Your Turkish customer filed for concordat: what unsecured suppliers need to know

This guide is for foreign suppliers, including U.S. exporters, whose Turkish customer has filed for concordat (konkordato) in Türkiye (Turkey) and whose claim is not secured by a pledge or mortgage. It explains what the moratorium stops, which deadlines start to run, how to file and vote, and what happens after court approval. Secured creditors' restructuring (EBL Art. 308/h) and bankruptcy claims are outside its scope.

Concordat is a court-supervised procedure in which a debtor that cannot pay, or is at risk of not paying, its debts as they fall due offers its creditors a plan to pay over time or at a discount (Article 285 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004 (İcra ve İflas Kanunu, "EBL")). To prepare, use our concordat claim-filing checklist.

Deadlines first: the creditor's calendar#

Most of the creditor's deadlines run from a public notice, not from a letter. The table below collects the ones an unsecured supplier is most likely to need.

Concordat in one page: moratorium, commissioner, committee#

If the filing is complete, the commercial court immediately grants a provisional moratorium (geçici mühlet) and appoints a temporary concordat commissioner (konkordato komiseri) (EBL Art. 287(1), 287(3)). The provisional moratorium lasts three months and may be extended by up to two months, to a maximum of five (EBL Art. 287(4)). There is no appeal against the grant (EBL Art. 287(6)); the creditor's tool at this stage is the 7-day objection.

If the court finds that the concordat may succeed, it grants a one-year definitive moratorium (kesin mühlet), which may be extended by up to six months in difficult cases (EBL Art. 289(3), 289(5)). The court may also form a creditors' committee (alacaklılar kurulu) of no more than seven members, always an odd number (EBL Art. 289(4)).

The commissioner supervises the debtor and must give creditors who ask information on the progress of the concordat and the debtor's current financial position (EBL Art. 290(2)). The debtor keeps running its business, but without court permission it cannot grant security, act as guarantor, make gifts or transfer real estate (EBL Art. 297(2)).

What the moratorium stops#

The provisional moratorium has the same effects as the definitive one (EBL Art. 288(1)). For a supplier, four effects matter most.

Enforcement and precautionary attachment#

During the moratorium no enforcement proceedings (icra takibi) can be started against the debtor, pending proceedings are stayed, and interim injunctions and precautionary attachment (ihtiyati haciz) orders are not executed (EBL Art. 294(1)). Limitation and preclusive periods that an enforcement step could interrupt do not run. Only claims in the first rank of EBL Art. 206 (certain privileged claims) can still be enforced by attachment (EBL Art. 294(2)).

Once the concordat is approved and binding, attachments placed in enforcement proceedings started before the provisional moratorium, and not yet converted into cash, fall away (EBL Art. 308/ç). An attachment obtained before the filing therefore does not by itself give a supplier priority.

Interest#

Unless the approved plan provides otherwise, interest stops running on unsecured claims from the date of the definitive moratorium (EBL Art. 294(3)). Read the plan's interest provision before you vote.

Set-off#

Set-off is governed by EBL Arts. 200 and 201, applied by reference to the date of public notice of the provisional moratorium (EBL Art. 294(4)). Under EBL Art. 200, a creditor who becomes the debtor's debtor after that date cannot set off. A supplier that buys back goods or receives a payment obligation toward the customer after the notice should not assume it can net the amounts.

Ongoing supply contracts and new shipments#

Contracts that matter for the continuation of the debtor's business continue. Clauses that treat the concordat filing as a breach, a ground for termination or an acceleration event do not apply, and obligations under these contracts during the moratorium are to be performed on both sides (EBL Art. 296(1)). The debtor may terminate unduly burdensome long-term contracts with the commissioner's favorable opinion and the court's permission (EBL Art. 296(2)).

Debts incurred after the provisional moratorium with the commissioner's permission are not subject to the plan, can be enforced even during the moratorium if unpaid, and rank ahead of other unsecured claims (EBL Art. 308/c(4)). Before shipping on credit to a customer in concordat, get written confirmation that the order is covered by the commissioner's permission.

Filing your claim#

The commissioner publishes a notice under EBL Art. 288 inviting creditors to file their claims within 15 days of the notice and mails a copy to creditors whose address is known (EBL Art. 299). The notice warns that creditors who do not file will not be admitted to the negotiation of the plan unless their claims appear in the debtor's balance sheet.

The EBL does not prescribe the content of a claim filing. In practice, a filing with the following is easier for the commissioner to verify:

• The amount, currency and date each claim arose.
• Invoices, the contract or purchase orders, and proof of delivery.
• A statement of account and any balance confirmation.
• Interest calculated up to the moratorium date, with the method.
• Any guarantee, pledge or other security.
• A power of attorney if counsel files for you.

