Interim Attachment Before A Foreign Judgment Becomes Enforceable In Turkey

I. Introduction

A final foreign judgment is the starting document for a creditor seeking recovery against assets in Turkey. Compulsory execution still requires a Turkish enforcement decision under Article 50 of Law No. 5718 on Private International Law and International Civil Procedure. Until enforcement is granted, the foreign judgment cannot be delivered to an enforcement office and executed in the same manner as a Turkish judgment.

The Recognition & Enforcement Navigator can be used at this early stage to organise the type of decision, finality, notice, intended Turkish route and any known assets in Turkey. Its output is preliminary and identifies issues for document-based legal review; it does not determine enforceability or predict the court's decision.

Where there is a concrete need to preserve assets during the enforcement process, interim attachment may be available under Articles 257 and following of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004. The measure secures assets for a monetary claim, but it does not make the foreign judgment executable or entitle the creditor to receive the attached proceeds. The enforcement action and the request for provisional protection must therefore be prepared as connected, but legally separate, proceedings.

II. The Foreign Judgment as Evidence for Provisional Protection

An enforcement action begins with the documents specified in Article 53 of Law No. 5718: a duly authenticated original or certified copy of the foreign judgment, an authenticated document showing that it has become final under the law of the issuing state, and certified translations. The Turkish court then examines the conditions in Article 54, including reciprocity, exclusive jurisdiction, public policy and the defendant's notice and representation in the foreign proceedings.

The absence of a Turkish enforcement decision concerns compulsory execution. It does not make the foreign judgment irrelevant to an interim-attachment request. The judgment, its finality record, the underlying obligation and the payment terms may support the existence and amount of the monetary claim while the enforcement action remains pending.

The court hearing the interim request does not decide the enforcement action in advance. It considers whether the creditor has shown the statutory basis for provisional protection under Law No. 2004, while the enforcement court remains responsible for the conditions under Law No. 5718. The application should preserve that distinction rather than assume that a final foreign judgment will necessarily be enforced in Turkey.

III. Maturity, Evidence and Security

The foreign judgment can support provisional protection only if the monetary claim falls within Article 257. That provision distinguishes between due and unmatured debts that are not secured by a pledge. A due debt may support interim attachment over the debtor's movable and immovable property, receivables and other rights. For an unmatured debt, the creditor must also rely on one of the statutory circumstances, such as the debtor having no fixed residence or taking steps to conceal or remove assets, abscond or engage in fraudulent conduct prejudicing creditors.

Article 257 does not expressly classify a monetary claim recorded in a final foreign judgment that has not yet been enforced in Turkey. The divergence in published appellate decisions is more clearly documented in cases concerning foreign arbitral awards and should not be treated as establishing a uniform rule for foreign court judgments. A request based on a foreign court judgment should therefore address maturity directly by reference to the payment date, the law governing the underlying obligation, finality in the issuing state, any suspension or challenge, and payments made after judgment. If Article 257/2 is relied upon, the evidence must correspond to one of its statutory grounds; a general concern about recovery is not enough.

Article 258 requires evidence capable of satisfying the court as to the claim and, where relevant, the grounds for attachment. The file will ordinarily include the judgment, finality or enforceability record and certified translations. The underlying contract, invoices, payment history, service materials and documents identifying the debtor may also be needed where the judgment does not resolve a point relevant to the interim request. Evidence of asset transfers or other conduct should be tied to the particular statutory ground invoked.

Security must be addressed separately. Article 259 governs security for losses that the debtor or a third party may suffer if the interim attachment proves wrongful. No security is required where the claim is based on a judgment (ilam), and the court decides whether security is required where the claim is based on a document having the nature of a judgment. A foreign judgment that has not yet been enforced in Turkey should not automatically be treated as an ilam or a document having the nature of one for this purpose.

Separately, Article 48(1) of Law No. 5718 requires foreign natural and legal persons who bring an action, join an action or commence enforcement proceedings in Turkey to provide security for litigation and enforcement costs and for losses of the opposing party. Article 48(2) requires the court to exempt the foreign party where reciprocity exists. The two forms of security protect different interests, and neither should be reduced to an assumed standard percentage.

IV. Execution and Continuation of the Attachment

An interim-attachment order must be acted upon promptly. Article 261 requires the creditor to request its execution from the competent enforcement office within ten days from the date of the order; otherwise, the order is discharged automatically. Where the order is obtained before an action or enforcement proceeding begins, Article 264 also requires the preserving action or proceeding to be commenced within seven days from execution of the attachment, or from service of the attachment record where the creditor was absent.

The provisional request should therefore be prepared together with the enforcement filing. The creditor should already have the authenticated judgment, finality record, translations and enforcement petition ready, and should identify how the step taken under Article 264 will preserve the attachment in the procedural circumstances of the case.

If enforcement is granted, Article 57 of Law No. 5718 says that the foreign judgment may be executed in the same way as a Turkish judgment. It also states that an appeal to the Court of Cassation (temyiz) suspends execution. This wording reflects the appellate system that existed when Law No. 5718 was enacted in 2007. Regional Courts of Appeal began operating in 2016, making istinaf the first appellate stage, but Article 57 was not amended to explain how that new stage affects execution.

The result is an unresolved gap. Under the general rule in Article 350 of the Code of Civil Procedure, an istinaf application does not by itself stop execution, although a stay may be requested under Article 36 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law. In foreign-judgment enforcement cases, however, court decisions have not been consistent on whether execution can begin before appellate review is complete. The position must therefore be assessed at each appellate stage.

V. General Assessment

An application based on a foreign judgment has to connect three legal positions: enforceability of the judgment, maturity and evidentiary support for the monetary claim, and continuation of the interim measure. A weakness in any one of them can prevent the order from being obtained or maintained.

The file should establish the judgment's finality and payment terms, the enforcement documents under Law No. 5718, the basis relied upon under Article 257, the assets to be secured and the applicable security position. The ten-day and seven-day periods must then be integrated into the filing sequence. This preserves the distinction between securing a claim and obtaining the Turkish executory title required to collect it.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.