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How to read your Turkish title deed (tapu), box by box

Your deed is printed in Turkish capitals and registry shorthand. Tap any box on the sample below to see what it says, what it means and what to check before you let or sell your Istanbul flat from abroad, or type the words from your own deed and read them in English. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

The deed, box by box Type your deed's words What the paper does not show Checking from abroad Before you let or sell Deed words

A sample deed, box by box

Tap a box to see what it says, what it means and what to check in your own. The numbers run in four steps: where the property is, what it is, whose it is, and how it was registered.

TÜRKİYE CUMHURİYETİ

TAPU SENEDİ

TAŞINMAZ BİLGİLERİ
İl İSTANBUL İlçe BAHÇELİEVLER Mahalle/Köy ÖRNEK Ada 1234 Parsel 5 Yüz Ölçümü 2.400,00 m² Niteliği KARGİR APARTMAN
BAĞIMSIZ BÖLÜM
Niteliği MESKEN Arsa Payı 48/2400 Proje m² — Blok/Giriş/Kat No A / 1 / 3 Bağımsız Bölüm No 12 Cilt/Sayfa No 45 / 4412
MALİK BİLGİLERİ
Adı Soyadı/Baba Adı AD SOYAD / BABA ADI Hissesi 1/1
TESCİLE İLİŞKİN BİLGİLER
Taşınmaz No 12345678KAT MÜLKİYETİ Edinme Sebebi SATIŞ İşlem Bedeli 4.800.000,00 TL Konum Bilgisi QR code Tescil Tarih/Yevmiye No 15.06.2021 - 12345 Sicile Uygundur

A simplified drawing of the current design, introduced in 2019, laid out after the Land Registry's own published sample of a flat's deed. The details are invented: the neighbourhood reads ÖRNEK, Turkish for “sample”. A real deed also carries the state emblem and security printing, which this drawing leaves out on purpose.

Type what your deed says

Copy any line from your deed or from the e-Devlet title record, in capitals or not, with or without Turkish letters. Every word we recognise is marked and explained in English.

Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent or stored; even so, leave out names and ID numbers.

The reader needs JavaScript. Every word it knows is listed under “Deed words, explained” below.

Your words will appear here, marked and explained.

Every box, explained

The same boxes as the sample deed, in the same order, written out in full.

  1. İl Province

    Property · Taşınmaz bilgileri

    The province the property is registered in. For any flat in Istanbul it is simply İSTANBUL; everything below narrows it down.

  2. İlçe District

    Property · Taşınmaz bilgileri

    The district in the land registry's records. It can differ from the district an advert or the complex's own marketing uses: a project sold under one district's name may sit on the deed in the next one.

    Check: Official papers go by the register, not the advert. The land registry office that handles your property, and the municipality that collects its property tax, are those of the district in the current record. A deed printed before Istanbul's 2008 boundary changes (when Ataşehir, Beylikdüzü, Esenyurt and others were created and Eminönü joined Fatih) can still show the old district.

  3. Mahalle/Köy Neighbourhood or village

    Property · Taşınmaz bilgileri

    The neighbourhood (mahalle), or the village (köy) for rural land. If the neighbourhood has since been renamed or merged, an older deed can still show the old name; the register carries the current one. (On this sample it reads ÖRNEK, Turkish for “sample”, so the numbers below point at no real plot.)

  4. Ada Block number

    Property · Taşınmaz bilgileri

    The cadastral block: a group of plots bounded by streets or other fixed lines, numbered within the neighbourhood. It has nothing to do with a block of flats (that is the Blok box further down).

  5. Parsel Plot number

    Property · Taşınmaz bilgileri

    The plot within the block. Neighbourhood, ada and parsel together identify the land under your building exactly; a valuation report, a power of attorney and a sale contract all quote them.

    Check: With these three you can find the plot on the Land Registry's free public map, Parsel Sorgu. When you give a power of attorney, have it name this property exactly (district, neighbourhood, ada, parsel and unit number): a power for one named flat is far safer than a general one.

  6. Yüz Ölçümü Area of the plot

    Property · Taşınmaz bilgileri

    The area of the whole plot the building stands on, not of your flat. That is why it is so often many times larger than the flat you own.

    Check: Your flat's own size is in the Proje m² box on deeds of this design (box 10), or in the approved architectural project. Adverts usually quote gross area (brüt), which includes the walls; net area (net) is the usable floor.

  7. Niteliği What stands on the plot

    Property · Taşınmaz bilgileri

    The registry's description of the main property: ARSA (building plot), KARGİR APARTMAN (non-timber apartment building, often translated “masonry”), BETONARME APARTMAN (reinforced-concrete apartment building) and so on. Type yours into the reader above to have every word explained.

    Check: If a finished building still reads ARSA here, check the current record first: a paper deed can lag behind it. If it reads ARSA there too, the change of type that follows an occupancy permit has not been registered, either because the permit never reached the registry or because there is none. And kargir is the register's old word for “not timber”, printed for many concrete buildings too: it says nothing reliable about how the building would behave in an earthquake. Its construction year, its approved project or a formal risk assessment tell you more; see our urban transformation guide.

  8. Niteliği What your unit is

    Your unit · Bağımsız bölüm

    What your unit is registered as: MESKEN (a home), DÜKKAN (shop), İŞYERİ (business premises), DEPO (storage) and so on.

    Check: It matters more than it seems. Property tax is charged at a lower rate on homes than on other buildings, and under article 24 of the Condominium Law a unit registered as a home cannot become a shop, a restaurant or a workshop without the unanimous agreement of the building's owners.

  9. Arsa Payı Land share

    Your unit · Bağımsız bölüm

    Your unit's share of the plot, written as a fraction. It is not the size of your flat. Here the bottom number happens to equal the plot's area in square metres (2,400), so the share reads as 48 m² of land, which is still land, not floor.

    Check: It matters more than it looks. Unless the owners agreed otherwise, most shared building costs are split by land share (Condominium Law, art. 20). It counts towards the quorum of the owners' assembly and, for some decisions such as improvements, towards the majority as well (arts. 30 and 42), although in an ordinary vote each flat has one vote whatever its share (art. 31). Once a building is declared risky, the decision to rebuild is taken by owners holding more than half of the land shares (Law 6306, art. 6), and your share of the new building is negotiated on it. It was meant to follow each unit's value when the building was registered; if it does not, any owner can ask a court to re-divide the shares (art. 3).

