About

The legal team at GE Turkey is responsible for providing legal and compliance leadership and strategic legal advice to all the business and corporate teams globally and locally. It generally serves as strategic business partner in relation to all aspects of public procurement, civil and commercial law aspects of contracting under local law and regulations on aviation, power, renewable energy and healthcare sectors. The team creates risk profiles and develops appropriate measures to address and mitigate the identified risks. It supports and provides advice to GE businesses in connection with significant commercial transactions and advises GE businesses on matters relating to anticorruption legislation, labour and employment, regulatory, privacy, antitrust, and in particular on public tender, bidding and local public procurement legislation and practices. Azra Çakıl, general counsel, identifies that the team ‘acts as a motivator and energiser for a strong culture of integrity and compliance with the GE businesses locally. We guide business leaders in the development of legally compliant “Go-to-Market” strategies’. In the last year the team has adapted to dramatically changing local and global dynamics, matrix structures, operating in an uncertain and volatile legal region. The team was mainly involved on large deals in different GE businesses across the board such as healthcare public-private partnerships, global M&As, EPCs, renewable wind deals with the Ministry of Energy and localisation of medical devices with Ministry of Health. It also led on initiating operations in Iran and managing a wind-down process following the decision of the US to cease participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and begin re-imposing the US nuclear-related sanctions. Azra Çakıl highlights that the ‘legal function in GE and GE Turkey operates in a matrix organisation providing legal support to the businesses and internal clients in GE on strategic growth and development, risk assessment, structuring and implementation and localisation initiatives’.