Power of attorney issued abroad for use in Türkiye: consulate, apostille or legalisation

A company can be founded, shares transferred, a bank instruction given or a property bought in Türkiye through a representative, while the owner stays abroad. Whether the Turkish office accepts the power of attorney depends on how it was issued, legalised and translated, and on what it says. This guide follows the Hague Apostille Convention, the Notaries Law No. 1512, the Code of Obligations and the Land Registry circular on powers issued abroad.

Three routes for a power of attorney signed abroad

A power signed outside Türkiye reaches a Turkish office by one of three routes. The choice depends on where you sign and on whether that state and Türkiye apply the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention to each other; the HCCH status table lists the parties and any objections to an accession (Article 12).

A consular power is a Turkish notarial act drawn up in Turkish. On the other two routes the document arrives in a foreign language and must be translated and notarised in Türkiye. An apostille confirms only the signature, the signer’s capacity and the seal, not the content (Article 5).

What the text must state: special authority

Under Article 504 of the Turkish Code of Obligations No. 6098, the scope of a mandate follows the contract or the nature of the task. Certain acts, however, require authority that is given expressly. A general phrase such as “all transactions” does not cover them, and Turkish offices read a power signed abroad the same way. The representative may not, without special authority:

• file a lawsuit, settle or go to arbitration;
• apply for bankruptcy or concordat;
• sign a bill-of-exchange undertaking;
• make a donation or stand surety;
• transfer real estate or encumber it with a right.

For business use, name the act itself. To set up a company, the power should cover signing the articles of association before the trade registry directorate. For a share transfer, name the company, the shares and the counterparty; for a bank, the account and the operations allowed. For property, identify the real estate and the act: purchase, sale or mortgage.

Real estate: the düzenleme form and the photograph

Article 89 of the Notaries Law requires a power of attorney that leads to a land registry transaction to be made in düzenleme form: the notary draws up the deed instead of only certifying a signature. Article 93 of the Regulation requires the person’s photograph. Under Law No. 5718 (Article 21), form follows Turkish law for real estate here.

Land Registry (TKGM) Circular 2015/5 (1767) applies this to documents from abroad. An apostille alone is not enough; the office accepts the power when it is:

• drawn up by a Turkish consulate in düzenleme form; or
• drawn up by a foreign notary in that state’s language, suited to a disposal of real estate, with the photograph, apostilled or legalised through the Turkish consul;
• based on a passport or national ID;
• filed with a notarised Turkish translation.

The circular adds that a power prepared abroad in Turkish under foreign law counts as signature certification and cannot be used there. For company powers we found no photograph rule in Article 93.

Translation and notarisation in Türkiye; e-Apostille

A foreign-language power is translated into Turkish by a translator who has taken an oath before a Turkish notary, and the notary certifies the translation (Notaries Law, Article 103; Regulation, Article 96). The Land Registry circular and the trade registry rules both ask for this notarised Turkish translation, not a plain one.

1. Keep the apostille or legalisation attached to the original; do not separate the pages.
2. Have the translation made by a translator sworn at the notary who will certify it.
3. Compare names, passport numbers and dates with the passport before the notary signs.
4. File the original together with the notarised translation.

Some states issue the apostille electronically. The Convention obliges each authority to keep a register and to verify an apostille on request (Article 7); for an e-Apostille this check is usually online. We could not confirm a uniform Turkish rule on accepting a printed e-Apostille, so ask the receiving office beforehand.

How offices check it: age, banks, trade registry, refusals

In the texts we read we found no general expiry period for a power of attorney, though the document may carry its own end date. In practice each office applies its own view on how recent it should be. Ask the specific bank, registry or land registry office before you sign, and do not rely on a figure from another case.

The trade registry communiqué on signing articles of association accepts a foreign power certified by a Turkish consulate or under the Convention, filed with a notarised Turkish translation (Article 13/A). Banks follow internal policy: many want the account and operations named, and some do not accept a representative for opening. Documents are most often returned for these reasons:

• no special authority for the act requested;
• signature-only certification, or no photograph, for a land registry act;
• an incomplete apostille or legalisation chain;
• a translation that is not notarised;
• names that differ from the passport.

To have your case handled from start to finish, contact us.

Sources

• hcch.net — Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 (Apostille): text and status table of contracting parties
• konsolosluk.gov.tr — Ministry of Foreign Affairs: consular notarial acts (powers of attorney) and certification of foreign documents
• lexpera.com.tr — TKGM Circular 2015/5 (1767) on powers of attorney issued abroad, copy of the original text (tkgm.gov.tr did not return the file)
• mevzuat.gov.tr — Notaries Law No. 1512 and its Regulation, Code of Obligations No. 6098, Law No. 5718, trade registry communiqué; read in consolidated copies (alomaliye.com, Lexpera) because the official site blocked the fetcher

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