This article explains how to obtain urgent interim relief in arbitrations involving Türkiye, and whether emergency arbitrator orders can be enforced there.
A foreign company in a dispute with a Turkish counterparty often learns that the real battle is fought in the first few weeks. The counterparty may be moving assets, preparing to call a bank guarantee, switching supply to a competitor or using confidential information. An award two years later is of little value if there is nothing left to enforce it against. Where the contract contains an arbitration clause, urgent protection can come from three sources: the Turkish courts, the arbitral tribunal, or an emergency arbitrator appointed before the tribunal exists. Each works differently in Türkiye, and the right choice depends on whether the arbitration is domestic or international, whether the measure must bind third parties such as banks, and where the assets are. This article sets out the options from the perspective of a foreign party, including the practical points that tend to surprise those used to other jurisdictions.
1. The Three Routes at a Glance
- Turkish courts: can grant interim injunctions, precautionary attachments and evidence preservation orders. Their orders are directly enforceable and can bind third parties, including banks and land registries.
- The arbitral tribunal: once constituted, it can order interim measures between the parties. It knows the dispute best, but its orders usually need court assistance to be enforced.
- Emergency arbitrator: where the institutional rules provide for one, an emergency arbitrator can be appointed within days, before the tribunal is constituted, and issue an order quickly. It keeps the dispute within the arbitration, but enforceability in Türkiye remains uncertain.
2. Going to the Turkish Courts: International v Domestic Arbitration
Turkish law treats court access differently depending on the type of arbitration, a distinction that foreign parties often miss.
- International arbitration (International Arbitration Law, Article 6): applies where the seat is in Türkiye and the dispute has a foreign element. Requesting an interim injunction or attachment from a court, before or during the arbitration, is expressly not a breach of the arbitration agreement. Court access is unrestricted.
- Domestic arbitration (Code of Civil Procedure, Article 414): applies to purely domestic disputes seated in Türkiye. Courts may grant interim relief or evidence preservation only where the tribunal, or a person to whom it has delegated that power, cannot act in time or effectively. Otherwise, court relief requires the tribunal's permission or the parties' written agreement.
This matters for foreign groups because a dispute between their Turkish subsidiary and a Turkish counterparty will usually be a domestic arbitration, even if the parent company is foreign. In that case, the narrower Article 414 regime applies unless the arbitration clause expressly allows court relief.
Court-ordered measures lapse automatically once the award becomes enforceable or the tribunal rejects the claim. Where relief is obtained before proceedings begin, the arbitration must be commenced within a short statutory period. The court will also require the applicant to provide security against the loss the respondent may suffer if the measure proves unjustified.
Foreign applicants should factor in two further points. First, a foreign claimant may be required to provide security for costs in Turkish court proceedings unless an applicable treaty exempts nationals of its home state. Second, supporting documents in foreign languages must be translated into Turkish, and foreign public documents usually require an apostille or consular legalisation. Preparing these in advance can save critical days.
3. Interim Measures Ordered by the Tribunal
Unless the parties agree otherwise, the tribunal may, at a party's request, order interim measures during the arbitration and make them conditional on appropriate security. Typical tribunal measures concern the parties' conduct: preserving the status quo, refraining from terminating the contract or calling a guarantee, protecting confidential information, preserving evidence or not disposing of a particular asset.
In international arbitration, the tribunal may not order measures that must be enforced through enforcement offices, carried out by official authorities or that bind third parties. An instruction to a bank not to pay, or an annotation on a land registry record, must therefore be sought from the courts.
If a party does not comply with a tribunal's measure, the other party may seek the court's assistance to have it carried out in international arbitration (Article 6). In domestic arbitration, the court may order enforcement of the tribunal's measure where there is a valid arbitration agreement (Article 414). Non-compliance can also weigh against the defaulting party on the merits and in the allocation of costs.
4. Emergency Arbitrators
An emergency arbitrator is a sole arbitrator appointed by the institution to deal with urgent requests before the tribunal is constituted. Most major institutions provide for one, and so do both Istanbul-based institutions: the Istanbul Arbitration Centre (ISTAC) and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Arbitration and Mediation Centre (ITOTAM).
