Most matters can be conducted without travelling to Turkey, provided the power of attorney is drawn correctly. A document missing a required authority has to be reissued, which costs more time than preparing it properly.
Where It Is Issued
Two routes are available. If you are in Turkey, a Turkish notary issues the document directly. If you are abroad, the Turkish consulate in your country issues it in Turkish, ready for use without further formality.
A power of attorney prepared before a foreign notary can also be used, but it must carry an apostille and be accompanied by a sworn translation. The consular route avoids both steps and is generally the simpler path.
The document requires your photograph for litigation matters, and identification. Consulates ordinarily work by appointment.
Special Authorities
Certain acts cannot be carried out under a general authority; they must be stated expressly. If they are missing, the representative simply cannot perform them:
- Filing and conducting proceedings, and settlement
- Admission of claim, waiver of claim, and withdrawal
- Referral to arbitration and to mediation, and execution of a mediation settlement
- Enforcement proceedings, and collection of money
- Divorce proceedings, stated specifically
- Sale and purchase of real estate, and creation of a mortgage
A power of attorney drawn for a property purchase does not permit the representative to bring an action; the two must both be present if both are intended.
Limits: What Cannot Be Delegated
Some steps require personal attendance whatever the authority granted. The clearest is the uncontested divorce hearing, at which the judge must hear both spouses in person.
Certain civil status procedures and, in criminal matters, the taking of a defendant's statement likewise require the person concerned. A representative may act in all preparatory and procedural stages around them.
Revocation
A power of attorney may be revoked at any time, through a notary. Revocation takes effect when notified; acts performed by the representative before notification remain valid as against third parties who acted in good faith.
Where litigation is under way, revocation should be notified to the court as well as to the representative, so that service continues to reach the correct address.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. A Turkish consulate issues it in Turkish, ready for use. A foreign notarial document requires an apostille and sworn translation.
No. Litigation, settlement, waiver, enforcement, divorce and real estate transactions each require an express special authority.
No. The judge must hear both spouses in person at that hearing.
Through a notary. It takes effect on notification, and the court should also be informed where proceedings are pending.