A buyer abroad who cannot travel to the land registry, an heir who needs someone to deal with a bank in İzmir, a company appointing a representative for a Turkish dispute: each signs a power of attorney (vekâletname) that will be read in Türkiye. Whether it is drawn up abroad and translated into Turkish, or made in Turkish and later shown abroad, the part that matters most is the list of powers. That list says what the attorney may do, and a translation can neither narrow nor widen it. Whether a power is enough for a particular step is a question for a Turkish lawyer and the receiving office; this page deals with the clauses and their translation.
What Article 504 says
Under Article 504(1) of the Turkish Code of Obligations (Law No. 6098), where the scope of the mandate is not stated expressly in the contract, it is determined by the nature of the business to be done. Article 504(2) adds that the mandate includes the authority to carry out the legal acts needed for that business. Article 504(3) sets the limit: unless specially authorised, the attorney cannot bring an action, settle, go to arbitration, apply for bankruptcy, postponement of bankruptcy or a composition with creditors, assume obligations under bills of exchange, make a gift, stand as surety, transfer immovable property or encumber it with a right.
“General” and “special” are not statutory labels
Turkish powers of attorney sometimes carry a heading such as “genel vekâletname”, a general power of attorney. The words “general” and “special” power of attorney do not appear in Article 504; the Code lists what an attorney cannot do “unless specially authorised”. A heading is translated as it stands, but the translation does not treat it as adding powers that the clauses leave out, in either direction.
Powers for the land registry
Powers of attorney that by their nature require a land registry transaction are drawn up by the notary, not merely signed before one (Notaries Law Article 89). The party’s photograph is attached to the original of such a power (Regulation Article 93(b)), and under the last paragraph of that article copies of acts whose originals carry a photograph must carry one too. The translation marks where the photograph and the seal over it sit, with a short note such as “[Photograph, sealed by the notary’s office]”.
One clause, one sentence
Each power in the list is translated as its own sentence, in the original order. Two clauses are not merged and one is not split. Words such as “any and all”, “including” or “etc.” keep exactly the reach they have in the source: “to carry out any and all acts” does not become “to carry out the necessary acts”, and “to collect” does not become “to collect and spend”. Transferring immovable property and encumbering it with a right are two separate items in Article 504(3), and a translation never presents one as part of the other.
A power drafted abroad
When a power drafted in English or French is translated into Turkish, the translator does not map its wording onto the items of Article 504(3). If the source authorises the attorney “to manage my property in Türkiye”, the Turkish text says that and nothing more; it does not add a power to sell. Whether a clause amounts to special authority is assessed by the lawyer and by the office that receives the document.
Older Turkish terms
Turkish powers of attorney may use older terms such as “tevkil” (appointing a substitute attorney), “azil” (revocation) and “ahzu kabz” (collecting and receiving payment). On first use the translation explains the term and then keeps one rendering throughout. “Power of substitution”, “revocation” and “to collect and receive” are translator’s choices, not official equivalents, and another consistent choice can be equally sound.
Several principals and representatives
A person acting for someone else shows the document of authority, and the record states where, on what date and under what number it was issued (Notaries Law Article 79). Where several people are represented, their names are written into the act one by one and the documents shown must cover all of them (Regulation Article 92). The translation lists every name and every reference; it does not shorten them to “and others”. Acte Tercüme translates powers of attorney between Turkish, English and French with the order, number and reach of the clauses unchanged.