On 24 September 2026 the Ministry of Trade said something owners abroad have not heard before: the way foreign-owned property gets advertised in Turkey is about to be verified like everyone else's.
Until now, an owner who could not sign in to e-Devlet (most foreign owners without a residence permit) had their flat listed through an exceptional procedure. That procedure sat outside the Electronic Listing Verification System (EİDS). The ministry told the press that sector representatives had reported those exceptions being used to bypass authorisation checks, and that a verification mechanism for foreign-owned property is now being built to replace them.
This page is written within two days of the announcement, from the ministry's statements as reported by Türkiye Today, Memurlar.net and TR Haberleri on 24 to 26 September 2026. No regulation text has been published yet. Where the ministry has not said something, this page does not guess; it says so.
What is changing
The written contract joins the system. Today an agency needs two things to advertise your flat: your e-Devlet listing authorisation, and a service agreement on paper. The ministry's stated aim is to integrate the authorisation contract into EİDS itself, so that every listing is tied to a contract on file. Cancel the contract and the listing is to come down automatically.
One property, one agency. The current practice of an owner authorising several agencies for the same flat is to end. The ministry's wording: in the new model a property will carry one authorised agency.
The exception for foreign owners closes. Properties belonging to certain foreign nationals, and properties not yet registered in the land registry, have been listed through different procedures. The ministry says a new verification mechanism will apply to foreign-owned property under the new system. What that mechanism looks like, and whether it runs through e-Devlet, a consulate or a power of attorney, has not been announced.
Fines are already being levied. The reports quote more than 105 million lira in fines against roughly 1,800 agents and individuals for unverified listings. Enforcement is not waiting for the new rules.
What is not changing
The underlying rule is two years old. Since 1 January 2025 no sale or rental listing can be published in Turkey without the owner's authorisation verified through EİDS, under the Regulation on Real Estate Trading (Ministry of Trade). If you have authorised us before, you did it through the two-minute e-Devlet step in granting listing authorisation. That step stays.
The secure payment system for sales is a separate track. Any sale paid wholly or partly in cash or by bank transfer will go through it, and the buyer's money is held until the land registry registers the transfer. It was due on 1 July, then on 1 October; a regulation published on 1 October 2026 moved the start to 1 December 2026 (Official Gazette). The ministry will appoint an integrator to run it, and which sales are exempt, what it charges and a first pilot are left to a protocol that has not been published (ticaret.gov.tr). For a seller abroad the system is good news when it arrives, because it removes the question of whether the money is really in your account before you sign. Until it arrives, read selling property in Turkey from abroad for how the payment is handled today.
What it means if you own from abroad
Three cases, from the easiest to the hardest.
You hold a Turkish ID card or a 99-number foreign ID, and an e-Devlet password. Nothing changes for you in practice. You authorise one agency through e-Devlet, sign the service agreement, and the listing goes up. The only new decision is which single agency holds the mandate.
You became a citizen after buying with a passport. Your e-Devlet may show no property at all, because the deed is still under the identity you bought with. Under the new model that mismatch blocks the listing as surely as it blocks a sale. The fix is a correction at the land registry, and it is explained in title deed not showing in e-Devlet after Turkish citizenship. Do it before you need to list, not after.
You have no Turkish identity number, or no e-Devlet password. This is the case the announcement is about, and today the answer is that the replacement route has not been published. e-Devlet passwords are issued at PTT (Turkish Post) branches in Turkey to holders of a foreign ID number with a valid residence permit. We could not find an official source saying consulates issue them abroad. If this is you, tell us before you sign anything. We will confirm on the day which route applies: the exceptional procedure while it still exists, the new mechanism once it does, or a visit combined with the other paperwork you may need in Istanbul anyway.
What to do this month
- Read your title deed. Is the owner's identity on it the identity you use today? If not, start the correction.
- Get e-Devlet access if you are entitled to it. The password is a PTT counter, in person, with a residence permit.
- Decide who holds the mandate. One agency, one written agreement, one e-Devlet authorisation. Our service agreement and the e-Devlet step are described on the property management page, and the fee is on the fees page.
- If you are selling, a completion before 1 December 2026 follows today's payment arrangements. For a later date, check the ministry's site that week: the start has already moved twice.
We keep a dated list of every rule that touches an owner abroad, with its status, in the rules tracker for foreign owners. The date this announcement takes effect will go there the day it is published.