Debt enforcement and insolvency

This page covers enforcement without a court judgment (ilamsız takip) and the actions that go with it. A money judgment is enforced differently: an enforcement order (icra emri) is served instead of a payment order, with seven days to pay, and the debtor can mainly plead limitation, payment or a grant of time before the enforcement court (İİK art. 32–33).

Objecting to enforcement

The creditor files the enforcement request with the enforcement office (icra dairesi) in writing, orally or electronically (İİK art. 58). The head of the office issues a payment order (ödeme emri), which is served on the debtor and demands payment of the debt and costs within seven days (art. 60, 61).

Who decides? The objection (itiraz) goes to the enforcement office, not to a court, by petition or orally. If made at another office, that office forwards it to the competent one (art. 62). An objection to territorial jurisdiction is made together with the objection on the merits, and the enforcement court (icra mahkemesi) rules on jurisdiction first (art. 50).

Time limit. Seven days from service of the payment order (art. 62). The first day is not counted, and if the last day is an official holiday the period ends on the next day (art. 19). For electronic filings the period ends at the end of the day (art. 8/a). Companies and registered lawyers are served electronically, and service counts as made at the end of the fifth day after the document reaches their electronic address (Service of Documents Law art. 7/a).

To object:

1. Fix the date of service. The period runs from it.
2. Say whether you object to all of the debt or part of it. For a partial objection the part and the amount must be stated clearly, or the objection counts as not made (art. 62).
3. If you deny the signature, say so separately and expressly. Otherwise the signature on the document is treated as accepted (art. 62).
4. Give an address in Türkiye. If the debtor gives none and no new address can be found, service at the address in the enforcement request counts as made (art. 62).

Effect. A timely objection stops the enforcement; after a partial objection it continues for the part admitted (art. 66). The creditor is told within three days (art. 62) and then asks for the objection to be lifted or set aside. At the hearing to lift it, the debtor cannot change or widen the grounds beyond what appears from the text of the creditor’s document (art. 63).

Late objection. A debtor prevented by an obstacle, through no fault of their own, may still object until the sale is completed, if they give the excuse and evidence within three days of the obstacle ending; the enforcement court decides (art. 65).

Enforcement on a cheque or note works differently: see cheques and promissory notes.

Setting aside an objection

Once the debtor objects, enforcement stops. The creditor can sue to set the objection aside (itirazın iptali), proving the debt under the general rules (İİK art. 67).

Who decides? The ordinary court that hears the underlying dispute, not the enforcement court: as a rule the civil court of first instance (HMK art. 2), the commercial court in commercial cases (TTK art. 5), the civil court of peace for rent claims (HMK art. 4) and the consumer court for consumer transactions (Law 6502 art. 73). The defendant’s domicile court has general jurisdiction, and a contractual claim may also be brought where the contract is to be performed (HMK art. 6, 10).

Time limit. One year from service of the objection on the creditor. A creditor who misses it keeps the right to sue on the debt under the general rules (art. 67).

Compensation. If the objection is found unjustified, the debtor pays; if the creditor is found to have enforced unjustly and in bad faith, the creditor pays. On the other side’s request, the amount is at least twenty per cent of the sum rejected or awarded. Where the objecting debtor is a parent, guardian or heir, bad faith must be proved first (art. 67).

The enforcement-court route. If the debt rests on a document with an acknowledged signature, a notarised acknowledgement of debt, or a receipt or document issued by an official body within its powers, the creditor can ask the enforcement court to lift the objection (itirazın kaldırılması) within six months of service of the objection. If that time is missed, no new enforcement without a judgment can be started for the same debt (art. 68). For a private document whose signature the debtor denied, the objection can be lifted provisionally; the debtor then has seven days from the decision to sue to be released from the debt, depositing fifteen per cent of the amount (art. 68/a, 69).

Mediation before suing. It is a condition of suing in these cases:

• Commercial: money claims, damages, setting aside an objection, non-liability and restitution (the last three since 1 September 2023). The mediator has six weeks, extendable by two (TTK art. 5/A).
• Employment: claims under the law or an employment contract, including these three actions (Labour Courts Law art. 3).
• Consumer courts: disputes they hear, except those for the consumer arbitration board (Law 6502 art. 73/A).
• Rent: disputes arising from a tenancy (HUAK art. 18/B(1)(a)). The text does not name an action to set aside an objection on a rent claim, so check it separately.

