Team

Gökhan specializes in payment services and e-commerce sector. He advises on e-commerce law, intellectual property law, data protection, payment services and related legal disputes and is one of the leading lawyers in Turkey in these areas. He is also a trademark attorney and represents our clients before the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office regarding trademark registrations and oppositions.

For nearly 20 years, Gökhan has provided consultancy services to many international and national companies on Intellectual Property Law, E-Commerce law, Payment and Electronic Money services and related licensing processes and legal disputes. As one of the leading lawyers in the sector, Gökhan also participates and contributes to the preparation of many legislations. He is also the chief legal advisor of the Turkish Payment and Electronic Money Institutions Union, which requires all licensed institutions in the Payment and Electronic Money Services sector to be a member and is in close contact with all parties in the sector.

Gökhan, who has been actively involved in social responsibility projects since his student days, is currently a founding member of the board of trustees of the Turkish Entrepreneurship Foundation and the founding chairman of the Electronic Commerce and Internet Law Association.

In addition to his law practice, Gökhan works as a lecturer at MEF University Faculty of Law and is a speaker and trainer at many institutions and organizations.

He is one of the recommended expert lawyers in the field of Fintech in Turkey in 2024 by Chambers and Partners, one of the leading legal networks.

Sıdıka Baysal is an expert in the fields of International Mergers & Acquisitions and Technology Law and is the head of the corporate law department of BBO Legal. She has been representing many Turkish and foreign companies in mergers, acquisitions and shareholding transactions for more than 20 years.

After serving in many sub-committees, as of January 2019, she served as the co-chairman of the European Regional Forum of the International Bar Association for 2 years. She also serves on the organizing committee of many international law conferences and takes part as a speaker in many panels.

Sıdıka Baysal, who takes active roles not only in the field of law but also in the field of social responsibility, currently serves as a member of the board of trustees and board of directors of GİRVAK (Turkish Entrepreneurship Foundation) and previously served in GYİAD (Young Managers and Businessmen Association) and Make a Wish Association as Secretary General.

She is graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Law and attended the international law program at London Guildhall University.

Sıdıka Baysal is listed among the Telecom, Media and IT law experts in Turkey by Who's Who Legal.

Alper began his career as a lawyer at a local law firm, then served for nine years as a Senior Legal Advisor at the Capital Markets Board. Following this, he spent five years as the Director responsible for the Financial Law Team at PwC, where he led successful projects.

Specializing in securities, investments, mergers and acquisitions, derivatives, and structured finance transactions, Alper also has extensive experience in initial public offerings, private equity, restructuring, and anti-money laundering.

Currently, he provides consultancy services in corporate and financial law, blockchain, and crypto assets to various banks, investment firms, venture capital funds, asset management companies, payment and e-money institutions, and cryptocurrency exchanges.

Alper is currently Group Executive Committee Member of TUBITAK 1514 GISDEG Programme and continues to work as a member of TÜSİAD Capital Markets Working Group.

Mustafa Baştürk is an expert on all kinds of commercial and individual dispute resolution issues, especially enforcement and bankruptcy law, real estate law, labor law and sports law. Mustafa, who heads the Litigation and Enforcement Department at BBO Legal, provides consultancy services to many international and local companies in this context.

Mustafa is a graduate of Marmara University Faculty of Law and Kadir Has University Private Law Master's Program.

Having practiced law in some of the major law firms in Turkey, Duygu is holding the counsel position in our office.

A graduate of Terakki Vakfı Özel Şişli Terakki High School, and has completed her legal studies at Bahçeşehir Universiy Faculty of Law.

Duygu has continued her graduate studies in the IT Law LL.M Program at Bahçeşehir University Institute of Social Sciences and graduated with her LL.M. Thesis, entitled “Protection of Personal Data on E-Commerce Law”.

She is member of the Board of the E-Commerce and Internet Law Association established in 2015, President of the Board of the Şişli Terakki High School Alumni Association since 2022, Member of the General Assembly of the Terakki Foundation beginning from 2024.

Duygu, primarily concentrates on the law of contracts, commercial law and corporate law as well as e-commerce and family law. She provides counseling to corporations with regards to the preparation of all forms of contracts, the evaluation of merger and acquisition processes, establishment of companies and general assembly proceedings, as well as legal counseling on legislative developments.

Ömer has been working with financial technology companies, technology companies and e-commerce companies since 2019 and consults these companies regarding compliance with the legislation, conducting licensing and operating permit processes and resolving legal disputes to which they are parties.

