Reciprocity: The Condition That Decides Your Enforcement Case
You won your case abroad. Now you need that judgment to actually work in Türkiye (Turkey) — and one condition often decides whether it will. For enforcement, Turkish law asks whether there is reciprocity between Türkiye and the country where your judgment was given: does that country, in some form, honour Turkish judgments too? This single test, set out in the Private International Law and Procedure Act (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 →, Law No. 5718), can be the difference between a judgment you can collect on and one that stays on paper. The reassuring part is that reciprocity takes three different forms, it is required only for enforcement (not for recognition), and your country's position can be checked before you file.
What is reciprocity, and why does it decide your enforcement case?
Answer first: reciprocity means Türkiye will enforce your foreign judgment only if the country that issued it would, in some form, do the same for a Turkish judgment. It is the first thing a Turkish court checks in an enforcement (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 →) action — the court case that turns a foreign judgment into one you can actually execute in Türkiye, like a Turkish court's own decision.
Two Turkish terms run through this whole subject, so it helps to fix them now. Enforcement (tenfiz) makes a foreign judgment executable — you can then collect money or seize assets under it. 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 →) makes the foreign judgment count as legally settled between the parties, but does not, by itself, let you execute it. The difference matters, because reciprocity is required for the first and not the second.
If no reciprocal arrangement exists, the enforcement action fails — no matter how strong or how large your original judgment was. That is why this condition, and not the merits of your case, is often what decides the outcome in Türkiye.
For a fuller map of how these two routes differ, see our guide on recognition versus enforcement (tanıma vs tenfiz).
Which of these describes the decision you are holding?
What are the three forms of reciprocity under Turkish law?
Answer first: reciprocity does not have to be a treaty. Under MÖHUK art. 54(a) it can exist in three ways — by treaty, by the other country's statute, or de facto in practice. Any one of the three is enough; you do not need all three.
| Form of reciprocity | What it means | How it is shown to the court |
|---|---|---|
| By treaty | Türkiye and the origin state have a bilateral or multilateral treaty on the mutual enforcement of judgments | The text of the treaty itself |
| By statute | The origin state's own law allows a Turkish judgment to be enforced there | That country's legislation |
| De facto (in practice) | Even with no treaty or specific statute, the origin state's courts do, in practice, enforce Turkish judgments | Evidence of how those courts actually rule |
De facto reciprocity is the one people underestimate. Many valid enforcement cases rest not on a treaty but on proof that the courts of the origin state would, in a comparable situation, enforce a Turkish judgment. That proof has to be presented to the Turkish court — it is not assumed.
Does recognition (tanıma) also need reciprocity?
Answer first: no. Recognition (tanıma) does not require reciprocity. This is one of the most important differences between the two routes, and it can change your whole strategy.
Under MÖHUK art. 58, recognition applies the same conditions as enforcement except reciprocity. Recognition gives the foreign judgment res judicata and evidentiary effect — it is treated as settled between the parties. Enforcement (tenfiz) does that and makes the judgment executable in Türkiye.
| Enforcement (tenfiz) | Recognition (tanıma) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it achieves | Makes the judgment executable in Türkiye | Gives the judgment legal effect (res judicata) |
| Reciprocity required? | Yes — MÖHUK art. 54(a) | No — MÖHUK art. 58 |
| Typical use | Money judgments you need to collect against assets | Status and finality you need accepted, not executed |
This is why a foreign divorce is usually not a reciprocity problem at all. A foreign divorce can be recognised through tanıma (MÖHUK art. 58), which needs no reciprocity; and since 2017 it can often be registered directly through the administrative route under the Population Services Act (Law No. 5490), art. 27/A — through the civil registry or a consulate, without a court case, when the conditions are met. A family lawyer can tell you which route fits; see our divorce and family law page.
How does a Turkish court check reciprocity in your case?
Answer first: case by case. There is no single national list that settles reciprocity once and for all. The competent Turkish court looks at the specific origin state and asks whether any one of the three forms of reciprocity applies to your judgment.
The enforcement action is heard under the simplified procedure (basit yargılama usulü) set out in MÖHUK art. 55, and the court does not re-try the merits — there is no fresh examination of who was right in the original dispute (no révision au fond). The court's job is to check the conditions, and reciprocity is one of them.