The ICC Rules illustrate how the mechanism works:
- The emergency arbitrator is appointed as quickly as possible, normally within two days.
- The order is normally issued within 15 days of the file being transmitted to the emergency arbitrator.
- The emergency proceedings are terminated if a request for arbitration is not filed within 10 days of the application.
- The decision takes the form of an order, binding on the parties, which the tribunal may later modify or set aside.
- The provisions apply to arbitration agreements concluded after 1 January 2012, and the parties can opt out.
Like tribunal measures, emergency arbitrator orders bind only the parties and cannot reach third parties.
5. Can an Emergency Arbitrator Order Be Enforced in Türkiye?
Turkish law has no provision specifically addressing the enforcement of emergency arbitrator orders. The debate runs along two lines:
- Arbitrations seated in Türkiye: it is debated whether the court assistance available under Article 6 of the International Arbitration Law and Article 414 of the Code of Civil Procedure extends to an emergency arbitrator as an "arbitrator". It is also unsettled whether the court would conduct only a formal review or reassess the conditions for interim relief itself.
- Orders made abroad: whether an emergency arbitrator order is an enforceable "arbitral award" under the 1958 New York Convention is contested, because it is not final. An important reference point is a 2019 decision of the 11th Civil Chamber of the Turkish Court of Cassation (11 June 2019, 2017/3469 E., 2019/4259 K.), which recognised a partial ICC award and held that the Convention requires the award to be binding, not final. Commentators argue the same reasoning should extend to emergency arbitrator orders, but there is no settled practice yet.
In practice, emergency arbitrator orders are often complied with voluntarily, because defiance tends to carry consequences in damages and costs once the tribunal is constituted. Where compliance is doubtful, or a bank or registry must be bound, applying to the Turkish courts remains the safer route.
6. Choosing the Right Route
- Stopping a call on a bank guarantee: the Turkish courts, because the measure must bind the bank. We discussed the threshold for such injunctions in our article on bank guarantees.
- Freezing assets in Türkiye: precautionary attachment and measures against land or bank records from the Turkish courts.
- Conduct between the parties: continuing supply, not terminating, protecting confidential information or observing a non-compete: an emergency arbitrator or the tribunal.
- Preserving evidence: a court evidence preservation order or a tribunal measure.
- Assets outside Türkiye: the courts where the assets are located, or a tribunal measure that is more readily enforceable there.
7. Drafting Recommendations
- Choose an institution with emergency arbitrator rules, or opt out expressly if you do not want them.
- For contracts that may lead to domestic arbitration in Türkiye, including contracts signed by your Turkish subsidiary, provide expressly that either party may seek interim relief from the courts. This removes the restriction in Article 414.
- In international arbitration, stating expressly that court applications do not breach the arbitration agreement avoids arguments in other jurisdictions.
- Choose the seat and institution with an eye to where interim measures will need to be enforced.
- For contracts involving bank guarantees, payments or supply obligations, plan in advance which situations will call for court relief.
We discussed the wider pitfalls of arbitration clauses under Turkish law in this article.
8. Conclusion
Getting urgent relief right in an arbitration involving Türkiye depends on choosing the right route at the right time. The key points can be summarised as follows:
- Urgent protection is available from the Turkish courts, the tribunal and, where the rules allow, an emergency arbitrator; each differs in speed, scope and enforceability.
- Court access is unrestricted in international arbitration but limited in domestic arbitration, which often covers disputes involving a foreign group's Turkish subsidiary.
- Tribunals and emergency arbitrators cannot bind third parties; measures against banks and registries require the courts.
- Foreign applicants should prepare for security requirements, translations and apostilles.
- Enforcement of emergency arbitrator orders in Türkiye is unsettled, although the Court of Cassation's focus on bindingness rather than finality offers a basis.
- The need for interim relief should be considered when the arbitration clause is drafted, not when the dispute arises.
For advice on interim injunctions, attachments and emergency arbitrator applications in arbitrations involving Türkiye, enforcement of tribunal measures and drafting of arbitration clauses, please contact us at info@guzeloglu.legal.