  10. Proje m² Project area

    Your unit · Bağımsız bölüm

    On deeds of the 2019 design, the unit's area as given in the approved architectural project. Since 1 January 2019 the projects behind new condominium registrations must list each unit's gross and net area; older projects often did not, and then the box is empty, as in the Land Registry's own sample.

    Check: Empty is normal for older buildings. The flat's size is then in the approved project held by the municipality.

  11. Blok/Giriş/Kat No Block, entrance, floor

    Your unit · Bağımsız bölüm

    The building block (in a complex of several), the entrance and the floor, as numbered in the approved project.

    Check: The floor follows the project's numbering, which does not always match the floor you would count in the lift: ground, raised-ground and basement floors are where it usually differs.

  12. Bağımsız Bölüm No Unit number

    Your unit · Bağımsız bölüm

    Your flat's number in the condominium register: the unit this deed is for. It can differ from the number on the door.

    Check: This number, not the door number, is what a sale contract and a power of attorney should use.

  13. Cilt/Sayfa No Volume and page

    Your unit · Bağımsız bölüm

    Where your entry sits in the register: the volume (cilt) and page (sayfa, written sahife on older papers) of the land registry book, which is now kept electronically in the registry's TAKBİS system. On a flat's deed it points to your unit's page in the condominium register.

    Check: It has nothing to do with the volume and page numbers on a Turkish civil-registry (nüfus) record, which use the same words.

  14. Adı Soyadı/Baba Adı Owner's name, father's name

    Owner · Malik bilgileri

    The owner (malik), with the father's name, which the registry uses to tell people with the same name apart.

    Check: The identity on the record has to match the one you will show at the registry. If you bought with a passport and have since become a Turkish citizen, the record needs a correction first: see title deed not showing in e-Devlet.

    If you live abroad: If you bought as a foreigner, the registry identifies you by your passport details or by a foreign identity number (the “99” number). e-Devlet can only show you the property once that number is linked to it.

  15. Hissesi Share

    Owner · Malik bilgileri

    How much of the property this owner holds: 1/1 or TAM means all of it; 1/2 means half, with someone else owning the rest.

    Check: With a shared title (paylı or müşterek mülkiyet), selling the whole takes every co-owner's signature, in person or through a power of attorney (Civil Code, art. 692). If one co-owner sells only their share to an outsider, the others have a legal right of pre-emption: they can take the share over by suing the buyer. For sales made since 25 December 2025 that right lapses three months after the sale is notified to them through a notary, and in any case one year after the sale (art. 733); for earlier sales the outer limit is still two years.

  16. Taşınmaz No Property number

    Registration · Tescile ilişkin bilgiler

    A permanent number the registry gives each property, printed since the 2019 redesign. On a flat's deed the type of title is printed with it: KAT MÜLKİYETİ (full condominium title) or KAT İRTİFAKI (the title a unit has before the building's occupancy permit is registered).

    Check: First check the current record. The registry converts a unit on the register without replacing your paper, so an older deed can still read KAT İRTİFAKI after the building has moved to kat mülkiyeti. If the record too reads KAT İRTİFAKI on a building finished years ago, the building either has no occupancy permit (iskan) or its permit has not reached the registry; ask the municipality which, because buyers and banks will. Once a permit reaches the registry, the registry converts the title itself, with no registry fee (Condominium Law, art. 10).

  17. Edinme Sebebi How it was acquired

    Registration · Tescile ilişkin bilgiler

    How the property came to this owner: SATIŞ (purchase), İNTİKAL (inheritance), BAĞIŞ or HİBE (gift), and a dozen other registry terms; the reader above knows them. The label may read EDİNME NEDENİ instead, which means the same.

    Check: Read it with the date in box 20. If you bought the property (SATIŞ), the tax on any gain when you sell depends on how long you have held it. A property you inherited (İNTİKAL) or were given (BAĞIŞ, HİBE) is outside the capital gains rules altogether. Our guide to selling from abroad explains the five-year rule.

  18. İşlem Bedeli Declared value

    Registration · Tescile ilişkin bilgiler

    The value declared for the transaction, on which the title deed fee was charged. Older deeds call it Satış Bedeli. It is what was declared at the registry, which on older purchases was often less than what was actually paid.

    Check: Under-declaring is now expensive: for sales from 19 December 2025 the penalty rose from 25% to 100% of the fee that was not paid. See the declared price penalty.

  19. Konum Bilgisi Location (QR code)

    Registration · Tescile ilişkin bilgiler

    A QR code that opens the property's location and parcel details in the Land Registry's systems, so whoever holds the paper can see which plot it refers to. Deeds of the 2019 design carry it, and so do some late printings of the older form.

    Check: Use it to find the plot, not as proof of who owns it today. The register is the authority; official documents produced on Web Tapu carry a code you can check under “Belge Doğrulama” on the Web Tapu home page.

  20. Tescil Tarih/Yevmiye No Registration date and journal number

    Registration · Tescile ilişkin bilgiler

    The date the registry entered the transaction, and its number in the registry office's journal (yevmiye), which is numbered from 1 each year. Together they identify the transaction this deed records.

    Check: If box 17 shows a sale, this is normally the date the property was acquired, and clocks run from it: the five-year rule on capital gains for a property you bought and, for a property bought for citizenship, the three-year commitment, unless that was given later by a separate declaration. If box 17 shows a registry operation instead, such as KAT MÜLKİYETİNE GEÇİŞ, CİNS DEĞİŞİKLİĞİ or PAY BİRLEŞTİRMESİ, this date is that operation's; your purchase date is earlier, in the record's history. Confirm the date with your accountant before you time a sale. A notary's or an accountant's “yevmiye” is a different thing.

  21. Sicile Uygundur Certified as matching the register

    Registration · Tescile ilişkin bilgiler

    “Matches the register”: the registry officer's signature and seal, certifying that the deed reflects the register on the day it was printed.

    Check: On that day, and only then. A mortgage, an attachment or an annotation added later appears in the register, not on your paper: see what the paper does not show.

