News and updates
TKGM overseas tapu desks: what is planned for London
The Turkish land registry directorate has announced land registry desks in twelve countries, including one at the London consulate. Until a desk is confirmed open, buying and selling from the UK still runs on a power of attorney.
The announcement
Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü has said it will open land registry representations in twelve countries so that citizens abroad can complete title transactions without flying home, and the London consulate is on the published list. An announcement is not an opening date. Before you plan a sale around it, ring the consulate and ask whether the desk is taking appointments; we will update this post when it is.
What people do today
The working method is a vekâletname, a power of attorney, drawn up either at the consulate's notary unit or before a Turkish notary. Get the wording right the first time. A tapu power needs the property described precisely and the powers stated expressly — sale, purchase, mortgage, receipt of the price — because a tapu müdürlüğü reads the instrument narrowly and a missing power stops the appointment. The consulate also requires the new-type TC kimlik kartı for these, not an old nüfus cüzdanı, which catches out people who have not renewed.
If your power of attorney is drawn in the UK
A UK deed can be used, but the route is longer: FCDO apostille, then a Turkish translation by a translator sworn before a Turkish notary and notarised in Türkiye. A party who does not speak Turkish signs at the tapu office with a sworn interpreter and two witnesses. Read buying property and the tapu, then the guide to a power of attorney from the UK for use in Türkiye.