Enforcing a Foreign Court Judgment in Türkiye: How Tenfiz Works and What You Must Prove

If you hold a court judgment from another country and your debtor has assets in Türkiye, that judgment is not automatically enforceable here. Before a Turkish enforcement office can act on it, a Turkish court must first declare it enforceable in a separate proceeding called tenfizTenfizEnforcement of a foreign judgment in TürkiyeThe Turkish court decision that makes a foreign judgment enforceable in Türkiye — the step that lets you actually collect.Glossary → (enforcement). This is governed by the Act on Private International Law and International Civil Procedure No. 5718, known as MÖHUKMÖHUKTurkish Private International Law Act No. 5718The Turkish statute that decides which country's law applies to a cross-border matter, and how foreign judgments are recognised and enforced here.Glossary →, in its articles 50 to 59. The court does not re-try your case; it checks a fixed list of conditions — that the judgment is final, that reciprocity exists between Türkiye and the country of origin, that the result does not conflict with Turkish public policy, and that the losing party had proper notice and a fair chance to defend. This guide explains, in plain terms, how to enforce a foreign court judgment in Türkiye, how recognition (tanımaTanımaRecognition of a foreign judgment in TürkiyeThe court decision that makes a foreign judgment legally effective in Türkiye as proof — without, by itself, making it enforceable.Glossary →) differs from enforcement (tenfiz), and why a foreign court judgment is often harder to enforce here than a foreign arbitral award. We define each Turkish term the first time it appears.

Why a Foreign Judgment Is Not Directly Enforceable in Türkiye

A judgment is an act of a foreign state's courts. Türkiye, like most countries, does not let another state's courts reach directly into its territory and seize assets. So before you can use a foreign court judgment to collect against a debtor in Türkiye, you must have it converted into something a Turkish enforcement office can act on. That conversion is the tenfiz (enforcement) action.

The rules are set out in the Act on Private International Law and International Civil Procedure No. 5718 (Milletlerarası Özel Hukuk ve Usul Hukuku Hakkında Kanun, almost always shortened to MÖHUK), in articles 50 to 59. These provisions govern when and how a Turkish court will give a foreign court judgment effect inside Türkiye.

One point to fix at the start: tenfiz is not an appeal and not a re-hearing. The Turkish court does not look again at whether your foreign case was rightly decided on the facts or the law. It only checks whether a fixed list of conditions is met. This principle — no review of the merits — is central to how the whole process works.

Recognition (Tanıma) vs Enforcement (Tenfiz): Two Different Things

Turkish law treats two related but distinct outcomes separately, and it matters which one you actually need.

Recognition (tanıma) means the Turkish court accepts the foreign judgment as binding and gives it the force of a decided matter (res judicata) inside Türkiye. Recognition is what you want when the judgment establishes a status or a fact that you need a Turkish authority to accept — for example a foreign divorce, or a finding you want to rely on as proof — but you are not asking anyone to seize money or property.

Enforcement (tenfiz) goes one step further. It turns the foreign judgment into a title that Turkish enforcement offices (icra daireleri) can actually execute — so you can attach bank accounts, seize assets, and collect. Enforcement is what a creditor needs when the judgment orders the other side to pay money or hand something over.

The conditions for the two overlap heavily under MÖHUK No. 5718, with one important difference discussed below: reciprocity is a condition for enforcement, while pure recognition is treated more leniently on that point. Identify at the outset which one your situation actually calls for.

The Conditions a Turkish Court Checks

Under MÖHUK No. 5718, a Turkish court will declare a foreign court judgment enforceable only if a set of conditions is satisfied. Some are threshold requirements that must always be present; others are objections that the party resisting enforcement can raise. In broad terms, the court looks at the following.

1. A final foreign court judgment

The decision must be a genuine court judgment that has become final and binding under the law of the country where it was given — meaning the ordinary routes of appeal in that country are exhausted or have lapsed. A provisional or interim order that can still be undone at home is generally not a basis for tenfiz. You normally prove finality with the judgment itself plus an official statement or annotation that it is final, properly certified and translated.

2. Reciprocity (mütekabiliyet)

For enforcement, there must be reciprocity (mütekabiliyet) between Türkiye and the state where the judgment was given. Reciprocity can rest on a treaty between the two countries, on a provision in the foreign state's own law that allows Turkish judgments to be enforced there, or on an established practice (de facto reciprocity) of that state actually enforcing Turkish judgments. This is the condition foreign creditors most often stumble over, and we return to it below.

