Mr. Şanlı was born in Manisa in 1950. He became an assistant Professor of Private International Law at the Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 1977. He completed his Law Ph. D. with his thesis on “International Commercial Arbitration" at the “Institute of Advanced Legal Studies” of London University. Mr. Şanlı became associate Professor in 1987; He became professor at the Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 1996.

Currently he is the head of the Private International Law Department of Istanbul University Faculty of Law. He has many books, articles and monographs on International Private Law and especially in the area of International Arbitration.