ICLG Insurance & Reinsurance 2026 — Türkiye Chapter

Cavus & Coskunsu has again contributed the Türkiye chapter to ICLG – Insurance & Reinsurance 2026, published by Global Legal Group. The chapter was written by founding partner Caglar Coskunsu and partner Ibrahim Onur Oğuzgiray.

The full chapter is available to read and download below.

What the chapter covers

The Türkiye chapter answers the questions that most often arise for foreign insurers, reinsurers and their advisers when Turkish risks or Turkish proceedings are involved:

• Regulation — the role of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, the Insurance Supervisory Board and the General Directorate of Insurance, and the transition to the Insurance and Private Pension Regulatory and Supervisory Organization established under Presidential Decree No. 47. Requirements for setting up an insurance or reinsurance company, the position of foreign insurers writing business in Türkiye, restrictions on freedom of contract, indemnification of directors, and the classes of compulsory insurance.
• (Re)insurance claims — the insured’s duty of disclosure, the consequences of non-disclosure, and rights of subrogation on payment of a claim.
• Litigation — which courts hear commercial insurance disputes, the court fees payable to commence proceedings, and how long a commercial case commonly takes to reach first-instance judgment.
• Litigation procedure — the courts’ powers over disclosure, the treatment of witness and expert evidence, interim remedies, rights of appeal, recoverability of interest and costs, and the consequences of refusing to mediate.
• Arbitration — how the Turkish courts approach arbitration clauses in insurance contracts, the wording required to make a clause effective, and the circumstances in which a dispute may still reach the courts notwithstanding an express arbitration agreement.
• Hot topics — the two issues currently generating the most disputes in the Turkish market.

Two issues worth flagging

Underinsurance driven by inflation and exchange rate volatility. Replacement costs in Türkiye have risen quickly enough that sums insured can become outdated within a matter of months. The result is a growing volume of disputes over the application of underinsurance clauses, the adequacy of the sum insured, and how responsibility for that inadequacy is allocated between insurer, insured and intermediary. Property, marine and construction risks are the most affected.

Sanctions and compliance. International sanctions regimes and the heightened regulatory scrutiny that accompanies them have narrowed the availability and scope of cover for Turkish risks, particularly in shipping, energy and cross-border trade. Disputes increasingly turn on the drafting of sanctions clauses, on termination rights, on whether a claim may lawfully be paid, and on the extent to which insurers and reinsurers can rely on sanctions-related defences. For market participants this has become a meaningful source of coverage uncertainty.

About the authors

Caglar Coskunsu served as second officer and chief officer on container vessels and bulk carriers before qualifying as a lawyer, and later managed a shipowner’s claims and insurance department, where his responsibilities included placing the fleet’s insurance. He holds an LL.M. in Maritime Law from the University of Southampton and is completing a Ph.D. at Istanbul University. He founded Cavus & Coskunsu in 2006.

Ibrahim Onur Oğuzgiray joined the firm in 2016 and became a partner in February 2024. He represents P&I clubs, shipowners, hull and machinery underwriters and foreign reinsurers in complex maritime and insurance disputes, including collisions, salvage, cargo claims and charter-party matters, and is highly experienced in the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards and court judgments in Türkiye.

Read the chapter

This chapter is published as part of ICLG – Insurance & Reinsurance 2026 and is reproduced here with permission. It is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on a specific matter, please contact us.

See also our chapter in the 2025 edition and our wider insurance and reinsurance practice.