With over 13 years of experience at tobacco giant Philip Morris International, Ahmet Berkan is one of the most trusted in-house advisers for the company in the region, having spent...

Established in 2000 as a joint-venture corporation of Alacer Gold and Lidya Madencilik, Anagold Madencilik is the operator of the world-class Çöpler Gold Mine located in east-central Turkey. In 2013,...

Founded in 1959, Ford Otosan has been one of the top three exporting companies in Turkey since 2005 and is the largest commercial vehicle production centre in Ford Europe, thanks...

As head of legal for international law and consultancy at Halkbank, Murat Caglar is responsible for dealing with its international legal issues, as well as with its various affiliates and...

Experienced aviation lawyer Ali Uysal has been the head legal counsel for Turkish Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, for the last three years heading all of its legal operations and...

Founded in 2002, GAMA Energy develops and invests in power and water infrastructure projects in Turkey and the surrounding region. Aybars Yağız joined the company in 2012 as its first...

Part of Garanti Bank, Turkey’s second largest private bank, Garanti Emeklilik has become a domestic market leader in the provision of pensions and insurance in a short space of time....

Established in 1946, Garanti Bank is an integrated financial services group and Turkey’s second largest private bank with consolidated assets of $95.7bn as of June 2017, approximately 14.5 million customers...

During her eight year career at Turkish Airlines, Ayşe Akcan has worked on nearly 250 aircraft and engine financings, aircraft purchase agreements and a variety of other matters in both...

Established in 1953 with the aim of supporting rural development and the sugar industry, today Şekerbank provides a plethora of services to businesses across agricultural, commercial and SME, corporate and...

A subsidiary of Yıldız Holding, Pladis was established in early 2016 to bring together the confectionary and biscuit companies of Yıldız together under one roof. Leading brands Ülker, McVitie’s and...

Having been mentioned in the GC Powerlist: Turkey Teams in 2016 as part of the recommended GAMA Power Systems legal department, managing legal counsel of the company Bora Kaya has...

Burak Ismail Okay leads the legal team of Zorlu Holding, one of Turkey’s largest corporate groups that employs over 26,000 employees across a portfolio of over 60 companies operating in...

Aygaz is Turkey’s seventh largest industrial organisation according to the listing by Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and it is owned by the Koç Group. Providing legal support as head of...

Formerly with Metro Cash and Carry and head of legal for Sütaş Group, Burcu Sönmezyalçın Döker now takes on a highly varied set of responsibilities in her role as general...

Founded in 1964, Yörsan is Turkey’s leading diary company supplying high quality food products to over 20 countries around the world. Buse Pinar Kaçar joined the company as Chief legal...

Over her ten year tenure at the major Turkish conglomerate Akkök Holdings, Çağla Zıngıl has been involved in a number of important projects, including a series of recent shareholder disputes...

Canan Arslan currently stands as the head of the legal department in Turkey for US multinational biopharmaceutical company Amgen and its subsidiary Mustafa Nevzat İlaç, a leading local pharmaceutical company...

As a chief legal counsel and vice president Cem Çeliker is part of the critical decision-making function of ENKA, Turkey’s largest construction company with a turnover of $3.5bn in 2016,...

Cem Davutoğlu left behind a hugely successful private practice career to join the in-house ranks of Akbank in March 2016. Prior to this, he spent over a decade with White...

Yapı ve Kredi Bankası, is Turkey’s largest private bank, owned under a joint venture structure by Koç Holding and UniCredit, both Fortune Global 500 companies. Having held the position of...

Cemile Gunes Dinlenmis specialises in transport, commercial, competition and energy law with a particularly strong pedigree in claim management. She joined Erdemir Group in 2011 as group legal counsel manager...

Ceyda Akbal currently leads the legal department at TAV Airports Holding, a company established in 1997 as a joint venture of Tepe, Akfen and Airport Consulting Vienna and won the...

Çiğdem Dayan is one of the most experienced financial services lawyers in Turkey, boasting nearly three decades experience of working for leading organisations in the sector. After graduating with a...

N11.com is an e-commerce platform founded in March 2013 by Dogus Planet that offers a wide range of apparel, electronics, and home products. Legal and corporate leadership at the company...