Ömer, who has been working intensively with payment and electronic money institutions, completed the Istanbul Bilgi University Master of Laws Program with his thesis titled "Regulation of Payment Institutions in Turkish Law" and his thesis was published in the National Thesis Center of the Council of Higher Education. He is currently continuing his PhD studies.

Providing consultancy in areas such as the protection of personal data, prevention of money laundering, e-commerce law and contract law, he also takes part in legal processes of domestic and foreign companies regarding corporate law and M&A’s.

Betül completed law faculty with honors and a minor degree before pursuing an Advanced Master's Program in Law and Finance at Universiteit Leiden in the Netherlands. Her thesis, titled "Navigating Risk and Regulation: Venture Capital Investment Phase Risk Management within the EUVECA Framework" underscores her commitment to understanding alternative investment schemes, particularly focusing on legal risk management and expertise within the venture capital industry. Additionally, she successfully completed the Leiden Leadership Program, an esteemed extracurricular honors program at Leiden University designed to equip master’s students with the knowledge, insights, and skills necessary to make a significant professional and societal impact.

Prior to joining BBO Legal, Betül gained extensive experience in corporate law, contract law, and corporate law litigation, providing legal counsel to clients across various sectors both nationally and internationally. She, currently, specializes in capital markets and private equity and venture capital deals, where she has been actively involved in numerous venture capital fund establishments, including the first green venture capital fund in Türkiye, and various investment deals. She provides consultancy services ranging from fund structuring to liquidation for venture capital investment funds; portfolio management companies, and investors. Her responsibilities also include counseling venture capital deal negotiations, involving term sheets, shareholders and investment agreements, convertible loan agreements, option agreements, conducting due diligence processes, and overseeing transaction closures.

After graduating with honors from Istanbul University Faculty of Law, Semiha completed her Master's degree in International Financial Law at King's College London with honors, writing her thesis on "The Impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on the Too-Big-To-Fail Theory".

Semiha is involved in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital investments, drafting investment and shareholder agreements, drafting SAFE and convertible debt agreements and conducting due diligence.

After completing his education at Sainte Pulchérie High School, Doruk graduated from Istanbul Bilgi University. In his last year of university, he participated as a team captain in the moot court competition on World Trade Organisation (WTO) law organised by ELSA. Doruk completed his master's degree at Universiteit van Amsterdam - Law & Finance.

Doruk is fluent in English and French. He has attended conferences on blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies and advises clients on blockchain technology and crypto law as well as corporate law.

Eylül Güner Üstünçelik graduated from Istanbul Medipol University in 2022 and by completing her Law Internship at BBO Legal, she continues working as a lawyer in the firm. Eylül is actively involved in many legal processes such as obtaining/expanding operating licenses for Payment and Electronic Money Institutions and mergers/acquisitions of companies, but also carries out the translation of legal texts, contract review, preparation of information notes for clients and follow-up of correspondence with official institutions.

İrem is a graduate of Istanbul University in 2022. At BBO Legal, she works in the fields of e-commerce law, contract law, personal data protection, and also provides consultancy services to service providers and payment institutions to ensure compliance with the legislation and execution of related processes. İrem is also involved in the investment processes of local and foreign companies and assists in various corporate law matters including company incorporation procedures, general assembly and board meetings.

After graduating from Istanbul University Faculty of Law with honors, Nihan started her master’s degree in Private Law at Istanbul University. Nihan has attended conferences on blockhain technologies and has written articles on the protection of children’s rights in the technological world, and continues her master’s degree.

At BBO Legal, Nihan is involved in providing consultancy services to funds, venture capital companies and regulated companies in the establishment and investment processes of venture capital investment funds, as well as providing consultancy services to clients on blockchain technology and crypto law.

Merve graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 2023. After her graduation, she started working as a trainee lawyer at BBO Legal. During her education, she attended many seminars and conferences and played an active role in various club activities. At the same time, she was a founding member of the IUHF Women's Commission and carried out many activities and studies in this context. She is currently a member of the litigation team of BBO Legal and carries out her work in this context.

Gupse graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 2024. After graduation, she joined BBO Legal as a legal intern.

During her studies, Gupse gained experience in law, finance and business development in many companies, especially in Borsa Istanbul, and is a member of İşbank Young Advisory Board for the last term. She is also a 2020-2021 Fellow of the Turkish Entrepreneurship Foundation and is closely involved in entrepreneurship and sustainability.

Currently, she continues to work in the area of legal processes of financial technology companies, contract law, M&A processes and labor law in the Corporate Department of our firm.

Mrs. Baytok specializes in Banking and Capital Markets Law, Mergers and Acquisitions, IPO, Foreign Investments and Foundations Law.

