The first law that allowed foreign natural persons to acquire real estate in Turkey was passed as part of the general Tapu Act of December 22, 1934 under paragraph 35.
According to Article 35 of Property Act No. 2644 of December 22, 1934 with subsequent amendments and additions, "foreign individuals and trading companies forming a legal entity and established in Turkey in compliance with the laws had the right to acquire real property located within the boundaries of the Republic of Turkey" based on the principle of reciprocity.
This meant that the right to buy Turkish real estate was granted to the citizens of those states whose laws allowed the citizens of Turkey to buy property in their country.
Later on some paragraphs of this act were corrected and revised. Turkey was constantly simplifying the rules and regulations of the act, opening the country for international investment and inflows of foreign capital.
The last changes were made to the Act on May 18, 2012, and now it is this corrected and revised Act that defines the procedure for the acquisition of real estate in Turkey by foreign nationals.
With the overall text of the Act in the Turkish language you can familiarize yourself at the following link.
The most important change to the Act was, certainly, the fact that the principle of reciprocity was canceled and the list of countries whose citizens can buy property in Turkey has grown considerably. Under the new Act, citizens of more than 170 countries have the right to buy real estate in Turkey.
The list of countries whose nationals can buy property in Turkey (in alphabetical order):
1 Australia
2 Austria
3 Azerbaijan
4 Albania - only residential and commercial real estate
5 Algeria - after obtaining a permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey
6 Angola
7 Andorra - after obtaining a permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey
8 Antigua And Barbuda
9 Argentina
10 Afghanistan
11 Bahama Islands - after obtaining a permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey
12 Bangladesh
13 Barbados
14 Bahrain - after obtaining permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey
15 Belize
16 Belorussia
17 Belgium
18 Benin
19 Côte d'Ivoire
20 Bulgaria
21 Bolivia
22 Bosnia And Herzegowina
23 Botswana
24 Brazil
25 Brunei
26 Burkina Faso
27 Burundi
28 Vanuatu
29 United Kingdom
30 Hungary
31 Venezuela
32 Vietnam
33 Gabon
34 Guyana
35 Gambia
36 Ghana
37 Guatemala - after obtaining permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey
38 Guinea
39 Guinea-Bissau
40 Germany
41 Honduras
42 Grenada
43 Greece - the purchase of real estate in areas bordering on Turkey is not allowed
44 Georgia
45 Denmark - restriction on the number of purchased properties: no more than 1
46 Djibouti
47 Dominica
48 Dominican Republic
49 Egypt
50 Zambia
51 Zimbabwe - after obtaining a permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey
52 Israel - restriction on the number of purchased properties: no more than 1
53 India - after obtaining a permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey
54 Indonesia
55 Jordan - restriction on the number of purchased properties: not more than 1 commercial real property and not more than 2 residential real properties
56 Iraq
57 Iran
58 Ireland
59 Iceland
60 Spain
61 Italy
62 Cape Verde
63 Kazakhstan
64 Cambodia
65 Cameroon
66 Comoro Islands
67 Canada
68 Qatar
69 Kenya
70 Kiribati
71 China - restriction on the number of purchased properties: not more than 1 residential real property
72 Colombia
73 Congo
74 South Korea
75 Kosovo
76 Costa Rica
77 Kuwait
78 Kyrgyzstan
79 Laos
80 Latvia
81 Lesotho
82 Liberia
83 Lebanon
84 Libya
85 Lithuania
86 Liechtenstein
87 Luxembourg
88 Mauritius
89 Mauritania
90 Madagascar
91 Macedonia
92 Malawi
93 Malaysia
94 Mali
95 Malta - restriction on the number of purchased properties: not more than 1 residential real property
96 Morocco
97 Marshall Islands
98 Mexico - after obtaining a permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey
99 Micronesia
100 Mozambique
101 Moldavia
102 Monaco
103 Mongolia
104 Myanmar
105 Namibia
106 Nauru
107 Niger
108 The Netherlands
109 Nicaragua
110 New Zealand
111 Norway
112 The United Arab Emirates
113 Oman
114 Pakistan - after obtaining permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey
115 Palau
116 Palestine - after obtaining permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey
117 Panama
118 Papua
119 Paraguay
120 Peru
121 Poland
122 Portugal
123 Russia
124 Rwanda
125 Romania
126 El Salvador
127 Samoa
128 San Marino
129 Sao Tome And Principe
130 Saudi Arabia
131 Swaziland
132 Seychelles - after obtaining permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey
133 Senegal
134 Saint Vincent And The Grenadines
135 Serbia
136 Singapore
137 Slovakia
138 Slovenia
139 Solomon Islands
140 Somalia
141 Sudan
142 Suriname
143 The USA
144 Sierra Leone
145 Tajikistan
146 Thailand
147 Tanzania
148 Timor - restriction on the number of purchased properties: not more than 1 residential real property
149 Togo - after obtaining permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey
150 Tonga
151 Trinidad And Tobago
152 Tuvalu
153 Tunisia - after obtaining permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkey
154 The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus - equal rights with Turkish citizens
155 Turkmenistan
156 Uganda
157 Uzbekistan
158 Ukraine
159 Uruguay
160 Fiji - restriction on the number of purchased properties: not more than 1 residential real property
161 Philippines
162 Finland
163 France
164 Croatia
165 The Central African Republic
166 Chad
167 Montenegro
168 Czechia
169 Chile
170 Switzerland
171 Sweden
172 Sri Lanka
173 Ecuador
174 Equatorial Guinea
175 Estonia
176 Ethiopia
177 The Republic of South Africa
178 Jamaica
179 Japan
According to order 1751 of the Office of Tapu and Cadastre of Turkey No. 2013/2014 (1751) of 8 October 2013, the procedure for registering real estate in Turkey for foreign nationals, subject to certain conditions, is simplified.
This simplification is connected with a resolution from the War Office in Izmir, which is mandatory for the obtaining of Tapu by any foreign citizen.
You can familiarize yourselves with this order in the Turkish language here
Its gist is that if up to this time at the Office of Tapu and Cadastre of a respective region or province the permission for this cadastral plot and quarter of land has already been obtained for any foreign citizen, who on these grounds has obtained Tapu, any repeated verification for the same cadastral plot of land and property is not required!
This order applies to all responses from the War Office in Izmir that were received after May 5, 2011. If respective permissions were received prior to this date, the registration takes place according to the standard procedure with a request to the War Office in Izmir.
This simplification of the procedure of real estate registration in Turkey for foreign nationals will dramatically reduce the time of the registration of Tapu for them if a property they buy meets these conditions!
Now the terms
of the registration of real estate in Turkey for foreigners may be reduced from
1.5-2 months to 2-5 days!
