How to Grant a Power of Attorney in Turkey (Guide for Foreigners)

To grant a power of attorney (vekaletname) for use in Turkey, a foreigner uses one of three routes: a Turkish notary inside Turkey, a Turkish consulate abroad, or a local notary in your own country followed by an apostille (or full consular legalisation if your country is outside the Hague system). The document lets a Turkish lawyer or trusted person act for you, so you do not have to fly in for every signature. This guide walks through each route, the documents you need, how to scope the powers correctly, and how to revoke the POA later.

What a Power of Attorney Is Under Turkish Law

A power of attorney (Turkish: vekaletname) is a formal document by which a principal authorises an agent to perform legal acts on the principal's behalf. The underlying relationship of agency is governed by the Turkish Code of Obligations (Türk Borçlar Kanunu, Law No. 6098, articles 502 and following), while the wording of the document defines exactly what the agent may and may not do.

For most matters that genuinely bind third parties in Turkey, the POA must be issued in a specific official form. A document used to authorise a lawyer to represent you in court, to buy or sell property, to incorporate or wind up a company, or to pursue debt collection and enforcement in Turkey must be drawn up before a notary (noter) or a Turkish consular officer. Private, hand-signed letters of authority are generally not accepted by courts, land registries, banks or enforcement offices.

Why does this matter to you? A properly drafted POA means your Turkish lawyer can file suit, attend hearings, collect documents, sign transfers and follow enforcement proceedings while you stay abroad. Get the form or the scope wrong, and an institution can refuse the document at the worst possible moment.

The Three Ways a Foreigner Can Grant a POA

Whether you are abroad or already in Turkey, you have three legally recognised routes. Each ends with a document that Turkish institutions will accept.

1. Before a Turkish notary, inside Turkey

If you are physically in Turkey, you can attend any notary office with your passport. The notary prepares the POA, and because you are a foreigner who does not read Turkish, a sworn translator (yeminli tercüman) must attend to translate the scope and content before you sign. This is usually the fastest route, and the POA is typically usable the same day.

2. At a Turkish embassy or consulate abroad

Turkish diplomatic missions act as Turkish notaries abroad under the Notary Law (Noterlik Kanunu, Law No. 1512). A consular POA is issued directly in Turkish by a Turkish official, so it is accepted in Turkey without any apostille and without a separate translation. The trade-off is that you must book an appointment and attend the consulate in person, and at busy missions appointment slots can be weeks out.

3. Before a local notary, then apostille (Hague route)

If you cannot reach a Turkish mission, you can sign the POA before a local notary in your own country and then have it legalised. If your country is party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, a single apostille certificate is added by the competent authority in that country. If your country is not a Hague member, the document instead needs full consular legalisation (chain certification). Once in Turkey, the apostilled POA must be paired with a sworn Turkish translation, and that translation is itself notarised before the document can be used.

The Three Routes Compared

Use this table to pick the route that fits your situation. The form of a POA executed abroad is assessed under the conflict-of-laws rules in the Act on Private International and Procedural Law (MÖHUK No. 5718), which follow the locus regit actum principle (the form is governed by the law of the place where the document is signed).

Documents and Details You Need to Provide

Whichever route you take, the POA must identify everyone precisely. Prepare the following before your appointment:

• Your identification: a valid passport (and, for residents, your Turkish residence permit or foreigner ID / yabancı kimlik number).
• The agent's full details: if you are appointing a lawyer, their full name, bar registration, Turkish ID (T.C. kimlik) number and office address; the law firm can send you these.
• A recent photograph, for certain POA types: under the Notary Law Regulation (Noterlik Kanunu Yönetmeliği, art. 93), specific categories of POA require a recent photograph of the principal affixed to the document, taken within the last six months. This applies notably to divorce/family POAs, land-registry (tapu) and vehicle-sale POAs, and certain bank/credit and "düzenleme"-form POAs, rather than to every litigation POA. Check with your notary or lawyer whether your matter needs one.
• The scope of authority: a clear list of the acts the agent may perform (see the next section).
• A translation/interpreter: a sworn translator at a Turkish notary, or a sworn Turkish translation of an apostilled foreign POA.

Defining the Scope: General vs. Special Authority

Turkish law draws a sharp line between general authority and powers that must be granted expressly. Under the Code of Obligations (Law No. 6098) and the Code of Civil Procedure (HMK No. 6100, article 74), certain acts are simply not covered by a general clause and must be written into the POA word for word.

For a lawyer's litigation POA, the authority to represent in court is read together with the Attorneys Act (Avukatlık Kanunu, Law No. 1136). Typical clauses for a foreigner's POA include:

• Filing and following lawsuits, attending hearings and lodging appeals.
• Initiating and following enforcement proceedings in Turkey and bankruptcy under the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law (İcra ve İflas Kanunu, Law No. 2004) — essential for debt collection.
• Representing the principal before banks, tax offices, the land registry and the population/civil registry.
• Company acts under the Turkish Commercial Code (Türk Ticaret Kanunu, Law No. 6102), where relevant.
• Receiving, collecting and depositing money, and giving valid receipt.

