Tapu, kat mülkiyeti, kat irtifakı: how Turkish title actually works

What the tapu is, and what it is not

The tapu is the title deed: the registry’s statement of who owns what. Ownership of Turkish real property passes at the land registry (TKGM) and only there — not at the notary, not on payment, not on handover of keys. That makes the registry’s records the single most informative set of documents in any purchase, because they are what actually governs.

The tapu is also not several things buyers assume it is: it is not proof that the building is legal (that is the permit and occupancy documentation), not proof that the property is unencumbered (that is the takyidat), and not proof of anything about the seller’s conduct. Each of those has its own record, and a proper check reads all of them.

The three title regimes that matter to a buyer

Kat mülkiyeti — condominium ownership. Full independent ownership of a specific unit in a completed building, established after the building’s occupancy documentation is in order. For a completed apartment, this is the regime you want to see.

Kat irtifakı — construction servitude. Unit-level rights established on a building that is not yet complete (or not yet converted to kat mülkiyeti). Normal for off-plan and under-construction purchases; the question to ask is why a completed building still sits in kat irtifakı — sometimes administrative lag, sometimes a documentation problem worth understanding before you buy.

Arsa — land. A share of land, sometimes sold with a building on it. Land-share purchases of units in buildings (“arsa paylı” sales) put the buyer furthest from unit-level protection and deserve the most scrutiny.

The regimes are not a detail on the citizenship route: for acquisitions from 12 December 2023, the investment-conformity certificate requires the property to have kat mülkiyeti or kat irtifakı established, or to be arsa-classified land with a building on it. A property outside those categories does not qualify, whatever its price.

The records to read before any commitment

The title record itself — owner, regime, the property’s identifiers (ada/parsel), and shares.

Takyidat — the encumbrance record. Mortgages (ipotek), attachments (haciz), family-residence annotations, litigation annotations, and route-specific annotations such as a prior citizenship commitment (taahhüt şerhi). This record can change the same day, which is why dated checks expire and are re-pulled immediately before a transaction.

Tedavül — the ownership history. Who owned the property, and when it moved. On the citizenship route this record answers conditions of its own: the property must not be registered to a foreign natural person, and transfers from a foreigner within the look-back window, or from persons connected to the applicant, disqualify.

Permits and occupancy. The building permit and — on completed stock — the occupancy permit (iskan / yapı kullanma izin belgesi). A completed building without occupancy documentation is a finding, not a formality.

Annotations that follow the citizenship route

Two annotations matter specifically to citizenship-route buyers. The three-year commitment not to sell is entered on the title at the transfer, and the clock runs from registration (or, on a promise-to-sell file, from the annotation). And a prior citizenship annotation in the property’s history matters before you buy — a property that has already supported someone else’s application is excluded from supporting yours.

How to read a “clean-looking” record honestly

A record with nothing adverse on it is evidence, not a guarantee: it shows what the registry contained on the date it was pulled. That is precisely why serious checking is dated, why expiry is enforced, and why the same records are re-pulled immediately before the deed. Distrust any process — anyone’s, including ours — that shows you an undated check, and instruct your own bar-registered avukat to pull and read the records independently. The registry is public precisely so that buyers do not have to take anyone’s word for it.