Bahadır Balkı is the managing partner of ACTECON, Istanbul. He graduated from the University of Bahcesehir and holds an LLM degree in the field of European economic law from Saarland University – Europa-Institut. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. education on European Union Law. Bahadır is an admitted lawyer of the Istanbul Bar Association. Bahadır is known for his excellent work discipline together with his intriguing and effective defenses. In the last ten years, he has been involved in virtually every significant cartel and abuse of dominance investigations launched by the Turkish Competition Authority concerning insurance, banking, iron&steel, automotive, cement, telecommunications, broadcasting rights, ro-ro transportation, FMCG, alcoholic beverages, media audit, port services etc. Clients have also benefited from Bahadır’s extensive experience in global merger cases, especially in Phase II procedures, in a variety of industries (i.e. eyewear and lenses, titanium dioxide, crop protection business, iron&steel, FMCG, ground handling, aviation, port management services, ro-ro transportation, cement, movie theatre). Beyond successfully leading the leniency applications, Bahadır’s experience is above the rest in terms of leniency enforcement. He contributed to the creation of the first precedent in the Turkish competition law practice in which a leniency applicant (represented by Bahadır Balkı) still obtained the immunity even if the nature of the violation is not considered a hard-core cartel by the Turkish Competition Authority. He conducts comprehensive competition compliance programs focusing on details of the relevant market structure and provides legal consultancy services on day-to-day business for his clients who come from a wide range of industries. He is regarded as a pragmatic and client-focused advisor connected to the business facts. He is acknowledged and welcomed by other institutions in the area of antitrust law. He was invited to the ICN Annual Meeting 2014 as a resource person on Remedies, Commitments, and Cooperation. He was also a member of drafting team for ICN Unilateral Conduct Workbook chapters on Loyalty Rebates and Discounts, and Tying. He is also a co-writer of the Turkey Chapters of editions on “Private Antitrust Litigation” (since 2015) and “Competition Compliance” (since 2017) published by Getting the Deal Through. He is one of the guest lecturers in LLM competition law courses at Istanbul Bilgi University. Bahadır is recommended as a leading individual by Who’s Who Legal: Competition (2015-present).
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The Turkish Competition Authority Fines Elon Musk due to Failure to Notify the Twitter Deal* On 06.03.2023, the Turkish Competition Authority (’TCA”) announced its decision to fine Elon Musk due to failure to notify the $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter. The TCA’s reasoned decision is not (...)
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The Ankara 13th Administrative Court (’Court’) recently annulled with its decision (“Court Decision”) the Turkish Competition Authority’s (’TCA’) cartel determination (“TCA Decision”) against Kronospan Orman Ürünleri San. ve Tic. A.Ş. (“Kronospan”) in a decision through which it had imposed on (...)
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Introduction This blogpost will give an overview on the draft amendment (the “Draft Amendment”) to the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (the “Law No. 4054”). The key points of the Draft Amendment concern: Introducing definitions of core platform services into the Law No. 4054 (...)
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The interpretation of the exemption brought for “technology undertakings” took a sudden turn with the Turkish Competition Authority’s (“TCA”) recent Berkshire Hathaway Decision (15.09.2022, 22-42/625-261) which resolved that the exception brought to the merger control thresholds by the recent (...)
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On 04.03.2022, important amendments/additions have been introduced to the Communiqué Concerning the Mergers and Acquisitions Calling for the Authorization of the Competition Board (“Communiqué No. 2010/4”). With this article, it is aimed to summarize these latest amendments in the Communiqué (...)
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A Critical Approach to Standard of Proof Adopted by the TCA* The Ankara Regional Administrative Court 8th Administrative Chamber (“Regional Court“) recently ruled for the stay of execution of the Turkish Competition Authority’s (“TCA“) cartel decision which has imposed on two undertakings (...)
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The Regional Administrative Court Found the Turkish Competition Authority’s Decision concerning Mey İçki Unlawful: Abuse of the Dominance Should Be Evaluated Separately in terms of Each Product Market!* Introduction The Ankara Regional Administrative Court’s 8th Administrative Chamber (...)
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The Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) on March 23, 2020 gave its heads up to undertakings that it was “closely following the price increases”, which it referred to as “opportunistic” during the pandemic . As such, the TCA warned in its announcement that it will impose the highest fines (...)