If your deed is older than 2019

A deed printed before the 2019 redesign is still valid: a new design cancels nothing, and in any case what counts is the register. (Very old title papers for rural land, issued before an area's cadastral survey, are the exception.) The older form has a red ornamental frame and a few boxes the new one dropped or renamed:

Fotoğraf Photograph
The owner's photo. The Land Registry Law required one until July 2019, when the rule was repealed; deeds issued since then carry none, whatever their design. Identity at the registry is now checked by fingerprint and chip ID card.
Ana Gayrimenkulün Of the main property
The heading over the location boxes. “Main property” means the plot and the building as a whole, as opposed to your unit.
Sokağı Street
The street. Dropped in the 2019 design: the registry identifies land by neighbourhood, block and plot, not by street address.
Pafta No Map sheet number
The cadastral map sheet the plot is drawn on. Also dropped in 2019; the plot's location is now reached through the QR code and the public parcel map.
Sınırı Boundaries
The plot's boundaries, usually filled in as PLANINDADIR: “as on its plan”, meaning the cadastral map. Dropped in 2019.
Yüzölçümü: ha · m² · dm² Area in three units
The plot's area split into hectares, square metres and square decimetres; read the three together. It is the plot's area, never the flat's.
Kat Mülkiyeti · Kat İrtifakı · Devre Mülk Type of title, ticked
Tick boxes for the type of title on a unit: full condominium title, the pre-occupancy-permit title, or timeshare (devre mülk). The same red-bordered form served all three, so the colour of an old deed tells you nothing about which applies.
Satış Bedeli Sale price
The price declared at the registry, the older name for today's İşlem Bedeli.

Deed words, explained

Every word the reader above knows, grouped by topic: what appears on deeds and in the title record, each explained in a sentence or two.

Registry, location and ownership words
tapu senedi title deed (certificate)
The certificate the land registry gives the owner, summarising the register entry; the register kept in TAKBİS is what counts if the two ever differ. A paper deed can be out of date, so check the current record and its annotations before relying on it.
tapu kaydı title record (register extract)
The property's entry in the land register, with its owners, shares and every annotation; a 'tapu kayıt örneği' is an official extract of it that can be requested through Web Tapu.
tapu sicili land register
The register the state keeps to show the rights over each property; the law declares it public, and nobody can claim not to have known an entry in it. Because entries are legally deemed known, a buyer is bound by annotations on the record even if nobody mentioned them.
kütük register ledger
The main register in which each property has its own page; units under condominium title or construction servitude are kept in a separate condominium ledger.
TAKBİS land registry information system
Tapu ve Kadastro Bilgi Sistemi, the electronic system in which the land register is now kept; the data stored in it is the legal basis of the register.
Web Tapu online land registry portal
The land registry's online service where owners can see their records, apply for transactions and authorise estate agents to view deed information, and later withdraw that authority.
il province
Province, the top level of the property's location on the deed, such as Istanbul or Muğla.
ilçe district
District; each district is a separate land-registry area, and a property is recorded in the register of the district where it lies.
mahalle neighbourhood
Neighbourhood, the urban unit within a district for which a separate register is kept; the registered name can differ from the one used in everyday addresses.
köy village
Village, the rural unit within a district for which a separate land register is kept.
mevkii locality (place name)
A traditional place name within a village or neighbourhood used to locate a parcel, such as the name of a field, slope or spring rather than a street address.
pafta map sheet
The cadastral map sheet on which the parcel is drawn; with the block and parcel numbers it locates the property on the official map.
ada block (cadastral)
The cadastral block: a numbered group of parcels within a neighbourhood or village, usually bounded by roads or natural features; ada and parsel together identify the land.
parsel plot (parcel)
An individual land parcel within a block, with its own number and boundaries; a 'kadastro parseli' comes from the survey and an 'imar parseli' from the zoning plan.
yüzölçümü registered land area
The registered area of the whole parcel, not of your flat; a flat owner's portion of the land is expressed by the land share (arsa payı).
dm² square decimetres
Square decimetres, where 100 dm² make one m²; older deeds split the area into ha, m² and dm² columns, so 50 m² 25 dm² means 50.25 m².
ha hectare
Hectare, equal to 10,000 square metres; large rural parcels are often measured in hectares.
dönüm dönüm (land measure)
Traditional land measure, today taken as 1,000 m² (one decare); very old records may use a different local dönüm, so rely on the area in m².
taşınmaz numarası property ID number
The national property number the Land Registry and Cadastre directorate assigns to each registered property, used to find its record in electronic systems.
cilt register volume
The volume number of the register ledger holding the property's page; with the page number it forms the record's traditional address.
sayfa register page
The page of the ledger devoted to the property, since every property has its own page; 'sahife' is the older spelling.
sıra entry (row) number
Row or sequence number: with the volume and page it points to an entry's line in the ledger, and in the daybook the sequence decides which registration came first.
yevmiye daybook number
The number a transaction receives in the registry's daily journal; numbering restarts each year, and the date and number together fix the priority of rights.
tapu geldisi previous / next record reference
Cross-references on older deeds: 'geldisi' gives the date, volume, page and row of the record this title came from, and 'gittisi' where it went after a transfer, subdivision or merger.
malik owner
The registered owner as written in the register's owner column; a company is recorded under its full trade name.
