Legal Glossary

A mandate (vekâlet) is a contract for the performance of services, by which the mandatary undertakes to perform a task of, or carry out a transaction for, the principal. It is regulated in Articles 502 et seq. of the Turkish Code of Obligations (TBK); if there is a contract or custom, the mandatary is entitled to remuneration. The mandatary is obliged to follow instructions, to carry out the work, as a rule, personally and with loyalty and care, and to render accounts. The word is also used in procedural law for authority of representation (representation in a lawsuit) and for the power of attorney (vekâletname), and in public law for the temporary performance of a duty by another person.

Mediation is a dispute resolution method in which the parties to a dispute try to reach their own solution through negotiations led by an impartial and independent third person who has received specialized training. The mediator does not issue a binding decision; the mediator facilitates communication between the parties and, under Law No. 6325, may also make a proposal if the parties cannot reach a solution. It is, as a rule, voluntary; however, in certain employment, commercial, consumer and lease disputes, recourse to a mediator before filing a lawsuit is a procedural prerequisite.

A merger is a corporate-law transaction in which two or more commercial companies bring their assets together in a single company and the shareholders of the transferring company become shareholders of the acquiring company. It is regulated in Articles 134 et seq. of the Turkish Commercial Code (TTK). It can take the form of a merger by absorption or by formation of a new company; it becomes valid upon registration in the trade registry, and the transferring company ceases to exist.