The commissioner asks the debtor to respond to each claim and checks it against the debtor's books (EBL Art. 300). Turkish procedural law requires an express power for counsel to consent to a concordat proposal (Article 74 of the Code of Civil Procedure (HMK)), so the power of attorney should name concordat filings and voting.

U.S. dollar and other foreign currency claims#

The concordat provisions of the EBL do not say on which date a foreign currency claim is converted into Turkish lira. In 2025 the Court of Cassation's Assembly of Civil Chambers held that, to treat all creditors on a common date, foreign currency claims are converted at the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) selling rate on the last day of the 15-day filing period under EBL Art. 299 (Court of Cassation, Assembly of Civil Chambers, E. 2025/372, K. 2025/725, November 19, 2025).

Filing in the original currency lets the commissioner apply that rule. Check separately whether the plan treats foreign currency creditors differently. For interest and conversion outside concordat, see collecting a U.S. dollar invoice in Türkiye.

Voting and the majorities#

When the claims have been filed and reviewed, the commissioner calls a creditors' meeting by public notice. The meeting must be at least 15 days after the notice, and creditors may inspect the documents during the 7 days before it (EBL Art. 301).

The plan is accepted if it is signed by a majority exceeding either of the following (EBL Art. 302(3)):

1. Half of the registered creditors and half of the registered claims.
2. One quarter of the registered creditors and two thirds of the registered claims.

Only creditors affected by the plan vote. First-rank privileged claims under EBL Art. 206 and claims of certain close relatives of the debtor are excluded from the count, and secured claims count only for the unsecured portion (EBL Art. 302(4), 302(5)). The court decides whether, and to what extent, disputed claims count (EBL Art. 302(6)). Creditors may still join within 7 days after the meeting (EBL Art. 302(7)).

Court approval and objections#

After receiving the commissioner's reasoned report, the court sets and publishes a hearing date. Objecting creditors may attend if they file their grounds in writing at least three days before the hearing (EBL Art. 304(1)).

The court approves the plan only if all of these conditions are met (EBL Art. 305(1)):

• Creditors receive more under the plan than they would likely receive in the debtor's bankruptcy.
• The offer is proportionate to the debtor's resources.
• The plan was accepted by the majorities in EBL Art. 302.
• First-rank privileged claims and debts incurred with the commissioner's permission are adequately secured.
• Court costs and fees are deposited before approval.

The approval decision states how much of their claims creditors give up and the payment schedule (EBL Art. 306(1)). Objecting creditors may appeal within two weeks of the public notice of approval (EBL Art. 308/a).

After approval#

The concordat becomes binding with the approval decision, unless the plan makes it binding only when the decision is final; in that case the moratorium's effects continue until then (EBL Art. 308/c(1)). A binding concordat applies to all claims that arose before the filing, or during the moratorium without the commissioner's permission (EBL Art. 308/c(2)). This includes suppliers who never filed.

Any promise the debtor makes to one creditor beyond the plan is void (EBL Art. 308/d). A creditor who is not paid under the plan may ask the approving court to set the concordat aside as to itself (EBL Art. 308/e). Any creditor may seek full annulment of a concordat obtained in bad faith (EBL Art. 308/f).

If your claim is disputed#

If the debtor or the commissioner rejects all or part of your claim, you can sue within one month of the public notice of the approval decision (EBL Art. 308/b(1)). The court may order the debtor to deposit the share of disputed claims in a bank until the judgment is final; creditors who do not sue in time cannot claim from that deposit (EBL Art. 308/b(2)).

A foreign claimant bringing this action may face a request for security for costs, depending on reciprocity with its home country. See security for costs in Türkiye.

If the concordat fails#

If the court does not approve the plan, it dismisses the request and publishes the decision. If the debtor is subject to bankruptcy and a direct ground for bankruptcy exists, the court declares the debtor bankrupt on its own motion (EBL Art. 308(1)). The supplier then files its claim in the bankruptcy.

Bottom line#

In a Turkish concordat, the supplier's leverage comes from deadlines, not enforcement. The 7-day objection, the 15-day claim filing, the vote, and the post-approval periods of two weeks and one month decide how much of the claim survives. For dollar claims, the conversion date and the plan's interest clause directly affect the amount. Monitoring the public notices and having the documents and power of attorney ready early are the most effective protections.

Frequently asked questions

Law stated as at: October 11, 2026. Leyla Başkaya Şentürk is a lawyer (avukat) admitted to the Istanbul Bar Association, Türkiye (Reg. No. 67063). She advises on Turkish law only, is not admitted to practise law in any U.S. jurisdiction and does not advise on U.S. law. Content on this website is general information, not legal advice, and no outcome is promised. Using this website or submitting the contact form does not create an attorney-client relationship.