Founded in 1993 in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, Rönesans Holding currently operates in Turkey, CIS, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Eda Arıcıoğlu was hired by the company in...

Eda Okay Riehl was nominated during this year’s research for her outstanding support with regards to many legal issues, and she can also point to an accomplished career background that...

Elçin Erdeniz currently serves as the only legal counsel of Yandex Reklamcılık, a technology company that builds intelligence products and services powered by machine learning. Erdeniz has had the opportunity...

SOCAR (The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic), is one of the leading oil companies in the region. Its Turkish operation began in 2008 and having pumped almost $20bn...

A firm believer in collaboration and partnership when managing in-house legal teams, Emel Nakay has had transformative impact on both Turkcell and Accenture Turkey in her in-house legal career. ‘In...

Supporting a bank with 647 branches and 13,000 employees is not an easy task for Emel Yılmaz Özbay’s legal team, as it requires her lawyers to work around the clock...

Erem Turgut Yücel has been chief legal counsel of Doğan Şirketler Grubu Holding since August 2017. As a central part of a company that has added significant value to the...

Coca-Cola İçecek is the global soft drink brand’s subsidiary in Turkey and has responsibility for the production, distribution and sale of sparkling and still beverages on behalf of The Coca-Cola...

Global credit card company Mastercard recently completed an important milestone in Turkey; it teamed up with mobile retail upstart Getir to provide the Masterpass digital payment service technology and facilitate...

From her base in Istanbul, Funda Zeynep Ekincioğlu leads both the legal and compliance functions at the Turkish operation of global healthcare leader MSD, and has a history of providing...

German automotive giant Mercedes-Benz operates in Turkey through its Mercedes-Benz Türk subsidiary, which provides a full range of services to customers including the sale of new and used cars, after...

Experienced aviation lawyer Ali Uysal has been the head legal counsel for Turkish Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, for the last three years heading all of its legal operations and...

TOFAŞ is the only Turkish automaker which manufactures both passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, producing a total of 400,000 vehicles annually. As chief legal counsel at the company, Hakan...

As the general counsel for 3M Türkiye, Halil Kardıçalı serves as the director of the Turkish legal department and member of the management operating committee. In light of a number...

Chief legal counsel for Turkey’s third largest private bank and fourth largest bank overall, Hasan Esen is a passionate in-house lawyer, known in the region for his excellent work across...

Hilal Utku is L’Oréal’s legal director for Turkey and a member of the country management committee. Since joining L’Oréal, Utku has had a big impact on the Turkish legal department...

Iltem Dokurlar took on his role with Yildirim Holding in May 2016, prior to which he worked at the Borsa Istanbul as the general counsel. His time here coincided with...

Newly appointed director of legal affairs İrem Aydın has already made a number of changes as a leader of the legal department of D&R, one of the biggest conglomerates in...

With over a decade’s tenure with international pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s Turkish operation, Işık Soydan is an in-house legal expert in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. However, she has previously proven...

A Turkish construction company worth over TRY 7.8bn, Istanbul-based Enka İnşaat ve Sanayi (ENKA) has 37 separate subsidiaries that are present in a diverse range of activities that include a...

US food and beverage conglomerate PepsiCo has had a presence in Turkey since 1962. In March 2002, Pepsi Bottling Group bought the Pepsi bottling operation in Turkey, merging the Fruko...

Having worked at cement company Çimentaş Group since 1998, Kayhan Karabayır has an almost unrivalled understanding of his company’s vast operations. Established in 1950 as the first cement factory in...

A highly experienced in-house counsel with an extremely detailed understanding of what is needed to provide outstanding legal support to the company, Kenan Yılmaz has been in the legal department...

After graduating from law school, Kerem Moralı pursued an academic career at Galatasaray University between 1995 and 1998, enabling him to set the foundation and acquire invaluable skills he would...

As one would expect of Google’s legal counsel for Turkey, Kutay Yayın is an IT and technology legal expert. As a private practice lawyer for Dentons, he was a TMT...

Currently the seventh largest bank in Turkey in terms of asset size, VakıfBank plays a pioneering role in the financing of domestic and foreign trade in investment banking and capital...

