Austria's Schoenherr has launched in Turkey through an alliance with local firm Tuerkoglu & Celepci.

The alliance agreement will see Schoenherr corporate partner Markus Piuk relocate to the region. He will be based at Tuerkoglu's Istanbul office, while Schoenherr partners Alexander Popp and Karaman Nidal and associate Kazim Yilmaz will handle Turkey work from the firm's Vienna office.

Tuerkoglu was established in 2005 and specialises in corporate, M&A, privatisations, financings and commercial litigation. Schoenherr has had an informal alliance with the firm since 2007.

Schoenherr managing partner Christoph Lindinger said: "There are three elements driving this move. First, Turkey is a very interesting market and a booming economy; second, we have seen an increasing interest from a number of our clients with higher demands for professional legal services; and third, we see an increase from Turkish corporates wanting to invest in the region."

Tuerkoglu founding partner Levent Celepci said: "With Schoenherr we are in a strong position to assist Turkish companies that show a keen interest in investing in Central Europe and together we can attract new clients entering the Turkish market."

The alliance comes after Schoenherr launched in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia during 2008.