Which court hears it? Under MÖHUK art. 51, it 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 →) where the party you are enforcing against lives in Türkiye; if that party has no home or residence in Türkiye, one of the courts in Ankara, İstanbul or İzmir. A commercial matter goes to the commercial court of first instance.
For how reciprocity sits alongside the other requirements — exclusive jurisdiction, public policy and proper defence — see our guide to the conditions to enforce a foreign judgment.
Does your country have reciprocity with Türkiye?
Answer first: it depends on your country and on the type of judgment you hold, and it must be verified for your specific case. There is no honest shortcut around that.
The general landscape looks like this. Türkiye has bilateral treaties with many states on legal and judicial cooperation, and where such a treaty covers the enforcement of judgments, treaty reciprocity may be established. With other countries there is no such treaty, and reciprocity then rests on the other country's own statute or on de facto practice — which must be shown to the court. In some cases the position is unsettled and has to be established with evidence for the first time.
If you want to see where this test fits in the wider enforcement picture, our recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments service page walks through the full route from foreign judgment to execution in Türkiye.
There is no treaty between my country and Türkiye, so my judgment cannot be enforced.
A treaty is only one of the three forms of reciprocity in MÖHUK art. 54(a). Reciprocity can also rest on the origin country's own statute allowing Turkish judgments to be enforced there, or on the fact that its courts do so in practice (de facto). Any one of the three can be enough — but it has to be shown to the Turkish court, not assumed.
Reciprocity is a fixed yes-or-no I can look up for my country.
There is no single national list that settles reciprocity once and for all. The court assesses it case by case, at the time of your action and on the material in front of it. A country may satisfy it for some kinds of judgment and not others, and its position can change over time — which is why a flat answer found online is not reliable.
If reciprocity exists, the court will know it — I do not have to prove anything.
Reciprocity is not assumed. Whichever of the three forms you rely on, the supporting material has to be put in front of the Turkish court: the treaty text, the origin country's legislation, or evidence of how its courts actually rule on Turkish judgments. De facto reciprocity in particular stands or falls on the evidence you file, which is why it is worth building before the case is contested.
I can take my foreign judgment straight to a Turkish enforcement office and start collecting.
Not yet. A foreign judgment is not executable in Türkiye on its own; a Turkish court must first make it so in an enforcement (tenfiz) action. Only after tenfiz is granted can the judgment be executed against assets through the enforcement offices under the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act (İİKİİKEnforcement and Bankruptcy Law No. 2004The Turkish statute governing how debts are collected by force — enforcement proceedings, attachment, sale and bankruptcy.Glossary →, Law No. 2004), like a domestic judgment.
Is reciprocity different for foreign arbitral awards?
Answer first: yes. If you hold a foreign arbitral award rather than a court judgment, the country-by-country reciprocity test for court judgments does not apply in the same way. Awards follow a different regime built on an international treaty.
Foreign arbitral awards are enforced in Türkiye mainly under the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, to which Türkiye is a party, and under MÖHUK arts 60–63. Because most trading nations have joined that Convention, the framework for recognising each other's awards is largely shared, rather than assessed state by state as it is for court judgments.
The grounds to refuse an award are also narrower than for court judgments. They track New York Convention Art. V — for example an invalid arbitration agreement or a party's incapacity, improper notice or an inability to present the case, an award that goes beyond what was submitted, an irregular tribunal or procedure, an award set aside at the seat, a subject-matter that cannot be arbitrated, or enforcement that would be contrary to public policy. MÖHUK art. 62 sets out the corresponding grounds, including public policy under art. 62/1-b.
If arbitration is your route, see our guide to enforcing a foreign arbitral award under the New York Convention — a different, and often narrower, path than the tenfiz route for court judgments.
What about a United States judgment — is there reciprocity with the US?
Answer first: the United States does not have a single, uniform position, so reciprocity with the US cannot be assumed either way — it has to be assessed for the specific state and the specific judgment.
There is no federal treaty or single federal statute between Türkiye and the US on the mutual enforcement of court judgments, and whether US courts enforce a Turkish judgment is largely a matter of state law, which varies. That means the reciprocity analysis for a US judgment turns on where in the US the judgment was rendered and how that state's courts treat foreign judgments — not on a blanket rule for the country as a whole.