Mehmet Tekergül is the most senior lawyer at the Volkswagen Doğuş Finansman (vdf) Group Companies, which include a number of business areas including Finance, vdf Insurance, vdf Factoring, vdf Operational...

Now the most senior lawyer of wind power specialist Polat Enerji, Melis Alkan Bölükbaşı began working at the prestigious Aksu & Savaş & Çalışkan Law Office following her graduation from...

Founded in 1927, Türk Ekonomi Bankası (TEB) has established itself as one of Turkey’s most successful banks. Melis Coşan Baban moved to the company in 2005 in what was her...

Leading a legal team of six other individuals, Meltem Azbazdar is both general counsel and company secretary of major spirits-producing company Mey İçki, which has been owned by Diageo since...

Following her graduation from the Faculty of Law at Marmara University in 2005, Miraç Ucankale Yuce went on to establish herself as one of Turkey’s leading legal professionals, initially impressing...

As head of legal for international law and consultancy at Halkbank, Murat Caglar is responsible for dealing with its international legal issues, as well as with its various affiliates and...

Showing tremendous flexibility, Murat Durmaz has seamlessly transitioned into Turkey’s industrial sector after developing an outstanding in-house legal reputation in the country’s financial sector between 1999 and 2015. Upon joining...

Murat Sümer is the head legal counsel of Otoyol Yatırım ve İşletme, the project company of the multibillion dollar Gebze İzmir Motorway project. In this capacity Sümer manages the in-house...

Having moved up through the ranks of Karadeniz Holding company in a variety of in-house legal positions, legal director Nazli Dereli Oba has been a fixture at the energy giant...

Experienced head of legal and compliance, Necati Karabayir has a demonstrated history within the renewables, energy and durable goods industry. Skilled in negotiation, international law, legal compliance, arbitration and competition...

At the helm of the legal function of the largest broadcasting group in Turkey, Neşe Kaya Durak provides legal support to several leading media companies and channels including KANAL D...

Diversified Turkish business Çalık Holding has had the benefit of the wise counsel of Nilüfer Türkçü Hıra since November 2016, when she joined Lidya Madencilik, the mining subsidiary of Çalik...

Since returning to the in-house legal profession in 2011, Oğuz Sami Sarıkaya has established himself as a premier counsel in the energy sector, culminating in his 2016 appointment by LUKOIL...

Experienced chief legal officer Oya Sehirlioğlu has a demonstrable history of working in the fast-moving consumer goods and the mining and metals industries; before her current role she spent over...

Beginning her career with consulting firm Yurttutan Topsakal Yörüker, Öykü Api quickly gained valuable experience in commercial, corporate and competition matters and helped her to ‘identify the most important elements’...

Founded in 1959, Ford Otosan has been one of the top three exporting companies in Turkey since 2005 and is the largest commercial vehicle production centre in Ford Europe, thanks...

Lawyer of over 20 years Ozge Ayoz joined Procter & Gamble (P&G) Switzerland in 2000 as a senior legal counsel for EMEA. After three years her role expanded to cover...

Since joining Mondelēz International Turkey in 2011, Özge Gülşen-Kösem has adapted the legal function’s approach to new technology and has demonstrated innovative thinking to find ways to bring a standardised...

Previously a private practice lawyer with Topaloğlu and an in-house counsel for Garanti Bankası, Özge Sanioğlu moved to Deutsche Bank in 2012, and received a quick promotion to vice president...

Özgür Çolpan joined the German chemical and consumer goods giant Henkel in 2015 following a decade of experience at ABB. In his time at Henkel, Çolpan has refined the workload...

A lawyer with over 15 years’ experience in reputable national and multinational companies, Özgür Ozan Döker brings a large amount of multidimensional experience to Sofra Grup, a leading Turkish food...

Head of legal Özlem Akyüz Atamer is the most senior lawyer and leads a legal team of five at Kale Holding, a conglomerate that initially pioneered the ceramics industry in...

Previously a highly regarded legal counsel in the accounting world, having been at EY and Arthur Andersen for four years in total, Özlem Uluışık moved to Zorlu Holding in March...

