A statement taken in a Turkish criminal investigation is written up as a record (tutanak) that the person heard signs at the end. It may reach defence counsel abroad, an authority in another country, or the person who gave it and now wants to read it in English. Much of it is questions and answers and it can look informal, yet Article 147 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CMK) requires specific entries, and each of them shows whether a right was explained and whether it was used.
Statement or interrogation
The CMK uses two terms. Taking a statement (ifade alma) means that the police or the public prosecutor hear a suspect; interrogation (sorgu) means that a judge or court hears a suspect or an accused (Article 2(1)(g) and (h)). Both records follow Article 147, but they are different documents, and English keeps them apart, for instance as “statement record” and “record of judicial interrogation”. Status matters as well: a person is a suspect (şüpheli) during the investigation and an accused (sanık) only after a public prosecution has been filed. The translation uses whichever word the document uses.
Heading, place and time
The record opens with the unit, such as a police department or the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the investigation number, followed by the place and date (Article 147(1)(i)(1)). Records of investigative acts also show when the act began and ended, an entry added by Law No. 6526 (Article 169(4)). Clock times are copied exactly, and the investigation number is never presented as the merits number of a later trial.
Who was in the room
The record gives the names and roles of everyone present and the full identity of the person heard (Article 147(1)(i)(2)), typically with parents’ names, place and date of birth, identity number, address, education and income. Those present may include the prosecutor or officers, a clerk, defence counsel and an interpreter appointed by the judge or prosecutor (Article 202(3)). The interpreter’s name stays as recorded, and whoever later translates the record in writing does not add their own. In terrorism and state security offences, police records show only the officers’ registry numbers (Article 169(7)); the translation neither searches for names nor supplies them.
The rights block
The third required entry records whether the steps of Article 147(1) were taken and, if not, why: establishing identity, explaining the charge, the right to choose counsel or have one appointed by the bar, informing a relative, the right to remain silent, the right to ask for exculpatory evidence, questions on personal and economic circumstances, and any technical recording. The block is usually standard text, which makes it tempting to compress into “rights were read”. It is translated in full, one right per sentence, since it is the evidence of which rights were explained. The line showing whether counsel was present carries equal weight: a statement taken by the police without counsel cannot be used as a basis for the judgment unless confirmed before a judge or court (Article 148(4)).
Questions and answers
The body usually alternates between SORULDU (asked) and CEVABEN (in reply), or runs as a first-person narrative. The English version keeps the question and answer layout and the first person, and it does not polish everyday speech into formal prose. Place names, vehicle plates and telephone numbers are copied as written; a word that cannot be read or understood is marked in a translator’s note rather than guessed.
Closing entries and signatures
The last required entries confirm that the record was read by the person heard and by counsel present and that they signed it, and state the reasons if anyone refused to sign (Article 147(1)(i)(4) and (5)). “Read and signed” is a legal entry, not a courtesy, and it stays; a missing signature stays missing. For records signed electronically in UYAP, no seal is applied (Article 38/A(6)), and a verification code is copied exactly. The CMK governs the interpreter’s oral role; a written translation of the record serves counsel, the person concerned or an authority abroad. Acte Tercüme translates Turkish statement and interrogation records into English in the order and layout of the original.