For US-specific guidance on how this test may apply to your judgment, see our US Desk.
How do you establish reciprocity, and what happens after enforcement is granted?
Answer first: you (through a Türkiye-bar lawyer) show the court which form of reciprocity applies and back it with proof — the treaty text, the foreign statute, or evidence of that country's court practice — while filing the judgment itself in proper form.
Alongside reciprocity, the judgment has to reach the court correctly. In practice that means it must be:
- Final (kesinleşmiş), with a finality annotation showing no further ordinary appeal is available;
- Apostilled under the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, or consular-legalised where the Convention does not apply; and
- Accompanied by a sworn Turkish translation.
A power of attorney (vekâletnameVekâletnamePower of attorneyThe notarised document that authorises a Turkish lawyer to act for you — the reason most matters can be handled without you travelling.Glossary →) lets a Türkiye-bar lawyer run the whole case remotely, so you do not have to travel. Note too that a foreign claimant may have to post security for costs (yabancılık teminatı) under the Code of Civil Procedure (HMK) art. 84, unless a treaty or a reciprocity exemption removes that requirement.
Once the court grants tenfiz, the foreign judgment can be executed in Türkiye like a domestic one — enforced against assets through the enforcement offices under the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act (İİK, Law No. 2004).
This article is general information about Turkish law and is not legal advice; for advice on your specific situation, consult a qualified lawyer.
Sets the conditions to enforce a foreign judgment — reciprocity at art. 54(a) — drops reciprocity for recognition at art. 58, fixes the competent court at art. 51 and the simplified procedure at art. 55, and covers arbitral awards at arts 60–63.
Since 2017 this allows a foreign divorce to be registered directly through the civil registry or a consulate, without a court case, when the conditions are met.
Once tenfiz is granted, the foreign judgment is executed against assets in Türkiye through the enforcement offices under this Act, like a domestic judgment.
The main route for foreign arbitral awards, to which Türkiye is a party; its Art. V grounds for refusal are narrower than the conditions applied to court judgments.
What to gather before you ask about your own case
Reciprocity has to be verified for your specific judgment, not for your country in the abstract. These are the things that let a lawyer admitted to a Turkish bar look at your actual position.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need reciprocity to recognise a foreign divorce in Türkiye?
No. Recognition (tanıma) under MÖHUK art. 58 does not require reciprocity, so a foreign divorce does not depend on it. In many cases a foreign divorce can also be registered directly through the administrative route under the Population Services Act (Law No. 5490) art. 27/A, without a court case, when the conditions are met.
Can I enforce a foreign judgment in Türkiye if there is no treaty with my country?
Possibly, yes. A treaty is only one of the three forms of reciprocity under MÖHUK art. 54(a). Reciprocity can also exist because the origin country's own statute allows Turkish judgments to be enforced, or because its courts do so in practice (de facto). Any one of the three can be enough if you can prove it.
Will the Turkish court re-examine the merits of my case?
No. Under MÖHUK art. 55 the enforcement action is heard under the simplified procedure, and the court does not re-try the merits or reopen who was right in the original dispute. It checks the enforcement conditions — including reciprocity, public policy and the defendant's right to a proper defence — not the substance of the decision.
Who decides whether reciprocity exists?
The competent Turkish court decides, case by case. Under MÖHUK art. 51 that is usually the civil court of first instance (asliye hukuk mahkemesi) where the party you are enforcing against lives, or a commercial court for a commercial matter. It weighs the evidence you file of a treaty, a foreign statute, or actual court practice.
Do foreign arbitral awards need the same reciprocity as court judgments?
No. Foreign arbitral awards are enforced mainly under the 1958 New York Convention, to which Türkiye is a party, and under MÖHUK arts 60–63. Because the Convention provides a shared framework, the country-by-country reciprocity test for court judgments does not apply in the same way, and the grounds to refuse an award are narrower.
How do I find out my country's reciprocity position before filing?
Have a Türkiye-bar lawyer verify the current position for your specific judgment rather than relying on a general online answer for your country. Reciprocity is assessed case by case, can differ by the type of judgment, and can change over time, so a blanket "yes" or "no" is not reliable.