Founded over 90 years ago, Sabancı Holding is the parent company of Sabancı Group, Turkey’s largest industrial and financial conglomerate which operates in 18 countries and markets their products across...

Ruken Taşkıran has shaped the legal division of Yapı ve Kredi Bankası, one of the first nationwide commercial banks in Turkey, for the last eight years as its legal manager...

German based energy giant, EWE, entered the Turkish gas market in 2007, establishing itself as the first and largest international investor in the market, with more than 850 employees and...

Şebnem Önder holds overall responsibility for the world’s most international tobacco group, British American Tobacco (BAT), in Turkey and North Africa Area with respect to legal and security functions. As...

Over the course of his seven year professional legal career, Seçkin Cemiloğlu has been exposed to handling a wide range of legal matters at both multinational and local companies. He...

Established in 1953 with the aim of supporting rural development and the sugar industry, today Şekerbank provides a plethora of services to businesses across agricultural, commercial and SME, corporate and...

With annual sales of approximately 15,000 vehicles a year, Borusan Otomotiv is a major automotive group that counts a highly reputable portfolio of brands under its umbrella; BMW, MINI, Land...

Moving into the in-house legal ranks with energy holding company Akkok Holding in mid-2013, Senem Berkem Paflak impressed thoroughly, and soon progressed into the role of head of legal and...

Serçin Kireçtepe is a lawyer with an enviable record of achievement in in-house roles. Previously an internal lawyer for pharmaceutical company Eczacıbaşı İlaç Pazarlama, she also spent six-and-a-half years at...

ABB’s global technology operation has been honed to a high degree of efficiency over the course of an over-100 year history, with Turkey being one of the many regions that...

Occupying a position on the executive management team of Turkey’s leading mobile phone operator, İ. Serhat Demir first joined Turkcell in the distinguished role of executive vice president of the...

Having started her in-house legal career at PepsiCo Snacks in 2008, Sevda Aydın Alemdar has since become a key figure in the in-house legal department at the global food and...

Nominated during the research process by a private practice source, renowned country legal counsel for Citibank in Turkey Süreyya Uğurses is a highly accomplished banking in-house lawyer with more than...

Tolga Erendaç joined Burgan Bank in May 2015 following its acquisition of Eurobank Tekfen and with a mandate to restructure the legal team in line with the bank’s changing vision...

A seasoned legal professional with a comprehensive understanding of her company’s business, Tuba Çetin Alpa has served the legal department in the Turkish operations of US food conglomerate Cargill since...

Lawyer of 26 years Tülay Aktan is responsible for setting up, maintaining and providing legal advisory services to the entirety of domestic and foreign operations of Efe İçecek, a producer...

Tuna Yasin Doyuk currently heads legal affairs at Porland, a leading producer of porcelain based products that was founded in 1976 and exports to more than 30 countries globally. A...

Since joining the Turkish conglomerate Kurum Holding, Ugur Ates overhauled the legal function, clearly specifying the roles and responsibilities of each member of the team, while simultaneously ensuring that they...

For over a decade Ümit Başer ran his own personal law firm before joining Turkish real estate developer EYG Grup in 2014. Applying the principles of running a law firm...

At Türk Telekom, Yakup Öztunç was appointed as assistant general manager of law for the company in January 2017. Founded in 1839, Türk Telekom is an established institution in Turkey...

Following a two-and-a-half year period as a competition and M&A lawyer at ELIG law firm, Yelda Dogan Yasarturk moved in-house to join GSK as a legal manger in Turkey. ‘I...

Well-accomplished media and broadcasting lawyer Zehra Betul Ayranci can boast an imposing career, having represented Fortune 500 companies and leading global companies in the technology, media, entertainment and sports industries...

Çelebi Holding is another constituent of Turkey’s historically successful airline industry. As an airport services provider, it provides the support and logistics services that allow aircrafts to function, and has...

Zeynep Derman Küçükönder joined the Turkish business of Coca-Cola in 2005, initially as a country legal counsel and then as legal director for Turkey, Caucasus and Central Asia business unit....

Verging on megaproject status, the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) is a multi-billion dollar pipeline project that aims to transport natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Turkey and Europe....