Episode 12 - Turkey - Mehmet Gülerman

Today’s guest on the podcast is Mehmet Gülerman. Mehmet is a principle in his firm, Gülerman Law Office, based in Ankara, Turkey. His work focuses primarily on commercial law; he advises companies on business issues and represents them in commercial litigation. Mehmet also is a certified mediator. He studied law in Turkey and completed an LLM program on European law in the Netherlands. During our interview, Mehmet shares his observations about the influences of eastern and western cultures on Turkey’s culture, how the lack of a social consensus in Turkey impacts citizens’ views of rules/laws and their application, and the challenges that non-Turkish clients face when first doing business in the country. He also talks about the introduction of mediation in Turkey. While a mediation law has been in effect since 2013, cultural hurdles remain to convincing the local population to consider mediation for dispute resolution. At the end of our discussion, Mehmet gives us some tips about working and interacting with clients and colleagues from Turkey. Mehmet can be reached by email at [email protected].