3. No conflict with Turkish public policy (kamu düzeni)

The result of enforcing the judgment must not be manifestly contrary to Turkish public policy (kamu düzeni). This is a narrow control, not a back door to re-arguing the merits: the court asks whether recognising the outcome would offend fundamental principles of the Turkish legal order, not whether it would have decided the case the same way. It can also capture serious breaches of basic fair-trial rights.

4. Proper service and defence rights (due process)

The losing party must have been properly summoned and given a real chance to defend in the original proceedings. If the defendant against whom enforcement is sought was not duly served, was not represented before the foreign court contrary to that court's law, and raises this objection, the Turkish court can refuse enforcement. This protects the right to be heard.

Reciprocity: Why Foreign Judgments Are Harder Than Arbitral Awards

If there is one condition that decides many tenfiz cases, it is reciprocity. A Turkish court enforcing a foreign court judgment must be satisfied that the country of origin would, in turn, enforce a comparable Turkish judgment. Where there is no treaty, no enabling provision in the foreign law, and no track record of that country actually enforcing Turkish judgments, the reciprocity requirement can stop an otherwise sound judgment in its tracks.

This is where the contrast with arbitration becomes decisive. A foreign arbitral award — the decision of an arbitration tribunal rather than a state court — is enforced in Türkiye under a different regime: the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, to which Türkiye is a party. The New York Convention commits its member states to enforce each other's awards subject only to a short, defined list of refusal grounds — and it does not impose a general reciprocity-of-judgments test of the kind MÖHUK applies to court judgments.

The takeaway is not that judgments are unenforceable — many are enforced every year — but that the route matters. If you are still drafting, the dispute-resolution clause you choose today can determine how hard collection will be later.

The Competent Court and the Tenfiz Procedure

A tenfiz action is a separate lawsuit, filed in Türkiye. Under MÖHUK No. 5718 the competent court is the civil court of first instance (asliye hukuk mahkemesiAsliye hukuk mahkemesiCivil court of first instanceThe general civil court that hears most disputes not assigned to a specialised court.Glossary →), unless a special law sends a particular type of judgment elsewhere (for instance, certain family matters). The case is heard with the party resisting enforcement as the defendant, who can raise the objections described above.

In outline, the process looks like this:

• Prepare the documents. You generally need the original foreign judgment (or a certified copy), an official confirmation that it is final, and certified Turkish translations — with the foreign documents authenticated (apostille or, where the apostille does not apply, consular legalisation) so the Turkish court will accept them.
• File the tenfiz action before the competent Turkish court, identifying the judgment and asking the court to declare it enforceable.
• The court checks the conditions — finality, reciprocity, public policy, and proper service/defence — without re-trying the merits, and hears the respondent's objections.
• Judgment on enforceability. If the conditions are met, the court grants tenfiz. The foreign judgment can then be executed through the Turkish enforcement office like a domestic one.

Decisions in a tenfiz action can themselves be challenged through the ordinary appeal routes under the Code of Civil Procedure No. 6100, so the first-instance result is not always the end of the road.

Practical Steps for Foreign Companies

If you are weighing whether to enforce a foreign judgment in Türkiye, a few practical points tend to decide whether the exercise is worth it.

Check reciprocity early. Before spending on a tenfiz action, find out whether reciprocity with the country of origin exists — by treaty, by that country's law, or in practice. If it does not, recognition or a fresh strategy may be better than a doomed enforcement claim.

Confirm the judgment is truly final. A decision still open to ordinary appeal at home is usually not ready for tenfiz. Obtain the official finality confirmation before you file.

Get the paperwork right. Missing certification, an invalid translation, or a defective apostilleApostilApostilleA certificate added to a public document in its own country so that it is accepted as genuine in Türkiye, without consular legalisation.Glossary →/legalisation are common, avoidable reasons for delay. Assemble a clean, authenticated, translated file from the start.

Locate assets. Enforcement is only useful if the debtor has reachable assets in Türkiye. Confirming this before you invest in the case avoids a paper victory you cannot collect on.

At Lexin Legal we advise foreign companies on recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards in Türkiye, including assessing reciprocity, preparing tenfiz actions, and planning enforcement against assets here. If you hold a foreign judgment and a debtor with a connection to Türkiye, contact our team to discuss your options. We cannot promise any particular outcome, but we can tell you candidly whether and how enforcement is likely to work in your situation.

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