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In 21 April 2020, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) published its reasoned decision on resale price maintenance and de facto exclusivity conducts focusing on the practices carried by Red Bull Gıda Dağıtım ve Pazarlama Tic. Ltd. Şti. (“Red Bull”) Resale price maintenance and (...)
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How Will Turkey Deal with Unfair Practices During COVID-19 Outbreak: Establishment of the Unfair Price Assessment Board* Introduction While the world is dealing with novel coronavirus pandemic, many countries resorted to protectionist measures in order to preserve the quality of social (...)
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Introduction In March 2020, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) imposed a hefty fine amounting to approximately TRY 1.5 billion in total (approx. EUR 170 million) on four undertakings operating in the fuel distribution sector, namely BP Petrolleri A.Ş. (“BP”), OPET Petrolcülük A.Ş. (...)
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The Undertakings Operating in the Automotive Sector under the Review of the TCA Once Again* Introduction In the previous days, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) resolved under its decision dated 26.03.2020 and numbered 20-16/234-M to open an investigation against the undertaking (...)
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On 29th of July, Google announced that starting from 10 th of August, it will be removing shopping ads (or “the Shopping Unit” as referred by the TCA as well as by the EU Commission) from its search pages in Turkey. According to the tech giant, the decision was taken because of the (...)
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Turkish Competition Authority Reiterates: Labor Market is Subject to Competition Law Enforcement* Anti-competitive practices in the labor markets have generally not been on the radar of the competition watchdogs. Given the increase in the number of cases dealing with the labor markets within (...)
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TCA’s Preliminary Inquiry into Google’s Shopping Unit Bidding Mechanism On 07.11.2019, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) concluded its preliminary inquiry regarding Google’s bidding system and decided not to initiate a full-fledged investigation. Said preliminary inquiry had been (...)
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Çimsa Çimento ve San. ve Tic. A.Ş. (“ Çimsa ”), a Turkey based international cement manufacturer has made a notification to the National Commission on Markets and Competition (“ CNMC ” in Spanish) on 05.06.2019 for its agreement with CEMEX S.A.B. de C.V (“ Cemex ”), aimed to purchase Cemex’s (...)
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The Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) has concluded its full-fledged investigation regarding a total of 20 undertakings operating in the poultry sector. In its decision dated 13.03.2019 and numbered 19-12/155-70, the TCA held that the following 9 undertakings violated Article 4 of the Law (...)
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Should Traditional and Online Sales Channels Constitute Separate Relevant Markets? (The TCA’s D&R Decision) On November 23, 2018, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) published its reasoned decision (“D&R Decision”) concerning the investigation conducted against Doğan Müzik (...)
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On 22 November 2018 the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) completed its investigation and decided to sanction Sony Eurasia Pazarlama A.Ş. (“Sony”) for its involvement in imposition of fixed or minimum resale prices maintenance (“RPM”) on online retailers. Sony should be faced with an (...)
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Introduction In February 2019, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) released the public version of its decision with regard to its preliminary inquiry against the undertakings producing and/or selling baby food products. Contrary to the price fixing allegations, the TCA found that the (...)
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Introduction On 27 September 2018, Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) published its decision concerning the allegations that Roche Müstahzarları A.Ş. (“Roche”) had violated articles 4 and 6 of the Law on the Protection of Competition (“Competition Act”). Within this scope, the TCA (...)
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The tech giant Google has been under the Turkish Competition Authority’s (“TCA”) scrutiny due to its practices in the market for licensable mobile operating systems and under the judicial review since July 2015. In September 2018, the TCA has finally released its short decision and imposed a (...)
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Introduction The Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) has concluded its investigation against Diye Danışmanlık Eğitim ve Medya Hizmetleri Tic A.Ş.’s (“yurddaş + partners”) Media Barometer services. It is decided that Media Barometer, which is a media performance measurement service that (...)
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The Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) had found that six cement producers operating in the Aegean Region of Turkey entered into a concerted practice to allocate certain geographical regions amongst themselves and to collectively raise the prices of cement products during the time period (...)
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With the developments in online services, our habits in everyday life has been changing rapidly. Nowadays, one can cater any of its needs via websites or simple smartphone apps instantly. And all these developments have also been reflected its effects on maybe one of our most common and (...)
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This section selects books on themes related to competition laws and economics. This compilation does not attempt to be exhaustive but rather a survey of themes important in the area. The survey usually covers publication over the last three months after publication of the latest issue of (...)
Global Dictionary of Competition Law
