Trade Registry Directorate

Company formation, changes and dissolution are recorded by trade registry directorates. For foreign investors it is the institution that decides whether a corporate document from abroad is acceptable.

⭐ Where the translation work sits

Everything produced here is Turkish and is never translated: the articles drawn up in Türkiye, registry filings, the tax registration that follows, the signature circular.

The certification work is on documents from abroad — a foreign shareholder’s registry extract, its articles, and the resolution authorising participation. Each is apostilled in its own country, then translated with notarial certification.

⚠ Resolution wording

This is where formation files stall. The registry reads authority narrowly and wants the specific act authorised. A resolution passed abroad in general terms usually has to be passed again — which means another board meeting, another apostille and another translation.

Ask the directorate what wording it needs before the resolution is passed, not after.

Registry extracts expire

Foreign registry documents describe a present state and are expected to be recent. One obtained months ahead takes its apostille and its translation down with it.

Translate the set together

Articles, extracts and resolutions share terminology — company organs, officer titles, share classes, capital descriptions. Translated piecemeal the same term appears differently across the file, and a registry comparing two documents will query it.

Doing it from abroad

Formation can be completed by a representative under a power of attorney naming the transaction. One issued at a Turkish consulate is valid here directly, without apostille or translation.

What comes after

Tax registration, social security registration and chamber membership follow, all producing Turkish documents. Work permits for foreign staff are an entirely separate matter with their own list and timetable — see setting up a company with foreign shareholders and SGK.

Banks apply their own list

Company formation runs alongside opening a bank account, and banks apply identification requirements that are frequently stricter than the registry's. Foreign shareholders are routinely asked for documents nobody mentioned during formation.

Ask the bank for its list at the same time as the registry's and order both sets of translations together. Discovering the bank's requirements after the company exists means a second round of apostilles from abroad, which is the slowest way to finish an otherwise quick procedure.