Team size: 50 

What are the most significant cases and/or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?  

1) Strengthening and re-organizing the corporate structure of one of our affiliate airlines in the European aviation market. It has been a complex yet very satisfying journey from a legal perspective. 

2)Heavily involved in the purchase of 220 Airbus aircraft, made up of 150 Airbus’ best-selling A321s and 70 of the world’s most modern and efficient A350 widebody aircraft (50 A350-900s, 15 A350-1000s and 5 A350F freighters 

The A321neo is the largest aircraft in Airbus’ A320neo Family, The A321neo brings a 50% noise reduction and more than 20% fuel savings and CO₂ reduction compared to previous generation single-aisle aircraft. 

The A350 is the world’s most modern and efficient widebody aircraft and the long range leader in the 300-410 seater category. Its clean sheet design enables  25% advantage in fuel burn, operating costs and CO₂ emissions, as well as 50% noise reduction compared to previous generations. 

With more range, less fuel, noise and emissions, the mentioned aircraft will be a material part of our efforts to shape Turkish Airlines’ future business model of enchanting our operational capabilities but also significantly contributing to our environmental goals. 

3) As the head of transactions in the Legal Department, ensuring that Turkish Airlines’ legal and commercial interests are well protected in our day to day transactions was also a material part of my practice. This part of our practice is often overlooked given the fact that us legal professionals love to draw attention to massive projects we have been involved in. With that being said, our involvement in our clients’/companies’ day to day transactions that appear to be standard and usual is as significant as our involvement in massive projects .They are more important than many think. Only by taking care of your immediate and “usual” environment can you then move onto bigger challenges.

What strategic priorities are guiding you and your team in 2024? 

Integrating AI and other new technologies to our legal practice. Artificial intelligence is transforming the practice of law and AI systems have generated excitement within the legal industry. Exploring best practices for ethically integrating AI systems and other large language models into our practice will be a material part of our future plans. Discovering practical ways on leveraging these powerful tools for legal research, drafting documents, correspondence, and advising our internal clients while avoiding potential pitfalls associated with the evolving technology is definitely at the top of my list. 

Do you have a cause, business-related or otherwise, that you are passionate about? 

I am a student of history, political economy and clinical psychology. I am also passionate about amateur competitive shooting.