This is the English version of a Turkish article. The original, with further detail and linked petition templates, is at Kazandırıcı Zamanaşımı: Tapusuz Taşınmazın Tescili.
Land with no title deed can be registered in your name by court order where it has been possessed on the statutory conditions for the statutory period (Article 713 of the Civil Code). Under extraordinary prescription the period is twenty years; under ordinary prescription, for land acquired in reliance on the register, it is ten years (Article 712). Land under the State's dominion cannot be acquired this way at all.
A piece of land inherited from a grandparent has been worked for generations but appears in no register. Can it be registered in your name?
Article 713 provides the answer. But the conditions are strict, and not every piece of land can be acquired by this route.
Extraordinary Prescription
Article 713/1: a person who has possessed land not recorded in the land register as owner, without dispute and without interruption for twenty years, may apply for an order registering their ownership of the whole, a part or a share of it.
The same applies, on the same conditions, to land whose owner cannot be established from the register, or which is registered in the name of a person declared missing twenty years ago.
The elements required:
- Possession as owner. Possession that acknowledges another's ownership — as tenant, sharecropper or usufructuary — is not enough.
- Without dispute. No proceedings or objection concerning the land during the period.
- Without interruption. The twenty years must run unbroken.
- Twenty years. The period can be added to that of a previous possessor where possession was transferred.
Ordinary Prescription
Article 712 covers a different case: a person registered as owner without a valid legal ground who possesses the land without dispute, without interruption and in good faith for ten years cannot have that ownership challenged.
The difference: here the land is already registered in the person's name, but the ground of the registration is invalid — a wrongful registration.
The additional requirement is good faith: that the person neither knew nor ought to have known that the registration was wrongful.
No separate claim is needed in that case; once ten years have passed the registration cannot be challenged.
Land That Cannot Be Acquired This Way
The last sentence of Article 713/1 draws a critical line: public property cannot be acquired by prescription.
Land that cannot be registered by this route:
- land classified as forest
- pasture, summer and winter grazing land and other land in common public use
- the shore and the coastal strip
- land under the State's dominion
- land registered with a known owner (outside the cases in Article 713/2)
So the first stage of the claim is an examination of the cadastral and forestry records. Whether the land falls within forest boundaries is established through forestry and cadastral experts.
In practice a large proportion of these claims fail because the land turns out to be forest or pasture.
| Land | Reason |
|---|---|
| Land classified as forest | Under the State's dominion |
| Pasture and grazing land | Public property |
| The shore and coastal strip | Public property, not subject to private ownership |
| Public roads, squares and parks | Allocated to a public service |
| Land registered to the Treasury | Registered, so Article 713 does not apply |
| Land registered to a third party | As a rule cannot be acquired; the statutory exceptions are reserved |
Possession must have been as owner, without dispute and without interruption; use as a tenant or usufructuary does not satisfy that condition.
How the Claim Works
Article 713/3: the claim for registration is brought against the Treasury and the relevant public bodies, or against the heirs of any person shown as owner in the register.
The court is the civil court of first instance for the place where the land is.
The Act lays down a special procedure (Article 713/4): the subject matter of the claim is advertised once in a newspaper and at least three times, by suitable means and at intervals, in the place where the land is.
If no objection is made within three months of the last advertisement asserting that the conditions are not met, and the case is not otherwise concluded in the meantime, the court orders registration.
The evidence to be gathered:
- A site inspection and expert examination — always to be requested
- Witness evidence — neighbouring owners and long-standing residents
- Tax records — property tax payments
- Agricultural records — farmer registration and subsidy applications
- Aerial photographs and satellite imagery — showing how long the land has been used
- Cadastral records
During a Cadastral Survey
Where a cadastral survey is being carried out, a separate regime applies: Article 14 of the Cadastre Act (no. 3402) governs determinations based on possession by acquisitive prescription. Claims should be raised within that process rather than left until afterwards.
Most of these claims fail not on the years of possession but because the land turns out to be forest or pasture. Have the cadastral and forestry records examined first — and remember that possession as a tenant or usufructuary never counts, however long it lasted.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many years of possession do I need?
Twenty, under extraordinary prescription, possessing as owner without dispute or interruption. Ordinary prescription is ten years, but only where you are already registered on an invalid ground and acted in good faith.
Does using the land as a tenant count?
No. Possession must be as owner. Possession that acknowledges someone else's ownership never satisfies the condition.
Can any land be registered this way?
No. Forest, pasture and grazing land, the shore, land under the State's dominion and land registered to a known owner are all excluded.
Whom do I sue?
The Treasury and the relevant public bodies, or the heirs of anyone shown as owner in the register, in the civil court where the land is.
What evidence matters most?
A site inspection with expert evidence, witnesses from the locality, tax and agricultural records, and aerial or satellite imagery showing how long the land has been used.