Judging Panel Committee

Bürke Şerbetçi Arabacı has extensive work experience in the legal field. Bürke started their career as a Law Intern at Bank of Interbank in 1999 and then worked as an Associate Lawyer at Somay Law Firm and Sahin Law Firm. In 2005, they worked as a Contract Attorney at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Washington D.C., and also served as a Lecturer at Istanbul Bilgi University. From 2005 to 2010, they worked as a Senior Legal Counsel (Expert) at Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri A.S. Bürke then worked as a Senior Associate at Schoenherr from 2011 to 2018. Bürke joined Digiturk in 2018 as a Legal Manager, responsible for Corporate and Commercial Legal Affairs. Bürke subsequently held positions as Vice President and Head of Legal & Business Affairs at Fox Networks Group, and currently serves as the Head of Legal Affairs at The Walt Disney Company since 2019.

Bürke Şerbetçi Arabacı holds a Doctor of Law (J.D.) degree from Istanbul University, which they obtained between 1993 and 1999. Bürke also pursued further education at Georgetown University Law Center, where they completed a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in Law from 2003 to 2004. 

Celal graduated from İstanbul University Faculty of Law in 1988 and worked in the same university until 1994. 

He was in private practice law from 1995 to 2000 and joined the BP Turkey Legal Team in 2000 as Legal Counsel. 

In 2006 Celal joined Siemens Turkey as General Counsel and served as Siemens General Counsel and as a board member until 2018.
Since April 2018 Celal has been at SOCAR Türkiye serving as Chief Legal Officer until now where he currently serves as the senior advisor on legal matters to the CEO.

Before his retirement in April 2024, David Goulthorpe was the managing director of the Legal 500 for over 12 years. Under his leadership David built the core research and directory business whilst extending the companies portfolio by launching the GC Powerlist series across 40 separate jurisdictions, a global Comparative Guide series and a world class events business. 

Under David's leadership the Legal 500's profile grew spectacularly in Türkiye. His support, advice and mentorship for former business development manager Barış Agun enabled such inaugural and leading leading events for the in-house legal community such as the two day EGC Türkiye conference, GC summits across İzmir and Ankara, mentorship programs for law students, roundtables on such diverse topics as diversity/inclusion, ESG, sanctions, risk management and women in law and record breaking attendances at GC Powerlists between 2022 and 2024. The directory business for Legal 500 in Türkiye grew by a record 38% making it the largest country under the EMEA region in 2023. 

We are delighted that even since his retirement David wants to continue supporting leading initiatives for the Turkish legal community and has agreed to support the GC Elite Türkiye as a member of the judging panel. 

Since 2007, Ertuğrul Onur has served as the Chief Legal Counsel of Coca-Cola İçecek. Prior to his position at Coca-Cola İçeçek, he established and managed the legal department of Pfizer Turkey. He served as Assistant General Manager and Legal Director at Pfizer Turkey, where he also implemented compliance programmes. Between 1995 and 2000, Ertuğrul served as Legal Counsel at Mobil Oil Türk A.Ş. and BP Petroleum, as BP Turkey Employee Representative, BP Europe Employee Council Member and BP Europe Employee Council Liaison Committee Member. Ertuğrul Onur graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law and after completing his legal internship at the Konya Bar Association, he registered with the Istanbul Bar Association and worked as a Research Assistant at his alma mater.

Biography to follow

Mustafa Yelligedik graduated from Darüşşafaka High School in 1990 and from Ankara University Faculty of Law in 1994. He also completed Sports Law Program at Kadir Has University Faculty of Law in 2006 and the General Management Program at Bled School of Management in Slovenia in 2008. He began his career in Anadolu Group at Efes Beverage Group as a lawyer in 1997. Afterwards, he worked at Anadolu Endüstri Holding A.Ş. as a lawyer, Legal Affairs Manager, Assistant Legal Affairs Coordinator and Legal Affairs Coordinator, respectively. Mustafa Yelligedik has been Anadolu Group Legal Affairs President since 1 February 2018. Yelligedik is also a member of Anadolu Group Sustainability Committee.

Özlem Akyüz Atamer has a strong background in legal affairs and has held various positions within the Kale Grubu and Kale Holding A.S organizations. Özlem joined Kale Holding A.S as a Lawyer in 1999 and later became the Legal Affairs Manager in 2005. In 2011, they were promoted to the role of Legal Affairs Director, a position they held until 2017. At that time, they transitioned to become the Head of Legal for both Kale Grubu and Kale Holding A.S. Özlem'swork experience spans over two decades and they have consistently demonstrated their expertise and leadership in the legal field.

Özlem Akyüz Atamer attended Ankara University from 1993 to 1997, where they studied law. In 2011, they participated in an Intensive Introduction to American Law-Summer School at Penn State Dickinson Law. Özlem also holds a certification in Business & Executive Business Courses from Frances King College London