Common Purposes Foreigners Grant a POA For

Most foreign clients grant a POA for one specific reason. Naming that purpose precisely in the document keeps the scope tight and avoids extra trips. Common uses include:

• Buying or selling property: a power of attorney to buy property in Turkey lets your lawyer sign at the land registry (tapu) and handle the transfer while you remain abroad. This POA category usually requires a recent photograph.
• Forming a company: you can incorporate a Turkish company by power of attorney, so your representative signs the articles, opens the company and registers it without you attending in person.
• Citizenship by investment: foreigners frequently run a citizenship-by-investment application through a representative, who manages the property purchase, valuation and filings on your behalf.
• Residence and immigration: a POA can let your lawyer file residence permit applications on your behalf and follow them through.
• Banking, inheritance and debt recovery: opening or operating a bank account remotely, claiming a Turkish inheritance, or recovering a debt — each can be handled under a suitably worded POA.

Apostille, Legalisation and Sworn Translation Explained

The apostille is a standardised certificate under the 1961 Hague Convention that authenticates the origin of a public document so it is recognised in another member state without further legalisation. Turkey has been a party to the Convention since 1985, so an apostille issued by a member state is accepted here without any extra consular step.

For a POA signed before a local notary, the apostille is issued by the designated authority in that same country — and that authority varies. In the United States it is typically the Secretary of State of the relevant state; in the United Kingdom it is the FCDO Legalisation Office; in Germany and many other states it is a regional court or administrative authority. Check who apostilles documents in your country before you book the notary.

If your country has not joined the Hague Convention, the document passes through consular legalisation instead: certification by the local authorities and then by the Turkish consulate. This chain is slower, which is why the consular-POA route is often preferable for non-Hague countries.

A consular POA skips both apostille and translation because it is issued in Turkish from the outset.

How to Revoke a Power of Attorney (Azil)

You can end a POA at any time. Revocation (azil) is done through a notary in Turkey or a Turkish consulate abroad, which prepares a revocation deed (azilname). You do not need the agent's consent to revoke.

The practical point that trips foreigners up is notice. A revocation only protects you against third parties once the agent and the relevant institutions — the land registry, the bank, the enforcement office, the relevant court file — are actually notified. Acts the agent carried out before the revocation reached them may still bind you. So revoking on paper is not enough; the azilname must be served on the agent and registered where it matters.

What Happens If You Die or Lose Capacity

A common worry is what happens to the POA if something happens to you. As a default rule, a Turkish POA ends automatically on the death, loss of legal capacity, or bankruptcy of the principal, unless the agency was agreed to continue or its nature requires it to.

If you want continuity for your heirs or your business, that needs separate planning — a POA alone is not an estate plan. A Turkish lawyer can tell you which arrangement fits your situation.

Costs, Timing and Common Mistakes

Costs vary by route. A POA issued inside Turkey involves notary fees plus the sworn translator's fee and is usually the quickest to obtain. A consular POA involves the mission's fee and an appointment wait that depends on the mission's backlog. The apostille route adds local notary fees, the apostille fee, courier time, and Turkish-side translation and notarisation costs. Notary and apostille tariffs are set officially and updated periodically, so confirm current figures before you budget.

The problems we see most often with foreigners' POAs are:

• Missing special authority: a general POA that omits the express powers required by HMK article 74, so the agent cannot settle, withdraw or collect.
• No apostille or the wrong issuing authority, causing the land registry, bank or enforcement office to reject the document.
• Name or passport-number mismatches between the POA and your identity document.
• No photograph where the POA category requires one (notably property and family POAs).
• Too few certified copies. Registries, banks and enforcement offices each want their own certified copy (sureti), so obtain several at the time of signing rather than chasing extras later.
• An expired or too-narrow POA that does not cover a step the matter later requires.

Before you sign anything, it is worth having a Turkish lawyer draft or review the wording so the document does exactly what your matter needs. Contact Lexin Legal and we will prepare a bilingual draft for you to take to your notary or consulate.

How Lexin Legal Helps Foreign Clients

We act for foreigners, expats and overseas investors across Turkey, working in English. For a power of attorney we typically: confirm the exact powers your matter requires; send you our lawyers' details and a ready bilingual (Turkish and English) draft; tell you which route fits your country (notary plus apostille, or your nearest Turkish consulate); and check the finished document the moment it reaches us so there are no surprises at the registry, bank or enforcement office.

A correctly drafted POA is often the first practical step in recovering a debt or enforcing a judgment in Turkey, because it lets us file and run the case while you stay abroad. A POA only sets up authority; the strength of any claim depends on its own facts and the applicable law, and a Turkish lawyer should review your specific situation before you rely on it.

Frequently asked questions