hissedar co-owner (shareholder)
A person who owns a share of a property together with others; each co-owner can sell, mortgage or have attached their own share, but not the whole.
hisse share
A fractional share in a property, written as a fraction such as 1/2 or 120/10000; a 'hisseli tapu' is title to a share of a larger parcel, not to an identified piece of it. A share gives no particular part of the land; separating it requires all co-owners' agreement or a partition lawsuit.
pay / payda numerator / denominator
The two numbers of a share or land-share fraction: 'pay' is the top number and 'payda' the bottom, so pay 3 and payda 8 mean a 3/8 share.
tam whole (sole ownership)
In the share field, 'tam' means the owner holds the whole property alone rather than a fraction of it.
müşterek mülkiyet co-ownership in shares
Co-ownership in which each owner holds a defined fraction of the whole property, also called paylı mülkiyet and, in older usage, şuyu. If a co-owner sells their share to an outsider, the other co-owners have a legal right to take it over (önalım).
elbirliği mülkiyeti joint ownership (undivided)
Joint ownership, typically of heirs, in which no one has a defined share and decisions on the property need everyone's consent; older deeds often say 'iştirak halinde'. Nothing can be sold or mortgaged without all joint owners, which is why heirs usually convert to shares or divide the estate first.
zemin tipi record type
Field showing which kind of record the property sits on: 'ana taşınmaz' for the whole land parcel, or 'kat irtifakı' or 'kat mülkiyeti' for a unit in a condominium.
ana taşınmaz main property (whole plot)
The whole land parcel with any building on it, as opposed to a single unit; the main property's type describes the building, such as 'betonarme apartman ve arsası'.
kat irtifakı construction servitude
A right over a plot tied to a future unit and its land share, created before or during construction, so units can be owned and sold before completion; it later becomes full condominium title. A flat still on kat irtifakı long after completion usually points to a missing occupancy permit, which buyers and banks ask about.
kat mülkiyeti condominium ownership
Full ownership of an independent unit in a completed building, inseparably linked to its land share and to the building's common areas.
blok building block
A building within a site: 'A, B, C bloklu' in the main property's description means several buildings stand on the parcel, and the unit's block shows which one; unrelated to the cadastral 'ada'.
giriş entrance
Entrance number or name of the door or stairwell through which a unit is reached, used in buildings with more than one entrance.
kat floor
The floor of the unit according to the approved architectural project; the registry's floor number may differ from the numbering in the lift or at the entrance.
bağımsız bölüm independent unit
A flat, shop or office that can be used on its own and is owned separately under the Condominium Law; its number comes from the approved architectural project.
arsa payı land share
The fraction of the building plot attached to a unit, fixed in proportion to the unit's value when the condominium is set up; it cannot be sold separately from the unit. It sets your share of the common areas and of most shared upkeep, repair and insurance costs; in an ordinary assembly vote each flat has one vote whatever its share, but a risky building's rebuild is decided by a majority of land shares.
nolu numbered
Short for 'numaralı', meaning 'number': '12 nolu bağımsız bölüm' is independent unit number 12.
takyidat encumbrances
Collective term for everything that restricts ownership on a record: annotations, declarations, easements, land charges, foundation notes and mortgages. Before buying, letting long-term or lending against a property, ask for a current record that lists its encumbrances.
sınırı boundaries
Boundary field on older deeds; 'planındadır' or 'plandaki gibidir' means the boundaries are those drawn on the official cadastral plan rather than described in words.
proje m² project area
The unit's area as given in the approved architectural project, printed on deeds of the 2019 design; it is often empty for buildings registered on older projects.
brüt gross area
Gross area: the unit's area measured including its walls, the figure adverts usually quote.
net net area
Net area: the usable floor area inside the walls, always smaller than the gross figure.
işlem bedeli declared value
The value declared for the registered transaction, on which the title deed fee was charged; on older purchases it was often lower than what was actually paid.
satış bedeli declared sale price
The sale price declared at the registry, as older deeds call it; today's deeds print it as 'işlem bedeli'.
konum bilgisi location (QR code)
The box with the QR code on deeds of the 2019 design; scanning it opens the parcel's location and details in the land registry's systems, not proof of who owns it today.
sicile uygundur matches the register
The registry officer's signed and sealed certification that the deed matched the register on the day it was printed.
tescil registration
Entry of a right in the land register. Most rights over land arise only when registered; an heir, a party who wins a court case or an auction buyer owns before registration but cannot sell until it is registered. The date and daybook number fix the right's priority.
baba adı father's name
The father's name written after the owner's name, which the registry uses to tell people with the same name apart.
hisseye düşen m² area for the share
On a land deed, the part of the plot's area that corresponds to the owner's share, added in the 2019 design; it is arithmetic, not a marked-out piece of land.
nitelik registered type
The registered description of what a property is: for the main property the land and any building on it, for a unit what the unit is used as.
taşınmaz property (land or building)
Immovable property: land, and anything built on it or registered as a separate unit; the deed's first section is headed 'taşınmaz bilgileri', property details.
mülkiyet ownership
Ownership; on a record the ownership section lists each owner, their share and how and when they acquired it.
bilgileri details (in a heading)
'Details' or 'information', as in the deed's section headings: taşınmaz bilgileri, malik bilgileri, tescile ilişkin bilgiler.

