Mr. Gündüz has worked at the Turkish Competition Authority and led numerous preliminary and full-fledged investigation cases along with M&A deals in various sectors as a competition specialist and then chief competition specialist. Subsequently, over the course of his 16 years of work with the Turkish Competition Authority, he worked as the head of department at the Strategy Development, Regulation and Budget Department, and most recently, as the chief legal counsel of the Authority.

He has carried out a range of in-depth work within the scope of his duties at the Turkish Competition Authority, particularly as the head of the working groups for the following laws and legislative instruments, in addition to latest amendments to the Law on the Protection of Competition:

• 2020 - The Law on amendments to the Law on the Protection of Competition (Published in the Official Gazette and entered into force on 24.06.2020)
• 2021 - Communiqué on Commitments (Communiqué No: 2021/2) (Published in the Official Gazette and entered into force on 16.03.2021)
• 2021 - Communiqué on De-Minimis (Communiqué No: 2021/3) (Published in the Official Gazette and entered into force on 16.03.2021)
• 2021 - Regulation on Settlement (Published in the Official Gazette and entered into force on 15.07.2021)
• 2013 - Guidelines on Leniency Regulation

In addition to his extensive experience in competition law matters, Mr. Gündüz has written a book on the Turkish Competition Authority`s enforcement record in its 20-year period. Besides his theses on competition law matters, he published numerous papers in national and international articles as below and is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences:

BOOK

• (2018) Investigations and Fines on Infringements of Competition Law: 20-Year Balance Sheet of the Turkish Competition Board, On İki Levha Publishing

THESES

• (2014) Administrative Fines in Turkish Competition Law, published by the Turkish Competition Authority, Ankara
• (2012) Fines in Turkish Competition Law: Has The Lottery Ended?, King’s College London, London
• (2010) Effects of European Convention on Human Rights on Competition Law Enforcement, published by the Turkish Competition Authority, Ankara

ARTICLES

• (2019) “A Glance at 2018-2019 in the light of Turkish Competition Board’s 20-Year Enforcement Record”, in Bilgi University Applied Competition Law Seminars 2019, Ed. Kerem Cem Sanlı - Dilan Alma, p.39-79
• (2013) “Issues Arising From the Actions For Damages as to the Non-Implementation of the Judgements of Administrative Courts”, TAAD, Year 4, Issue 12, p. 428-442
• (2013) “The Statistics of Investigation Decisions: 2012”, Writings on Competition Law, published by the Turkish Competition Authority, Ankara
• (2013) “Turkish Competition Authority announces its long-awaited decision regarding imposition of fines on major banks for concerted practices in relation to credit card fees and interest rates for deposits (Akbank and Others)”, e-Competitions Bulletin, March 2013, Art. N° 58489
• (2012) “Fines in Turkish Competition Law: Has The Lottery Ended?”, Competition Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 4, p. 45-96
• (2012) “The European Commission imposes fines on producers of TV and computer monitor tubes for two decades long worldwide cartel (LG Electronics, Philips, Samsung SDI)”, e-Competitions Bulletin, December 2012, Art. N° 58481
• (2012) “The Turkish Competition Authority imposes fines on automobile dealers for fixing prices on the market for sales of new cars and after-sales service (Toyota dealers)”, e-Competitions Bulletin, November 2012, Art. N° 58478
• (2012) “The Turkish Competition Authority imposes fines on two undertakings for bid-rigging, price-fixing, and information sharing on the steel straps market (Steel Straps Cartel)”, e-Competitions Bulletin, October 2012, Art. N° 58485
• (2011) “Procedural Barriers Before Actions for Damages in the US, EU and Turkish Competition Law”, Competition Journal, Vol. 12, Issue 3, p. 85-178
• (2009) “The Turkish Competition Authority’s member of the board expresses dissenting opinion in relation to the legality of the fines imposed according to the newly adopted fining regulations”, e-Competitions Bulletin, February 2009, Art. N° 58491
• (2009) “The Turkish Competition Authority introduces a new fining regime in order to enhance the effectiveness of competition law enforcement”, e-Competitions Bulletin, February 2009, Art. N° 58492

PRESENTATIONS

• (2019) “Competition and Public Procurement”, VI. BRICS Competition Conference, Moscow, Russia.
• (2019) “Investigations and Fines on Infringements of Competition Law: 20-Year Balance Sheet of Turkish Competition Board”, Applied Competition Law Seminars, İstanbul Bilgi University.
• (2013) “Evaluation of Turkish Competition Board's Decisions Regarding the Leniency Regulation and the Guidelines on Leniency”, Symposium on Recent Developments in Competition Law and Economics, Akdeniz University Law Faculty.
• (2013) “Turkish Competition Board’s Enforcement Record on Fining Regulation: Expectations and Realities”, Competition Association.
• (2011) “Procedural Barriers Before Actions for Damages in the US, EU and Turkish Competition Law”, Symposium on the Private Law Consequences of the Competition Law - Problems and Solutions, İstanbul Bilgi University.

ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law is confident that Mr. Harun Gündüz will be an invaluable addition to our specialized competition law team.

Gönenç Gürkaynak, Esq.,

Founding Partner

On behalf of ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law