A consent, an undertaking or a declaration can be written by the person concerned and then taken to a Turkish notary, who adds an endorsement under the signature. In Turkish this is the certification form of notarial act (onaylama şeklinde işlem). A foreign authority reading the translation needs to know one thing before anything else: what exactly the notary’s endorsement documents. The Notaries Law answers that narrowly, and the translation has to keep the answer visible.
Two layers in one document
Article 90 of the Notaries Law defines the certification of a signature under a legal transaction as documenting, by an endorsement, that the signature belongs to the person who signed. The document therefore has two layers: the text the party prepared outside the notary’s office, and the endorsement placed below it or on the back. The original goes back to the party, and a signed copy stays at the office. Certification is possible when the signature is placed before the notary, or when the party acknowledges before the notary that it is theirs (Article 91).
The five elements of the endorsement
Article 92 lists what the endorsement carries: the place and date, in figures and in words; the party’s identity, address and tax identification number; where the notary does not know the party, the document shown as proof of identity; whether the signature was placed in the notary’s presence, or placed elsewhere and acknowledged there; and the signatures of those taking part, with the notary’s signature and seal.
Signed before the notary, or acknowledged
The fourth element records one of two different events. In one, the party signed while the notary watched. In the other, the party had signed earlier and then stated before the notary that the signature is theirs. The Turkish endorsement uses a different formula for each, and the translation keeps whichever one appears; it does not merge them into a neutral “signed”. The identity document named in the endorsement, often a passport, is given with its type and number exactly as written.
What the endorsement does not cover
Article 82 states that certifying a signature documents that the signature belongs to the party and does not cover the contents of the legal transaction; in these acts the signature and the date are valid until proven forged. A translation that presents the endorsement as the notary’s approval of the text changes its meaning. Text and endorsement are therefore translated as separate, labelled parts, for example “[Notary’s certification of signature]”. That label is a translator’s rendering; other wordings are possible, and none of them is an official English term.
How it differs from a deed drawn up by the notary
In a deed drawn up by the notary, the notary writes the party’s declaration into a record, keeps the original, and the whole transaction is valid until proven forged (Articles 84 and 82). With a certified signature, the party writes the text and keeps the original, and the notary’s documentation reaches only the signature and the date. Powers of attorney that require a land registry transaction are among the acts the law places in the first form (Article 89).
Certified copies are a third act
A notary can also issue a copy with an endorsement that it is identical to the original (Regulation Article 94). A copy of a paper presented by a party is marked “(ibraz edilenin aynıdır)”, roughly “identical to the one presented”, while a copy of a record kept at the office carries the word “(örnektir)” with a new date and a new journal number (Regulation Article 95). A translation made from such a copy says so and shows both journal numbers: the original act’s and the copy’s.
A notarial translation is a separate act
Translating documents is a distinct duty of Turkish notaries (Article 60/6). In a notarial translation the notary places an endorsement under the text which, where a sworn translator was used, gives the translator’s identity and address and is dated, signed and sealed by the notary (Article 103). Unlike a signature certification, this act is valid until the contrary is proven (Article 82). The notary’s duty under Regulation Article 96 is to be satisfied that the translator knows the language and to administer the oath; notarisation does not guarantee the accuracy of every line. The translation is made and signed by a named individual, not by an agency (Consolidated Circular 23, para. 3). Acte Tercüme translates documents with a certified signature in two labelled parts, text and endorsement, with the fourth element of the endorsement left as it stands.