What the property is
arsa building plot
Land set aside for building; on a flat's record the main property can still read 'arsa' when the building's change of type has not yet been registered. If a finished building's main property still says 'arsa', its occupancy permit has usually not reached the land registry yet, which buyers and banks ask about.
müfrez split off by subdivision
Old registry word for land separated from a larger parcel through subdivision (ifraz); a 'müfrez arsa' is a building plot created that way.
tarla field (farmland)
Agricultural land recorded as a field; the registered type does not by itself decide whether building is allowed, which depends on the zoning plan. Under the soil-protection law, dividing agricultural land, selling a fractional share of it or changing its type needs the Agriculture Ministry's permission.
bağ vineyard
Land planted with grapevines and recorded as agricultural land; in older usage the word could also mean an orchard.
bahçe garden / orchard
A garden or orchard; as a land type it is cultivated ground, and in a building description such as 'bahçeli kargir apartman' it means the plot includes garden space.
zeytinlik olive grove
Land planted with olive trees and recorded as agricultural land.
fındıklık hazelnut orchard
Land planted with hazelnut trees, typical of Black Sea deeds, where it may also be written 'fındık bahçesi'; recorded as agricultural land.
mera common pasture
Public grazing land set aside for a village or town; by law it cannot pass into private ownership, be used for another purpose or be acquired through long possession. Land still recorded as mera cannot be bought by a private person, whatever a seller claims.
ham toprak uncultivated land
Raw land that has never been cultivated or built on, such as barren or rocky ground.
bina building
A roofed structure usable on its own that people can enter to live, work or keep animals and goods, as in 'betonarme bina ve arsası'.
apartman apartment building
A building of several storeys with one or more flats on each floor; on a deed it describes the whole building, while the flat itself is usually recorded as 'mesken'.
betonarme apartman reinforced-concrete apartment building
An apartment building whose load-bearing structure is reinforced concrete, the usual construction of modern blocks; on the deed it describes the whole building, not your flat.
kargir apartman masonry apartment building
An apartment building registered as kâgir, the registry's old word for non-timber; very common on older deeds, including those of many reinforced-concrete blocks.
müstakil ev detached house
A free-standing house on its own plot; in registry language 'müstakil' means allotted as a separate property rather than as a share (hisseli) or a condominium unit.
ve arsası and its land
Shows that a building and the land beneath it form one registered property, as in 'kargir ev ve arsası': the masonry house together with its plot.
kargir ev ve bahçesi masonry house with garden
A non-timber house together with its garden, registered as one property; the garden is part of the same title, not a separate parcel.
maa müştemilat with its outbuildings
Old formula meaning 'together with its outbuildings': sheds, stores, kitchens or similar structures serving the main building on the same plot.
havi containing
Old registry word meaning 'containing', as in 'bahçeyi havi ahşap ev': a timber house that includes a garden.
katlı -storey (number of floors)
Gives the number of storeys in a building description, as in '8 katlı betonarme apartman'; distributive forms such as 'beşer katlı' mean five storeys each, across several blocks.
daireli with (N) flats
Counts the units in a building description: '12 daireli kargir apartman' is a masonry apartment building with twelve flats, and 'meskenli' or 'dükkanı olan' count homes and shops the same way.
dükkan shop
A shop unit for retail or a small trade ('mağaza' is a larger store); as a unit's registered type it marks commercial rather than residential use.
işyeri business premises
A unit registered for business or commercial use rather than as a home; the registered type is what the Condominium Law looks at when deciding which uses are allowed.
büro office
An office unit; the Condominium Law lists 'iş bürosu' among the kinds of separately owned units, and newer deeds often use the modern word 'ofis' in the same sense.
depo storeroom / warehouse
A storeroom or warehouse; one registered as a flat's annex goes with that flat, while one registered as an independent unit is a separate property.
imalathane workshop
A small manufacturing workshop; the Condominium Law allows one in a unit registered as a home only by a unanimous decision of the building's owners.
otel hotel
A hotel; the Condominium Law lets several floors run as one hotel be registered as a single unit, and mixed-use towers can combine hotel, office and residential units.
otopark car park / garage
A car park; in a condominium the shared garage is a common area, while a garage or space allocated to one flat is that flat's annex (eklenti).
sığınak air-raid shelter
A civil-defence shelter, usually in the basement; the Condominium Law counts shelters as common areas in every case, never as part of one flat. A shelter that has been turned into living or storage space is still a common area in law.
mesken dwelling (home)
The registry's word for a home; a flat's own registered type normally reads 'mesken', recording residential use. In a unit registered as 'mesken', the Condominium Law allows a shop, restaurant, bar or workshop only with the unanimous consent of the building's owners.
daire flat (apartment)
A flat, one of the dwelling units of a building; building descriptions count them ('12 daireli'), while the unit's own registered type is usually 'mesken'.
konut dwelling (housing)
Modern word for a home, used in planning documents and on some newer deeds in the same sense as 'mesken'.
çatı katı attic floor / roof space
Space under the roof: a 'çatı piyesi' is attic space connected from inside to the flat below and belonging to it, while the roof itself is a common area. Roof space that the approved project does not show as part of a unit belongs to all owners, even if the top-floor flat uses it.
bodrum kat basement floor
Any floor below the ground floor; on a sloping plot a flat opening onto a garden at the back can still be a registered basement unit, so registry floors may not match what you see.
zemin kat ground floor
The lowest storey counted in the zoning plan's number of floors, sitting just above the building's plinth level; floors below it are basements.
asma kat mezzanine
A part-floor at ground level that completes a unit and is reached from inside it, typically above a shop; it belongs to that unit.
eklenti annex (of a unit)
A space outside a flat but allocated directly to it, such as a storeroom, coal store, garage or meter cupboard; it is noted in the declarations column and passes with the flat. A storeroom or parking space you use but that is not recorded as your annex is common property.
kömürlük coal / fuel store
A store for coal or firewood; the building's general coal store is a common area, while one allocated to a single flat is that flat's annex.
ortak yer common areas
Parts of a condominium that serve all owners, such as foundations, load-bearing walls, roof, stairs, lifts, the caretaker's flat and shelters; owners co-own them in proportion to their land shares.
bahçe kullanım hakkı garden use right
Exclusive use of part of a building's common garden given to one flat, usually through the management plan; the garden stays common property, and the use right is only as secure as the management plan.

