A person living in Germany does not necessarily have to travel to Türkiye to sell a house, land or another Turkish property. A properly drafted power of attorney can allow a representative in Türkiye to handle the application, prepare the documents and complete the conveyance. Remote sale nevertheless requires more than simply signing a power of attorney. The current land registry record, encumbrances and annotations, ownership details, sale price and Turkish tax consequences should be checked together before the transaction is scheduled.
Property sales in Türkiye are no longer carried out only by land registry offices. Since 2023, Turkish notaries have also been authorised under Article 61/A of the Notary Law to execute immovable property sale contracts, with registration then completed through the land registry information system. The appropriate route depends on the documents, representation structure, title status and practical plan for the transaction.
A power of attorney executed in Germany must be suitable for the intended Turkish property sale. Calling a document a “general power of attorney” does not itself provide the required authority. The instrument should address the powers actually needed, such as selling the property, receiving the price, making the relevant declarations and signatures, and where appropriate handling connected applications and tax steps. If the authority is limited to one property, its land registry identifiers must be stated accurately.
A power of attorney executed at a Turkish consulate under Turkish notarial rules does not require a German apostille for use in Türkiye. A German notarial power of attorney, however, must be checked for the form required for Turkish land registry transactions, photograph requirements, apostille and duly certified Turkish translation. A document that merely certifies a signature may not be sufficient for a land registry sale. An apostille does not cure missing authority; it authenticates the official origin of the document.
An up-to-date Turkish land registry record should be reviewed before the transaction. Mortgages, attachments, interim court measures, family-home annotations, usufruct rights and other encumbrances may affect whether or how the property can be sold and how the price should be handled. Where only a co-ownership share is being sold, the seller’s exact share and form of ownership require separate review.
If inherited property has not yet been registered in the heirs’ names, the registration and succession documents required for disposal must first be addressed. Likewise, differences between the title record and the seller’s current identity - for example because of a surname or nationality change - should be resolved before the execution date rather than at the last stage.
Turkish land registry fees are calculated on the declared actual transfer value, which may not be lower than the property tax value. Under the current rate, seller and buyer are each liable for a fee of 20 per thousand, or 2 percent. The parties may agree between themselves how transaction costs will ultimately be borne, but that does not permit an artificial reduction of the value declared for statutory fee purposes. Under-declaring the real sale price can lead to additional assessments and tax penalties.
The payment mechanism should also be planned separately from the conveyance formalities. The Güvenilir Hesap secure-payment system offered by the Turkish land registry authority with Takasbank can hold the sale proceeds until registration and release them to the seller once registration is completed. It is not a universal legal condition for a valid sale. If a bank transfer or another payment structure is used, timing, account details and evidence of payment should be agreed in advance.
Where an individual sells property acquired for consideration within five years of acquisition, the resulting gain may fall within Türkiye’s value-increase gain rules. The five-year period is calculated by reference to calendar days. For 2026, the annual exemption for relevant value-increase gains is TRY 150,000. The taxable amount is not simply the difference between purchase price and sale price; allowable acquisition and disposal costs, taxes and fees and, where statutory conditions are met, Yİ-ÜFE indexation may affect the calculation.
A property acquired without consideration, including by inheritance or gift, falls outside this particular Turkish value-increase gain regime when later sold. Repeated or commercially organised property disposals may be characterised differently, and corporate sellers are subject to rules different from those applicable to private individuals.
Residence in Germany does not by itself determine the seller’s status in Turkish land registry proceedings. A Turkish-German dual national is dealt with in Türkiye through Turkish nationality. Mavi Kart holders and foreign owners may require additional identity or registry evidence, especially where historic Turkish records and current foreign documents use different names or personal details.
If the buyer is a foreign individual, Turkish rules governing acquisition by foreigners and restrictions linked to the location or nature of the property may trigger additional checks. The seller’s authority to dispose of the property and the buyer’s legal capacity to acquire it are separate issues and should be verified together before the transaction.
Delays often arise from inconsistencies between the power of attorney, identity documents and land registry data rather than from the sale itself. Missing sale authority, incorrect property identifiers, incomplete apostille or translation formalities, outdated personal data, unfinished inheritance registration or encumbrances discovered too late may require a new appointment or fresh documents from Germany.
For a sale planned from Germany, the practical sequence is therefore to check the current title and ownership details first and then coordinate the power of attorney, transaction route, payment, land registry fees and possible Turkish income-tax consequences. Where no case-specific rule requires personal attendance, a properly prepared sale can generally be completed without travelling to Türkiye.
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An inheritance in Türkiye may include property, bank accounts or business interests, even when the family lives in Germany. Much of the administration can be handled through a representative in Türkiye. First establish the heirs and liabilities, then identify each institution’s requirements for releasing assets or updating records.
A person living in Germany does not always need to travel to Türkiye to sell property there, handle inheritance matters, deal with a bank account or bring court proceedings. Many procedures can be handled through an appropriate power of attorney. Whether the document can be used in Türkiye depends not only on where it was executed, but also on the powers it contains and the formal requirements of the intended transaction. A consular power of attorney, a German notarial instrument, an apostille and a translation each serve a different function in that process.
As a general rule, heirs acquire the estate upon death. Tapu intikali, the land registry transfer of inherited title, records that acquisition in the Turkish land register; it does not create ownership afresh in the manner of a sale. Registration is nevertheless required before an heir can carry out dispositions such as a sale of the property. The transfer therefore does not replace a later partition of the estate or a sale. Turkish Civil Code, Articles 599 and 705.
For administrative registration under Article 27/A of Turkish Civil Registration Services Law No. 5490, the decision must have been issued by a competent authority in Germany, must be final under German law and must not be manifestly contrary to Turkish public policy. The application may be submitted to the competent Turkish foreign mission in Germany or to a provincial directorate of population and citizenship affairs in Türkiye authorised to process these applications. Processing the application through the consulate does not mean that the German divorce case is reheard on its merits.
In a Turkish estate, the family may know that the deceased held a bank account, time deposit, participation account or investment portfolio in Türkiye. In other cases the heirs do not know which institution holds the assets. For an heir living in Germany, the first step is therefore not withdrawing the money but identifying the estate in an orderly way. The location of the assets, the form of inheritance evidence, Turkish inheritance tax and the rights of co-heirs all affect the process.