Glossary
Hague Apostille Convention — explained for Turkish readers
The 1961 treaty that replaces consular legalisation with a single apostille certificate between member states. Both the UK and Türkiye are parties.
The Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents lets a public document from one member state be accepted in another once it carries an apostille. The UK was among the first states to bring it into force, in 1965; Türkiye joined in 1985. More than 120 countries now belong.
The practical effect for a Turkish family in the UK is that a UK birth certificate, decree, deed poll or company document needs one FCDO apostille and no consular stamp before a Turkish office will act on it, and a Turkish apostil serves the same purpose the other way. The convention covers public documents: civil-status records, court documents and notarial acts. It does not cover translations as such, which is why a translation must first be certified by a notary or solicitor if it is to be apostilled.
Documents from the TRNC fall outside the convention; see Turkish Cypriot documents in the UK.