What the building is made of
betonarme reinforced concrete
Concrete strengthened with steel bars, the standard load-bearing structure of modern Turkish buildings; 'betonarme karkas' means a reinforced-concrete frame of columns and beams. The material on a deed is a registry description, not a structural assessment, and says nothing about how the building would perform in an earthquake.
kargir masonry (stone or brick)
Non-timber: the registry's old word for a building of stone, brick or concrete, as opposed to ahşap; many reinforced-concrete blocks are registered as kargir, so it does not tell you the structural system.
yığma load-bearing masonry
A structural system in which walls of stone, brick or block carry the building's loads with no separate concrete or steel frame, typical of older low-rise houses.
ahşap timber
Made of wood; an 'ahşap ev' is a house built mainly of timber, the traditional construction of many old Bosphorus and island houses.
kerpiç mud brick (adobe)
Sun-dried brick made of clay mixed with straw, or a building made of it; a 'kerpiç ev' is a traditional rural mud-brick house.
çelik steel (frame)
Steel used as a building's load-bearing frame, common in industrial halls and some modern buildings.
prefabrik prefabricated
Built from parts made in advance and assembled on site.

How the owner acquired it
edinme sebebi reason for acquisition
The field recording how the current owner acquired the property, such as sale, inheritance or gift, with the date and daybook number of that registration.
satış sale
Acquisition by purchase, completed only when the official deed of sale is signed before the registry officer and registered. A sale contract signed elsewhere, even before a notary, does not transfer ownership; only registration at the land registry does. Selling from abroad →
intikal transfer by inheritance
Registration of a deceased owner's property in the heirs' names on a certificate of inheritance; until they divide it, heirs normally hold it jointly (elbirliği). An inherited property cannot be sold or mortgaged until the inheritance tax due on it has been paid in full.
hibe gift
Acquisition as a gift: the property is transferred free of charge by an official deed at the land registry. The registry checks that the gift tax has been settled before the next transaction on a gifted property.
ölünceye kadar bakma akdi lifetime care contract
Acquisition under a contract in which one party transfers property in return for being cared for until death; the contract must be made in the form of an inheritance contract, before an official and two witnesses.
taksim partition by agreement
Division of a jointly owned property or estate among its owners by agreement, by splitting the land or allotting whole properties, so that each becomes sole owner of a part.
ortaklığın giderilmesi court-ordered partition
Ending co-ownership through a court case when the owners cannot agree; the judge divides the property in kind or orders a public auction and shares out the price. Any co-owner can normally force it, so a small share held together with relatives can end in an auction sale.
trampa exchange (swap)
Acquisition by exchanging one property for another, a swap to which the rules on sale apply.
ifraz subdivision
Splitting one parcel into two or more new parcels under the Zoning Law, approved by the municipality (outside municipal areas, the provincial administration); each new parcel gets its own register page.
tevhit merger of plots
Merging adjoining parcels into a single parcel, approved by the municipality (outside municipal areas, the provincial administration); rights and charges on the old parcels are carried over to the new one.
cins değişikliği change of registered type
Updating a property's registered type, for example from 'arsa' to 'apartman ve arsası' when a building is completed; for permitted buildings the registry now does it ex officio.
kat irtifakı kurulması creation of construction servitude
Registration of condominium-type rights over a plot before or during construction, based on the approved project and a management plan, so that future units can be owned and sold.
kat mülkiyetine geçiş conversion to condominium title
Conversion of construction servitude into full condominium ownership once the building has its occupancy permit; the registry does it of its own motion, and since 2021 automatically once the permit reaches it, without an application from the owners.
mahkeme kararı court decision
Registration made on the basis of a final court judgment, for example after a title or inheritance dispute, rather than on the owner's own application.
kamulaştırma expropriation
Compulsory acquisition of private property for public use by a public authority, against compensation agreed in negotiation or fixed by the court.
imar uygulaması zoning readjustment (land pooling)
Municipal re-parcelling under Article 18 of the Zoning Law: plots are pooled, a contribution (DOP) is deducted for roads and public areas, and new zoned parcels or shares are issued. It can leave an owner with a fractional share in a new parcel rather than a whole plot of their own.
cebri satış forced sale at auction
Sale of a debtor's property by the enforcement office at auction to pay creditors; the buyer is registered on the office's letter confirming that the auction is final.
kadastro cadastral survey (first registration)
Registration created by the cadastral survey that mapped each parcel and recorded its owner; 'tapulama' was the earlier rural survey, and 'senetsizden' means registered on possession rather than an older deed. Once the survey records have been final for ten years, claims based on rights from before the cadastre can no longer be brought.
pay birleştirmesi merging of shares
Entry in the acquisition column when an owner's separately registered shares in the same property are merged into one, for example once a restriction that kept one share apart has been deleted.
ferdileşme co-operative allotment to members
Transfer of the units of a completed housing co-operative project to its individual members, registered on the co-operative's list of members.
elbirliği mülkiyetinin paylı mülkiyete dönüştürülmesi conversion to shared ownership
Turning heirs' joint ownership into co-ownership with fixed shares, so each heir can sell or mortgage their own share; done on all heirs' application, by registry notice or by a court.

