Cemil Şaar

Cemil Şaar advises foreign investors and companies on Turkish law. His practice concentrates on private international law, crypto asset regulation, and the procedural problems that arise when a foreign party invests or litigates in Turkey.

He handles company formation and structuring, work and residence permits, real estate acquisition, litigation and enforcement. A large part of the work is cross-border: Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, service of documents on foreign nationals, security for costs, and the reciprocity questions those raise. Clients operate mainly in web3, textile, construction and hospitality.

On the digital asset side he advises on licensing of crypto asset service providers, custody and travel-rule compliance, and the classification of tokens under Turkish law. He has also litigated the recovery of misappropriated crypto assets, including a claim over holdings valued at roughly USD 800,000 at the date of the theft, which produced findings on whether crypto assets can be treated as movable property.

He was admitted to the Istanbul Bar Association in 2019. He holds an LL.B. from Istanbul Aydın University (2019) and an LL.M. with honours from İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University (2021), where his thesis examined the concept of citizenship and the genuine link theory. He is a doctoral candidate in private international law at Istanbul University.

He writes on Turkish capital markets, crypto asset regulation and private international law at cemilsaar.com. He works in Turkish, English, Russian and Azerbaijani.