Foreign Documents in Turkish Public Tenders

Bidders from abroad in Turkish public procurement submit documents issued in their own countries. The implementing regulation on tenders for the procurement of goods sets out in detail how these documents must be certified and translated.

Certification

Contracting authorities ask for originals or copies certified as true by a notary. Documents issued abroad, other than those issued by Turkish missions, and documents issued by foreign representations in Türkiye, are certified in one of the ways the regulation lists. A document bearing an apostille is exempt from certification by a Turkish consulate or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Otherwise the document is certified in its country and then by the Turkish consulate there, or by that country's representation in Türkiye and then by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. No action is taken on documents issued by honorary consulates.

Quality and standards certificates issued abroad by bodies accredited under the mutual recognition agreements of the International Accreditation Forum or ILAC are exempt from certification if submitted with a confirmation letter from the Turkish Accreditation Agency; they still need translating.

Translation

If the translation was made by a sworn translator in the country where the document was issued and itself bears an apostille, no further certification is required. If documents in a foreign language are translated by sworn translators in Türkiye and the translation is approved by a notary, no further certification is required either.

For works tenders, the regulation on construction procurement describes what a completion certificate for work abroad must contain, and the Public Procurement Authority records such certificates in the electronic procurement platform on the holder's application, for information.

We translate tender documents into Turkish in Ankara through translators sworn before a Turkish notary, with notarial approval. The contracting authority evaluates the bid.