Annotations, rights and charges
şerh annotation
An entry in the annotations column recording a personal right, such as a lease or option, or a restriction on disposal, such as an attachment or injunction, so that it binds later acquirers. An annotation does not vanish when its purpose ends; it stays visible until it is formally deleted (terkin).
beyan declaration (notice)
An entry in the declarations column giving information about the property, such as annexes, the management plan, public-law restrictions or a risky-building notice; it informs rather than creates a right.
belirtme notation
The act of noting something in the declarations column; laws use the word for entries such as a risky-building notice or a pending correction of shares.
irtifak hakkı easement (servitude)
A limited right over someone else's land, either in favour of a neighbouring property, such as a right of way, or of a person, such as usufruct; it has its own column in the register.
h / m benefit / burden marks
Letters in the easement column: 'h' (hak) marks a right your property enjoys over another property, and 'm' (mükellefiyet) a burden your property carries for someone else. An 'm' entry is a charge on your property that a buyer takes over with it.
rehin charge (security right)
A security right over a property for a debt; on land it can take only three forms, the mortgage (ipotek), the mortgage note and the annuity note, all recorded in the charges column.
ipotek mortgage
A charge securing an existing or future debt, recorded in the charges column with the creditor, amount and rank and marked 'İ'; the property need not belong to the debtor. A mortgaged property can be transferred without the lender's permission, though your loan agreement may treat a sale as a default; the mortgage stays on the property until the lender has it removed.
derece mortgage rank
The rank of a mortgage; the security it gives is limited to its registered rank, and a first-rank mortgage comes before later ones when sale proceeds are shared out.
üst sınır ipoteği maximum-sum mortgage
A mortgage securing changing or future debts, such as a bank credit line, up to a stated maximum; it stays registered after a loan is repaid until the bank releases it. Paying off the loan does not remove the mortgage; the bank must send the release to the land registry.
haciz attachment (seizure)
An attachment of the property for a debt, entered for an enforcement office or, for taxes and other public debts, the collecting authority; it restricts disposal and can lead to a forced sale. An attachment stays on the record until the authority that placed it tells the registry it has been lifted; the land registry cannot simply delete it because time has passed.
ihtiyati haciz precautionary attachment
A provisional attachment a creditor obtains before or during collection proceedings, so that the property cannot be disposed of while the debt is pursued.
ihtiyati tedbir interim injunction
A court's interim order, usually in a dispute over the property, that prohibits its sale or other transactions until the court decides or lifts it.
dava şerhi pending lawsuit annotation
Annotation, entered on a court decision, that a lawsuit over the title, often a claim to cancel the registration and register the claimant, is pending; later acquirers are bound by the outcome.
kira şerhi lease annotation
Annotation of a lease on the title, which the parties may agree in the lease; it puts the tenancy on record against later owners and rights holders. Even without it, a buyer takes over an existing lease by law (Code of Obligations, art. 310).
satış vaadi şerhi promise-to-sell annotation
Annotation of a notarised contract in which the owner promises to sell the property later; it protects the promised buyer against anyone who acquires rights afterwards. A promise to sell does not transfer ownership; the buyer still needs a transfer at the land registry or a court judgment.
arsa payı karşılığı inşaat build-for-flats contract
Contract in which a landowner gives land shares to a contractor in exchange for flats in the new building; it is notarised and may be annotated on the title so that it binds later acquirers.
önalım hakkı right of pre-emption
The right to buy a property or share first when it is sold to an outsider; co-owners hold it by law over each other's shares, and it can also be created by contract and annotated. Flat owners have no pre-emption right over neighbouring flats, but co-owners of the same flat have one over each other's shares.
geri alım hakkı right of repurchase
The seller's right to buy the property back from the buyer on agreed terms; it must be made by official deed and can be agreed and annotated for at most ten years.
alım hakkı option to buy
A right, made by official deed, to buy the property on agreed terms whenever the holder chooses within the agreed period, which can be at most ten years.
aile konutu şerhi family home annotation
Annotation, requested by the spouse who is not the owner, that the property is the family home, signalling that selling or restricting rights over it needs that spouse's express consent. It can be requested only while the marriage lasts, not after a divorce.
intifa hakkı usufruct
The right to use a property and take its income, such as rent, for a person's life or a set period, while the owner keeps only bare ownership ('kuru mülkiyet'). While the usufruct lasts, the rent belongs to the usufruct holder rather than the registered owner.
sükna hakkı right of residence
The right to live in a building or part of it; it is personal, cannot be transferred, does not pass to heirs, and is now called 'oturma hakkı'.
geçit hakkı right of way
An easement allowing passage across a neighbouring property; an owner with no adequate access to a public road can demand one against full compensation.
kaynak hakkı spring water right
An easement over a spring on someone else's land that obliges the landowner to allow the water to be taken and channelled away.
üst hakkı building right (superficies)
A right to build or keep a building on another's land; granted for thirty years or more it can be registered as a separate property, and the buildings revert to the landowner when it ends.
yönetim planı management plan (bylaws)
The building's binding rulebook on how it is run and how units and common areas may be used; its date and any amendments are shown in the declarations column. It binds every owner and later buyer, and changing it needs the votes of four-fifths of all owners.
riskli yapı risky building (urban renewal)
Notice in the declarations column that the building has been found, under the urban-renewal law, to be at risk of collapse or heavy damage or past its economic life. Once a building is designated risky, the urban-renewal procedures for demolition and rebuilding apply to all its owners. Urban transformation guide →
üç yıl satılmaması şerhi three-year no-sale annotation
The undertaking, recorded when a foreigner buys property to obtain Turkish citizenship by investment, not to sell it for three years; the registry enters it as a belirtme in the declarations column, though everyone calls it a şerh. When the three years are up the annotation does not disappear by itself; the owner applies to have it deleted. Removing it after three years →
kamulaştırma şerhi expropriation annotation
Annotation that a public authority has decided to expropriate the property; later changes of owner are reported to that authority, and the note is removed if it does not go to court in time. It does not stop a sale, but the authority is told of the new owner and the process continues against them.
yola terk ceded for public use
Part of a parcel given up, often without payment, for a road or other public use, typically when plots are subdivided or re-parcelled; the area is deducted from the registered area.
imar mevzuatına aykırı yapı zoning violation notice
Declaration, entered at the municipality's request, that a building or part of it was built without a permit or against its permit; it stays until the municipality reports the violation cured.
korunması gerekli taşınmaz kültür varlığı listed heritage property
Record that the property is a registered cultural asset or lies in a protected site; repairs, alterations or demolition need the regional conservation board's approval.
muhdesat additions owned by another
Buildings, trees or other additions on a parcel that belong to someone other than the landowner, or to only one of the co-owners; they are noted in the declarations column with their owner.
devre mülk timeshare
A right, tied to a co-ownership share, to use a residential unit during set periods each year of at least seven days; it is noted in the declarations column and on the deed.
terkin deletion (cancellation)
Formal deletion of an entry, such as a repaid mortgage or a lifted attachment; on paper ledgers the entry is struck through in red and marked 'terkin edildi' with date and daybook number.
lehtar beneficiary
The person or property in whose favour a right or annotation is registered, such as the bank holding a mortgage or the neighbour holding a right of way.

What the paper does not show: your title record

Your deed is a snapshot of the register on the day it was printed. The register itself, the title record (tapu kaydı) kept in the Land Registry's TAKBİS system, is live, and Turkish law treats it, not your paper, as the truth: as a rule, rights over land come into being when they are registered (Civil Code, art. 1022), and someone who relies on the register in good faith is protected (art. 1023). A mortgage, a court order or an annotation added after your deed was printed is in the record and nowhere on your paper.

The record has five columns. Your deed prints part of the first and none of the other four:

  • Ownership (mülkiyet): every current owner and share, and how and when each was acquired, as of today rather than the day your deed was printed.
  • Annotations (şerhler): rights given effect against later owners once noted, such as a notarised promise to sell (satış vaadi) or a lease (kira şerhi; a buyer takes over a lease even without one), and restrictions such as an attachment for a debt (haciz), a court injunction (ihtiyati tedbir) or a spouse's family-home annotation (aile konutu).
  • Declarations (beyanlar): facts the law wants on record, such as the building's management plan, a finding under the urban transformation law that the building is risky, and the three-year commitment given for citizenship by investment.
  • Easements (irtifak hakları): rights such as usufruct (intifa), a right of residence (oturma hakkı) or a right of way (geçit).
  • Charges (rehinler): mortgages (ipotek), with the lender, the amount and the rank.

The last four together are called takyidat, encumbrances. A record copy that lists them is what a buyer, a bank or a tenant's lawyer asks for, and you can get one yourself through Web Tapu. If your record carries the citizenship commitment, it does not lapse on its own after three years: see removing the three-year no-sale annotation.