For any other claim, the texts reviewed for this page contain no such rule. From the application to the mediation office until the final minutes, limitation stops and forfeiture periods do not run. The final minutes go with the statement of claim; if missing, the court allows one week and then dismisses the case, as it does for a case filed without required mediation (HUAK art. 18/A(2), (15)).

For interest on the claim, see the statutory interest calculator; for the fees paid when starting proceedings, the enforcement cost calculator; and for the last day of an objection or complaint period, the legal deadline calculator.

Declaration of non-liability

A debtor may sue for a declaration that they do not owe the money (menfi tespit), before enforcement starts or while it is under way (İİK art. 72). An ordinary court decides, where the enforcement office sits or at the defendant’s domicile (art. 72). Article 72 sets no time limit for bringing the action; the seven days for objecting run separately.

Stopping the enforcement works differently before and after it starts:

• Action brought before enforcement: on request the court may stop the enforcement by injunction, against security of at least fifteen per cent of the debt (art. 72).
• Action brought after enforcement has started: an injunction cannot stop it. The debtor may ask that the money held at the enforcement office not be paid to the creditor, giving security of at least fifteen per cent to cover delay losses (art. 72).
• Outcome: if the creditor wins, the injunction lapses and the creditor recovers the loss from delay out of the security, at not less than twenty per cent. If the debtor wins, enforcement stops and, once the judgment is final, is reversed; if it was unjust and in bad faith, the debtor’s loss is also recovered from the creditor, at not less than twenty per cent (art. 72).

Restitution (istirdat). A person who had to pay in full a sum they did not owe, because they did not object or the objection was lifted, can reclaim it within one year of payment and need only prove that the money was not due. If no injunction was obtained and the debt has been paid, the non-liability action continues as a restitution action (art. 72).

Mediation. The rules above apply in commercial, employment and consumer cases (TTK art. 5/A; Labour Courts Law art. 3; Law 6502 art. 73/A). If, after applying to a mediation office, enforcement is started against the applicant over the same dispute, and the applicant sues for non-liability within two weeks of the final minutes and asks for it, the rule for actions brought before enforcement (art. 72, second paragraph) applies (HUAK art. 18/A(16)).

Salary garnishment

The creditor can ask for seizure once the time in the payment order has passed and any objection has been lifted. That right lapses one year after service of the payment order; time spent on an objection or a case does not count (İİK art. 78).

The rule. Salaries, allowances, wages of every kind, pensions and payments awarded by insurance or pension funds can be seized after deducting the amount the enforcement officer finds necessary for the debtor and family. The seized part cannot be less than a quarter (art. 83). The text sets no upper limit: a quarter is the minimum, and the enforcement director decides what is left to the debtor. Several seizures queue; the next starts only when the earlier one has ended. An advance agreement that a salary may be seized is invalid (art. 83, 83/a).

The employer’s duties. An employer served by the enforcement office must report the seizure and the salary within one week, deduct the seized amount until the debt is paid and send it at once to the office, reporting any change in pay or post immediately (art. 355). An employer who fails to do so pays the money from their own salary or property without a court judgment (art. 356).

Debts owed to the debtor by third parties (a bank account, for example). A seizure notice goes to the third party, who is treated as owing the debt unless they object within seven days of service (art. 89). Compensation for bodily injury or damage to health and student grants cannot be seized at all (art. 82/11, 13).

A wrong deduction. A complaint can be made to the enforcement court within seven days of learning of the act (art. 16); see challenging a seizure.

Challenging a seizure

There are two routes: a complaint against the enforcement office’s act, and an ownership claim by a person who says the goods are theirs.

Complaint (şikâyet). If an act of the enforcement office breaches the law or does not suit the facts, a complaint goes to the enforcement court within seven days of learning of the act; for a right not honoured or a matter delayed without reason, at any time (İİK art. 16). If it succeeds, the act is quashed or corrected (art. 17); enforcement does not stop unless the court so decides (art. 22). Where there is no hearing, the court rules within ten days (art. 18). Decisions can be appealed to the regional court within two weeks of service, unless the law excludes them and if the monetary threshold is exceeded; the appeal does not stop anything except the sale (art. 363). The threshold is revalued every year and is not stated here (Additional Article 1).

