What is a TAPU? What does it look like?

A TAPU is an official document which shows you have ownership rights over the real estate. The owner's full name and photograph, and detailed information on the asset appear on this document.

Please click here or on image for a sample TAPU document (empty), which is called Tapu Senedi.

The meanings of the terms appearing on a TAPU are as follows:

Term	Meaning
Ana Gayrimenkulun:	Description, location and cadastral coordinates of the main land
Ili:	Province
Ilçesi:	Borough, district or town
Mahallesi:	Parish, quarter
Köyü:	Village
Sokagi:	Street, avenue
Mevkii:	Place
Pafta No:	Pafta Number
Ada No:	Plot Number
Parsel No:	Parcel Number
Niteligi:	Feature (whether it is a building land, vacant land, or cultivated land...)
Yüzölçümü:	Area/size of the land (summation of the figures shown for the three pameters below should add up to the total size of the main land)
Ha:	Hectare (=10.000m²=2,47 acres)
m²:	Meter square
dm²:	Decimeter square

KAT MÜLKIYETI:	Ownership of the independent unit which is ready to use (flat, house, office etc built on the main land)
KAT IRTIFAKI:	Ownership of the independent unit which is not ready for use yet (either because of an on-going development/construction work or due to the fact that usage permit from the municipality has not been gathered yet)
DEVRE MÜLK:	Fractional/timed ownership (the independent unit is owned just for a certain period of a year)

Bagimsiz Bölüm:	~Information about the Independent Unit (the property subject to the use such as a flat, house, etc) on the main land
Satis Bedeli:	Actual purchase price of the property (Make sure that actual amount is written in this section. Otherwise, you may encounter very serious legal problems including being accused of money-laundering and/or be subject to severe financial penalties due to a tax evasion. Please do not forget the collect the documents to justify that you exactly paid this amount to the seller)
Arsa Payi:	Land share (what proportion of the land belongs to the independent unit)
Blok No:	Block (Building, Mansion, Lodge, Court, House) Number
Kat No:	Floor No.
Bagimsiz Blm No:	Independent Unit Number
Edinme Sebebi:	The reason why the property is being acquired (From whom to whom the property has been sold and any other relevant explanation)
Sahibi:	Name(s) of the current owner(s)
	(More than one person can own the same property. In this case, their respective shares are to be shown in this section. The respective shares are illustrated in terms of the proportion of the main land. For example, suppose that a flat which possess the ownership of 10/456 of the main land on which the complex is based and that the flat is to be owned by three person named AB, CD, and EF with shares of 20%, 30%, and 50%, respectively. Then, these names and their respective shares are shown on TAPU as follows:  AB:  ab: 2/456 hisse, CD: cd: 3/456 hisse, EF: ef: 5/456 hisse, where the word "hisse" means "share" and "ab", "cd", and "ef" are the names of fathers of those persons)

The remaining sections at the bottom of the TAPU are for official use only.

The TAPU has to be sealed with a stamp in the central part at the bottom and this section has to be signed by a TAPU officer.

The picture(s) of all owner(s) is (are) to be suffixed to the top-right of the TAPU, it (they) has (have) to be sealed with a stamp and signed by the TAPU officer mentioned above

How to check the details?

Whether a property does belong to a person can be checked through the pictures and names appearing on the TAPU. If the TAPU is a Xerox copy, then make sure it has been ratified by a notary public. Otherwise, a fake TAPU might have been handed over to you. With regards to the names, you can ask for the ID card of the seller(s) and compare the TAPU to the ID card in terms of names.

Whether cadastral/map coordinates on a TAPU are genuine can be double checked by means of a private cadastral or a civil engineering bureau.

Furthermore, one can ask the TAPU office to put an annotation (Serh) on the TAPU so as to specifically prohibit an unwanted transaction regarding the ownership. Unless the conditions described in the annotation are not met, the property can neither be sold out nor transferred into the names of third parties.