Checking your deed from abroad

  1. e-Devlet, “Tapu Bilgileri Sorgulama”. Shows the properties registered to you and their details. It needs an e-Devlet login; a foreign owner needs a foreign identity number (the “99” number) and an e-Devlet password, which is issued at a PTT post office in Turkey. If e-Devlet shows nothing, the record is probably not linked to the identity you log in with: see title deed not showing in e-Devlet.
  2. Web Tapu (webtapu.tkgm.gov.tr), with the same login. From abroad you can get an official copy of your deed or of the full record, start applications for many registry transactions (the signing itself still happens at a registry office, by you or your representative), and record that no transaction may be made on your property unless you appear in person (an işlem yapılamaz declaration). It holds even against a power of attorney you gave earlier, so lift it on Web Tapu before your own representative signs for you; it guards against someone signing in your name, not against an attachment or a court order. Documents produced there carry a code anyone can check under “Belge Doğrulama”.
  3. Parsel Sorgu (parselsorgu.tkgm.gov.tr), the Land Registry's free public map. Enter the province, district, neighbourhood, ada and parsel from your deed to see the plot, its area and type, and whether it is under condominium title. It cannot be searched by owner, and its results are for information, not for official use.
  4. A text message when anything happens. e-Devlet's “Tapu Telefon Bilgileri Beyan” service sends a message to the phone number you register whenever a transaction starts on a property in your name (a Turkish mobile number may be needed).
  5. In person, outside Turkey. The Land Registry's only office abroad is at the Turkish Consulate General in Berlin, which handles sales, inheritance, mortgages and record copies. Elsewhere a power of attorney does the work; what one must say to cover a sale is in our guide to selling from abroad.

Six things to check on your deed before you let or sell

  1. The owner line matches the identity you will use. A passport-era record and a Turkish ID card do not match at the registry (box 14).
  2. KAT MÜLKİYETİ, not KAT İRTİFAKI, in the current record and not just on your paper, if the building has been finished for years (box 16).
  3. The share reads 1/1 or TAM, or you know who the co-owners are and that they will sign (box 15).
  4. The unit type fits the use: MESKEN for a home, a commercial type for a shop; an office in a MESKEN unit can be allowed, depending on the management plan (box 8).
  5. The deed's district and unit number go into every contract and power of attorney, not the advert's (box 2, box 12).
  6. The record is clear of mortgages, attachments and annotations you did not expect: the paper cannot tell you (see above).

This article is general information, not tax or legal advice. Rules change. Verify the current regulations, or ask an accountant or lawyer, before you act.

Frequently Asked

Questions about Turkish title deeds

Is my old Turkish title deed still valid?

Yes. The deed was redesigned in 2019 with a property number and a QR code (some late printings of the older form already carry one), and deeds have carried no owner's photo since July 2019, but no rule cancelled the older deeds, and when the new design was announced in November 2018 the government said existing deeds remain valid. In any case the paper is evidence, not the title itself: ownership lives in the land register, which is what a buyer, a bank or a court relies on. If you want a deed in the current design, you can get one through Web Tapu or at the registry office.

I have lost my tapu. How do I get a new one from abroad?

Through Web Tapu, without visiting the registry: an owner who can log in with e-Devlet can obtain an official, current deed online and pay the fee there. A foreign owner needs a foreign identity number and an e-Devlet password for this. If you cannot log in, someone holding a power of attorney that covers it can apply at the registry office. Losing the paper changes nothing about your ownership, which lives in the register.

Why is the area on my deed so much bigger than my flat?

Because the Yüz Ölçümü box gives the area of the whole plot the building stands on, not of your flat. Deeds of the 2019 design add the flat's own area from the approved project in a Proje m² box, but only where the project lists it, which became compulsory for new condominium registrations from 1 January 2019. On older buildings that box is often empty, and the flat's size is in the approved project held by the municipality.

What is the difference between kat irtifakı and kat mülkiyeti?

They are two stages of title to a unit in a building. Kat irtifakı is the title while the building is planned or under construction, tied to a land share; kat mülkiyeti is full condominium ownership once the building's occupancy permit (iskan) is registered. A flat still on kat irtifakı years after the building was finished usually means the building has no occupancy permit or the permit never reached the registry, which buyers and banks ask about; check the current record first, because an older paper deed can lag behind it. Once a permit reaches the registry, the registry converts the title itself, with no registry fee (Condominium Law, arts. 3 and 10).

What does a land share like 48/2400 on my deed mean?

It is your unit's share of the plot, not your flat's size. Unless the owners agreed otherwise, most shared building costs are split by it, and it counts towards the quorum of the owners' assembly. In an ordinary assembly vote each flat has one vote whatever its land share, but some decisions need a majority of land shares as well as of owners (Condominium Law, arts. 20, 30, 31 and 42), and in a risky building the rebuild is decided by owners holding more than half of the land shares (Law 6306, art. 6), with your share of the new building negotiated on it.

What does the QR code on a Turkish title deed show?

Deeds of the 2019 design carry a QR code in the Konum Bilgisi box, and some late printings of the older form carry one too. Scanning it opens the parcel's location and details in the Land Registry's systems, so you can see which plot the deed refers to. It is not proof of who owns the property today; for that, the register is the authority. Documents you download from Web Tapu carry a code you can check under Belge Doğrulama on the Web Tapu home page.

Does my deed show mortgages, debts or other restrictions?

Not the current design: it shows the property, the unit, the owner and the registration, nothing else. Mortgages, attachments for debt, court orders, lease annotations and the citizenship three-year commitment live in the title record, and anything added after your deed was printed appears only there. Before you sell, let long-term or borrow against the property, look at the current record on e-Devlet or Web Tapu, or ask for a record copy that lists encumbrances (takyidat).

Is a Turkish title deed in North Cyprus the same thing?

No. This page covers title deeds issued by Turkey's Land Registry (Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü). Northern Cyprus has its own land registry and its own deed types, and nothing on this page applies to them.

All questions from owners abroad →

Not sure what your deed says?

Send us a photo of your deed or of your e-Devlet title record on WhatsApp, with your ID number covered, and we will tell you what it shows and what to check before a letting or a sale. Turkish, English, Arabic and Russian; no charge for the reading.

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