The main grounds are:

• Goods that cannot be seized. Personal belongings of the debtor and of family members under the same roof and household items in common use (money and valuables excepted), the tools of a trade based on manual work, and the debtor’s suitable home (art. 82/2, 3, 12). For trade tools, the home and a few other items of high value, the item may be seized and sold and a suitable share of the proceeds left to the debtor; the protection does not apply if the debt arises from the price of the item itself (art. 82).
• Excessive seizure. A seizure cannot exceed what covers principal, interest and costs (art. 85, added by Law 7445 of 2023).
• Seizure in a home. If the place is a dwelling, the enforcement director submits the decision to the enforcement court, which rules finally on the file within three days. This does not apply to precautionary attachment (art. 79/a).

Ownership claims (istihkak). If the seized item is a third party’s property or pledged to them, the debtor or that person tells the enforcement office.

• At the enforcement office: it records the claim and gives the creditor and debtor three days to object; silence counts as acceptance. A debtor or third party who learns of the seizure and makes no claim within seven days loses the right to do so in that enforcement (art. 96).
• At the enforcement court: if there is an objection, the court decides whether enforcement continues or is suspended; a decision to continue is final. The third party must sue in the enforcement court within seven days of the decision, or is treated as abandoning the claim (art. 97).
• Proof and compensation: whoever holds a movable is presumed to own it (art. 97/a). A claimant who loses after enforcement was suspended pays at least twenty per cent of the creditor’s delayed amount; an objector shown to have acted in bad faith against a successful claim pays at least fifteen per cent of the goods’ value (art. 97).

Lapse of the seizure. If no sale is requested within one year of the seizure, it lapses; if an auction fails to sell the item, the creditor who asked for it gets a further year (art. 106, 110).

Cheques and promissory notes

A creditor whose claim rests on a cheque, bill of exchange or promissory note (bono) can use the special procedure for negotiable instruments (kambiyo senetleri), even if the debt is also secured by a pledge; if the debtor is subject to bankruptcy, bankruptcy enforcement is also open (İİK art. 167). The original instrument and a certified copy for each debtor go with the request (art. 167).

What makes an instrument eligible. A note must contain the word “bono” or “emre yazılı senet”, an unconditional promise to pay a fixed sum, a due date, a place of payment, the payee’s name, the date and place of issue and the maker’s signature; one missing any of these is not a note (TTK art. 776, 777). A cheque has its own list, including the word “çek”, the drawee bank, the bank’s serial number and the QR code (art. 780, 781). It must be presented within ten days if payable where issued and within one month otherwise (art. 796); non-payment is shown by protest or the drawee’s dated statement (art. 808). For a post-dated cheque, enforcement requires that it was presented within the statutory period and marked “karşılıksızdır” (unpaid for lack of funds) (Cheque Law art. 3(8)).

Seizure-based enforcement runs as follows:

1. Request. The creditor applies to the enforcement office with the original instrument (İİK art. 167).
2. Payment order. If the head of the office finds a negotiable instrument that is due, a payment order is sent; the debt must be paid within ten days (art. 168).
3. Five days. The debtor files a petition with the enforcement court within five days of service. It can say that the instrument is not a negotiable instrument (art. 168/3, 170/a), that the signature is not theirs (art. 168/4, 170), or that they owe nothing, the debt was paid, time was granted, the claim is time-barred or the office lacks jurisdiction (art. 168/5, 169).
4. Hearing. The judge summons both sides within thirty days and accepts the objection if non-existence or payment of the debt is proved by an official document or one with an acknowledged signature. If the objection looks serious, the judge may suspend enforcement until the decision (art. 169/a, 170).
5. Continuation. If no application is made and the debt is not paid, the debtor must make an asset declaration within ten days and enforcement continues (art. 168).

The application stops nothing but the sale, and neither does an appeal against its rejection unless the debtor gives the security under art. 33(3) (art. 169, 169/a, 170). If enforcement was suspended and the objection is rejected, the debtor pays, on request, at least twenty per cent of the claim in compensation, plus a fine of ten per cent if a signature objection is also rejected. A creditor who put the instrument into enforcement in bad faith or with gross fault may be ordered to pay at least twenty per cent if the objection succeeds (art. 169/a, 170).

