Land Registry (Tapu ve Kadastro)

Ownership of immovable property in Türkiye is registered and transferred through the land registry directorates. For a foreign buyer or seller this is the institution where the transaction actually happens.

⭐ The interpreter requirement

The deed is read aloud and the parties confirm they understand it. Where a party does not understand Turkish, a sworn interpreter attends, interprets, and signs the registry record alongside them.

Without one the appointment does not proceed. This is a person booked for a place and a time, not a document that can be sent ahead — see interpreter at the land registry.

⚠ Which directorate matters

Directorates work with sworn translators on their own terms, and a translator accepted at one is not automatically accepted at another. Establish which directorate your appointment is at before booking anyone.

A translator turned away at the counter costs the appointment slot, not merely an hour.

Almost nothing is translated

The title deed record, the valuation report, the compulsory earthquake insurance policy, municipal documents and the registry’s own paperwork are all Turkish and are used as issued.

What may need translation is your passport, where it is not in the Latin alphabet, and a power of attorney issued abroad. That is the whole list.

Powers of attorney are read narrowly

The registry wants to see the transaction authorised. A broadly worded general authority is regularly refused, and refusal happens at the counter rather than in advance.

A power of attorney issued at a Turkish consulate is valid here directly, without apostille or translation — usually the simplest route for someone abroad.

Restrictions on foreign acquisition

Property acquisition by foreigners is subject to conditions set by legislation, by nationality, location and area. Those are questions for the registry and a lawyer, before money moves rather than after.

Inheritance transfers

Where property passes to heirs, the registry works from Turkish records and the certificate of inheritance. Nothing proceeds until the death and the family relationships appear in Turkish records — see inheriting property in Türkiye.

Preparing for the appointment

Transfers are refused for small reasons: a missing photograph, a tax number not yet issued, an insurance policy that has lapsed, a power of attorney worded too broadly. None is serious in itself and each costs the slot.

Go through the list with your lawyer or agent two or three days beforehand rather than the night before, so that anything missing can still be obtained during working hours. And tell us immediately if the date moves, because rebooking a person is harder than rescheduling a document.