Her previous experience includes her work at the Ministry of Tourism as Attorney and as Assistant Manager in the Expropriation Department, at Development Bank of Turkey as Secretary to the Board, Attorney, Deputy General Counsel, Consultant to Chairman, the World Bank as consultant, Development Bank of Turkey as the Manager of Istanbul Securities Center, at the First National Bank of Boston (which then became Oyakbank and now Ing Bank) as Legal and Capital Markets Coordinator, as the General Manager of Oyak Portfolio Management Company, as the Legal Director in Coca-Cola Beverage Company.

Mrs. Baytok is the Chairperson of Turkish Economic Law Research Foundation, Executive Committee Member of the Foreign Relations Center at the Istanbul Bar Association, Advisory Board Member at The American and International Law Academy at Dallas, Texas where she is an alumna and currently she teaches at the Bogazici University "Introduction to Law" as a part-time lecturer.

Mrs. Isil Baytok has graduated from Ankara College and Ankara University Faculty of Law (1970). She studied at The American University in Washington D.C, USA with the Fulbright Scholarship.

Dr.Yuksel Yalova has served as a member of Turkish Grand National Assembly for three consecutive terms between 1991 and 2001 and Vice-President of the Assembly. During his term, Dr.Yalova has been appointed as the Minister of State responsible of privatization between 1999 and 2001. Dr.Yalova supervised numerous privatization processes of public entities from various sectors. He holds a close relation with the Privatization Authority, that he assisted its development.

Dr.Yalova joined BBO Legal as a Senior Of Counsel in 2013 and provides consultation in privatization and energy projects. He is also the founding director of African Studies Center in Istanbul and she currently teaches at the Aydin University "Energy Law".

Ms. Ozge Icoz has graduated from Ortadogu Technical University in 1997. After her graduation, she worked as a Competition Expert for the Turkish Competition Board and manager of competition departments at a number of leading Turkish law firms. Ozge Icoz received an LLM degree from Warwick University in International Economy Law. She specializes in regulation of the telecommunication sector and also has extensive experience in investigative work, matters of abuse of dominant positions, Mergers & Acquisitions and Privatizations. Ms. Icoz provides consulting services to BBO Legal in connection with the Turkish Competition Board related matters.

Ms. Beril Pınar Tandogan graduated from Ankara University Law School. After her graduation, she worked at Turkish Petroleum Int. Company until 2003, following which she established her Energy Law practice in Ankara. She specializes in Energy Law and Investments in Turkey, Carbon Emission, Renewable Energy and Construction Law She acts as an “of counsel” of BBO Legal with respect to Energy Law and EMRA related issue.

Mr Sozen is a licensed Lawyer registered with the Istanbul Bar Association and a certified (CIPP/E) data protection/privacy consultant. In the early years of her career, he worked as a legal consultant at Pricewaterhouse Coopers (“PwC”), Banking and Finance Department and currently, continues his legal consultancy services as a sole practitioner in London. During his time at PwC, Mr Sozen provided legal consultancy services to multinational financial institutions, government entities, funds and listed companies concerning banking and capital markets and foreign exchange law regulations. Besides, Mr Sozen has notable experience in the field of personal data protection; he had provided legal consultancy and compliance services to a significant number of local and multinational companies on GDPR and local privacy regulations.

Serhat Şener started working at Deloitte in 2006 as IT Consultant and Audit Specialist. In 2012, he joined PwC as Service Line Development Manager, specifically responsible for Payment and Electronic Money Institutions and Fintech Companies. He worked as IT Consultant and Audit Specialist in leading companies in Turkey. Until 2019, he worked as a senior manager in Risk Assurance Services. As of 2019, he worked as Assistant General Manager at an international money transfer company called PayPorter.

In 2021, he started providing management consulting in the Fintech space (mainly Payment and E-money Institutions and Crypto Asset Service Providers). He is also a board member of a payment institution. He was also appointed as a Board Member to the Association of Payment and Electronic Money Institutions of Turkey in 2022. In his current duties, he is responsible for the money transfer sector and institutionalization of the Association.

He managed the process of more than 25 license applications of Payment Services and Electronic Money Institutions to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency and the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. Serhat Şener, who has created business models and feasibility analyses for many Fintech initiatives and companies, has extensive knowledge of Fintech regulations in Turkey and new technology trends in the world.

Following his graduation from Anadolu University Faculty of Business Administration in 2002, Mustafa Karaoğlu worked in various Financial Advisory Offices between 1999 and 2011 and was awarded the Financial Advisor certificate in 2011. He has been working as an Independent Accountant and Financial Advisor since then. Mustafa Karaoğlu provides financial consultancy services to BBO Legal clients.