Bankruptcy route. Only against debtors subject to bankruptcy, such as merchants: five days to pay or to lodge every objection and complaint, with reasons, at the enforcement office; without either, the creditor asks the commercial court for bankruptcy (art. 43, 171–173).

Limitation. A claim against the maker of a note lapses three years after the due date, and recourse on a cheque three years after the end of the presentment period (TTK art. 749, 778(1)(h), 814). A request for enforcement interrupts limitation (art. 750).

Cheque without funds. On the holder’s complaint a judicial fine and a ban on issuing cheques can follow; the enforcement court hears the case, and full payment with commercial default interest ends it (Cheque Law art. 5, 6). The sum the bank must pay per cheque leaf is set every year and is not stated here (art. 3(3)).

Annulment of transfers

If a debtor disposes of property, a creditor holding a provisional or final certificate of insolvency (aciz belgesi) can sue to have those transactions declared ineffective against creditors (İİK art. 277). A seizure report that finds nothing to seize also serves as one (art. 105). If the claim succeeds, the creditor may enforce against the property concerned (art. 283).

Who decides? The text says only “the court”; the case is heard under simplified procedure and the creditor can ask for precautionary attachment of the property (art. 281). Jurisdiction follows the general rules and is not discussed here.

Presumptions. Unless fair value is proved, transfers between the debtor and descendants, ascendants, blood relatives and relatives by marriage up to the third degree, a spouse (even if the marriage ended within the last year), an adoptive parent or child, and people sharing a home count as gifts; so do contracts at a very low price and life-annuity, usufruct or care-for-life contracts without a proved fair return (art. 278). Where a transaction was meant to harm creditors, a close relative of the debtor is presumed to have known the debtor’s position and intent (art. 280). A third party who proves they did not know the debtor’s position defeats an action under art. 279 and rebuts the presumption about relatives (art. 279, 280).

Time limit and defendants. The right to sue lapses five years after the transaction (art. 284). The defendants are the debtor, whoever dealt with them or received payment, their heirs, and third parties in bad faith; good-faith third parties keep their rights, and a good-faith donee returns only what they still hold when sued (art. 282, 283).

The change of 25 December 2025. Article 278 was rewritten by Law 7571, art. 2, in force since 25 December 2025; the one-year period and presumptions above come from that text. The law has no transitional provision for it, whereas the 1965 amendments had made annulment actions subject to the law in force when the challenged transaction was made (Law 538, transitional art. 4). Which text applies to transactions made before 25 December 2025 is therefore not settled on this page. The lists in TTK art. 5/A and HUAK art. 18/B do not name an action to annul transfers, and whether mediation is compulsory for it has not been determined.

Composition with creditors

A composition with creditors (konkordato) lets a debtor who cannot pay when due, or risks not doing so, pay under court supervision by extending time or accepting a reduction, or avoid bankruptcy; any debtor, merchant or not, may request it. A creditor who could petition for bankruptcy may also ask, with a reasoned petition, for konkordato proceedings to be opened against the debtor (İİK art. 285).

Who decides? The commercial court of first instance (asliye ticaret mahkemesi): for debtors subject to bankruptcy, the one in the place named in art. 154(1) or (2); for others, at their domicile (art. 285). Konkordato matters are heard during the judicial recess (HMK art. 103(1)(e)).

What the request must include. A draft plan, documents on the debtor’s assets, a list of creditors, a table comparing the offer with bankruptcy, and an independent audit firm’s report giving reasonable assurance that the offer can be met (art. 286). The advance for costs is set in the Ministry of Justice tariff (art. 285).

The process runs as follows:

1. Provisional moratorium. If the documents are complete, the court grants it at once and appoints a provisional commissioner. It lasts three months, can be extended by up to two and cannot exceed five in total (art. 287). Creditors may object within seven days of the announcement; it has the effects of the final moratorium (art. 288).
2. Final moratorium. If success is possible, one year is granted, extendable by up to six months in difficult cases (art. 289).
3. Effects. No enforcement can be started, public receivables included; pending enforcement stops; precautionary attachments and injunctions are not applied (art. 294). Enforcement by seizure remains possible for first-rank privileged claims (art. 294); pledged assets cannot be sold (art. 295). Without the court’s permission the debtor cannot grant a pledge, act as surety, make a gift or transfer land; such acts are void (art. 297).
4. Claims and vote. Creditors register claims within fifteen days of the announcement; one who does not register and is not in the balance sheet is not admitted to the negotiations (art. 299). The plan is accepted if signed by more than half of the registered creditors and of the claims, or by more than a quarter of the creditors and two-thirds of the claims; accessions in the seven days after the meeting also count (art. 302).
5. Confirmation. The court checks that the offer gives more than bankruptcy would, is proportionate to the debtor’s resources, has the required majority, secures the privileged claims and that costs have been deposited (art. 305). A creditor who wants to object at the hearing gives written reasons at least three days before it (art. 304).

