Okan Demirkan
Okan Demirkan is a partner at Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli, leading the Firm’s Dispute Resolution, Energy and Infrastructure as well as Ethics and Compliance practices.
He represents domestic and international clients in a wide range of litigation matters, including commercial disputes, employment-related disputes, intellectual property claims, administrative disputes, enforcement and set-aside lawsuits, as well as criminal proceedings in relation to white-collar crimes at all levels of the Turkish courts.
With significant experience of over 20 years in international arbitration, he regularly serves as counsel, arbitrator or expert witness in various commercial disputes involving Turkish law. He has successfully represented several international clients as well as local entities, both in institutional and ad hoc arbitration proceedings concerning major infrastructure projects, including build-operate-transfer (BOT) model investments, share purchase agreements, shareholders agreements, EPC contracts and licensing contracts. He regularly acts as presiding arbitrator, sole arbitrator or co-arbitrator in ICC and ISTAC arbitrations. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb).
Okan Demirkan is recognised as a Leading Individual by The Legal 500 in its Dispute Resolution, Compliance and Energy categories as well as ranked in “Band 1” in Litigation and “Band 2” in Arbitration listings by Chambers Global and Chambers Europe. Chambers Europe also ranks him in its Projects & Energy category. In 2019, Who’s Who Legal recognized Okan Demirkan as a “World Leading Energy Lawyer” and, in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, as a “Global Elite Thought Leader” in the field of Energy. In addition, Who’s Who Legal and GAR recognize him as one of the world’s leading arbitration practitioners since 2019, and in 2023, Who’s Who Legal also listed him in the field of Commercial Litigation. The IFLR1000 also names him as a Highly Regarded Lawyer.
According to Chambers Global, he is “a well-qualified, proactive and result-oriented individual” and “able to put himself in the client’s perceptive.” According to The Legal 500, “Okan Demirkan is the leading disputes partner. He is very hard-working, has excellent advocacy skills and is a true fighter.”