Embassies to affirm property transfers

Turkish embassies have been granted the power to approve the transfer of Turkish property titles, according to a recently published regulation. The new authority, agreed between the Foreign Ministry and the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, will be launched in eight countries including Germany, the United Kingdom and Russia.

Gökhan Kanal, deputy head of General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre, said according to the new regulation, officials named by the directorate will work in the embassies as “expert counselors.” The new regulation will first be applied to the Turkish embassies in Germany, Greece, the U.K., Austria, Ireland, Netherlands and Russia. The eight countries were selected based on the number of Turks living in these countries and the high frequency of citizens from these countries owning property in Turkey, said Kanal. The regulation allows for ownership of property in Turkey to be transferred between two foreigners, one foreigner and one Turkish citizen or between two Turkish citizens who applied to a Turkish embassy, said Kanal.

“The transfer of ownership between someone in Turkey and another person abroad is a situation we are still working on, because it necessitates the signatures of the two parties on the same document,” said Kanal, adding that they are planning to solve this problem by using electronic signatures or another solution.

Regulation to be expand in more embassies

“When almost 3 million Turks living in Germany is taken into account, this regulation will provide financial and time benefits,” said Kanal, adding that this regulation is planned to be expanded to include other embassies in Europe if it works in the eight embassies without a problem.

“We aim to decrease the bureaucracy and provide a people-oriented service,” he said.

The United Kingdom has the most foreign citizen who own property in Turkey, at a total of 35,433. They are followed by German citizens with 28,002 and third with 10,741 Greek citizens.