Appeals. The debtor or requesting creditor has two weeks from service of the decision, and objecting creditors two weeks from the announcement of confirmation, to appeal to the regional court, then two weeks to appeal on a point of law (art. 308/a). A creditor whose claim was disputed sues within one month of the announcement (art. 308/b). If the plan is not confirmed, the request is rejected, and the court may declare bankruptcy of its own motion if a ground exists (art. 308). This page covers the ordinary konkordato; the law also provides other routes, such as konkordato after bankruptcy (art. 309) and by assignment of assets (art. 309/a).

Creditors and debtors abroad

• A creditor living abroad. The request must give an address in Türkiye, failing which the seat of the enforcement office counts; for a foreign-currency claim it must state the exchange-rate date used (İİK art. 58). For the power of attorney, see giving a power of attorney from the UK.
• Security from a foreign creditor. Foreign individuals and legal entities that start enforcement in Türkiye must give the security the court sets; the court may exempt them on the basis of reciprocity (MÖHUK art. 48). Whether reciprocity exists for UK nationals is not determined here.
• A judgment given in the UK. It can be enforced in Türkiye only after a Turkish court issues an enforcement decision (tenfiz) (MÖHUK art. 50), in the court of first instance at the defendant’s domicile in Türkiye (art. 51). The requirements include reciprocity (by treaty, statute or actual practice), no conflict with public policy and a defendant who was properly summoned (art. 54). The judgment is then enforced like a Turkish one (art. 57).
• Service on a debtor abroad. Service goes through the foreign country’s competent authority; for a Turkish citizen it can also go through a consulate, and if the person does not respond within thirty days, service counts as made at the end of the thirtieth day (Service of Documents Law art. 25, 25/a). Check the date of service on the papers. A debtor must give an address in Türkiye with the objection (İİK art. 62).

Deadlines in one place

The first day is not counted, a period ending on an official holiday ends on the next day, and a period set in weeks ends on the matching weekday (İİK art. 19). The İİK has no rule extending periods over the judicial recess; whether the one-week extension in HMK art. 104 applies to these periods is not determined on this page. Monetary thresholds, fees and costs change every year; the current tariffs should be checked.

Mistakes that cost debtors and creditors their options

• Missing the seven days. A payment order not objected to in time becomes final, and money paid afterwards can only be reclaimed by a restitution action within one year (İİK art. 72).
• Objecting to the wrong body. In seizure-based enforcement on a cheque or note, the application goes to the enforcement court within five days, not to the enforcement office (art. 168–170).
• Relying on a non-liability action alone. Starting one does not extend the seven days, and after enforcement has started an injunction cannot stop it (art. 72).
• Missing the time limit or skipping mediation. After one year the action to set aside the objection is closed, and an ordinary claim remains (art. 67). A case filed without compulsory mediation is dismissed (HUAK art. 18/A(2)).
• Reading a quarter as the cap on salary seizure. The text sets a quarter as the minimum (art. 83).

Documents to prepare

• The payment order, the service envelope or electronic service record, and the enforcement file number.
• The basis of the claim or debt: contract, invoice, note, cheque, bank statements, correspondence.
• For cheque and note enforcement: the original instrument and a certified copy for each debtor; for a cheque, the bank’s “karşılıksızdır” endorsement or the protest.
• The seizure report, the seizure notice, the employer’s letter on a salary deduction and documents on the family’s income and expenses.
• For goods said to belong to someone else: an invoice, title deed or contract showing ownership.
• For annulment of transfers: the certificate of insolvency or seizure report, the transfer contracts, and land and vehicle registry records.
• For konkordato: balance sheet, income statement, creditor and debtor lists and the independent audit report.
• For action from abroad: a power of attorney with apostille and sworn translation, an address in Türkiye, and the mediator’s final minutes where mediation is required.