Sworn translation in Fethiye: notary approval and apostille

Three marks that do not stand in for each other

A folder can collect three marks that look alike from across a desk and still do three different jobs. A sworn translation is the translator’s own signed text, written under an oath given before a Turkish notary. Notary approval is a later act by that notary, usually on the translator’s signature, not a second reading of the language. An apostille is a certificate from a public authority that the signature and seal on a public document are genuine. Ordering one of them does not produce the other two, and none of them is included unless you ask for it.

The desk that will receive the paper is the one that chooses the set. A migration directorate, a population office, a university, a land registry and a court do not share a template. Before anyone translates a page, ask that office which language it wants, whether it wants the translator’s oath, the notary’s act, or both, and whether the original must already carry an apostille or a consular legalisation. What to check before translating is the short pass. The closer look at Persian, Dari and Pashto pages is that guide.

What an apostille does in 2026

Between countries that are parties, the Hague Apostille Convention replaces the longer chain of consular legalisation for public documents. It still does not translate a page, and it does not say a translation is accurate. Türkiye has been a party since 29 September 1985. Pakistan has been a party since 9 March 2023. Iran and Afghanistan do not appear on the HCCH status table, which was last updated on 30 June 2026. A state that has signed or acceded, but whose entry into force is still ahead, is not yet a place where a convention apostille can be issued. Read the row for the country that issued your document on the HCCH status table, not a recycled list.

Inside Türkiye the work is split. Administrative public documents go through the governor or the district governor: the provincial office, the kaymakamlık, or an official signing for them. Judicial public documents go to the presidency of the judicial commission in a place where a heavy criminal court sits. The certificate speaks to the signature, the seal and the capacity of the person who signed. A Turkish notarial certificate can itself be apostilled when it will be used in another contracting state. A foreign public document takes its apostille, when the convention applies, in the country that issued it. The fee is the one that office, or the e-Apostille screen, shows on the day. This page does not quote a lira amount.

If the issuing country is outside the convention, there is no convention apostille to collect there. The Turkish office then describes a legalisation route, often the authority in that country, its foreign ministry, and a Turkish consulate, in the order that office names. A sticker sold as an apostille for a document from a non-party will not become one because a file needs a stamp.

Papers that turn up in a Fethiye file

Foreigners around Fethiye tend to arrive with the same handful of documents. The receiving office still names the exact set. These are the usual shapes, not a promise that your file matches someone else’s.

• Residence. When an e-İkamet list asks for a foreign civil record, the usual request is a notarized Turkish translation, plus an apostille if the issuing country is a party, or legalisation if it is not. Your own application screen is the list that counts. Permit types are mapped in the 2026 residence guide. The provincial directorate decides the permit.
• Marriage and civil status. A foreign marriage certificate, divorce judgment or birth record used at a population directorate is a new question, even if a university already accepted a translation of the same page. The desk and the purpose changed, so the certification can change with them.
• Diplomas and transcripts. Universities set their own evidence. Many ask for a sworn or notarized Turkish or English translation of the diploma and the transcript, and some want the original to carry an apostille or a consular stamp before that translation is made. Translate after the admissions page names the version. Comparing programmes sits with education consultancy.
• Driving licences. A foreign licence shown to a Turkish notary, a rental desk that insists on a sworn text, or a public office may need a sworn translation into Turkish. Ask whether that office also wants a notarial act or an apostille. A translation does not replace the licence and does not, by itself, authorise you to drive.
• Property and title deeds. A tapu appointment is often about a sworn interpreter in the room. That is interpretation, not a written translation of a foreign deed. Written translation is the separate job when a foreign ownership paper has to sit in a Turkish file. Interpretation is booked on its own: pair, date, and whether the meeting is in person or remote.
• Court papers. A judgment or another judicial public document is apostilled, when the convention applies, on the judicial side, not at the district governor’s office. A foreign judgment used in a Turkish court needs the issuing country’s apostille or legalisation, and the translation that court asked for. TürkiyeRota does not represent you in court.

A desk in Fethiye, and the pairs that are real

Asuman Aksoy prepares the written translations for TürkiyeRota, and she is based in Fethiye, Muğla. She can meet people in Fethiye, Ölüdeniz, Dalaman, Marmaris and Bodrum, and she takes the same written work online from anywhere in Türkiye. This page does not publish a street address. Ask for the meeting point when you book, rather than guessing a building.

She is sworn before a Turkish notary. The written pairs she confirms are Persian and Turkish, Dari and Turkish, Pashto and Turkish, and English and Turkish, each in both directions. She completed a bachelor’s degree in English language and literature at Herat University from 2011 to 2015, and from September 2022 to October 2025 she did sworn-translation work at Öz İstanbul World Business Point in Istanbul. Fethiye is where that work is based now. The same facts, without the coast, are on her profile.

In-person and remote interpretation are separate from the written pairs and have to be confirmed for the language, the date and the place. If a file needs a language outside those four pairs, say so before anyone offers a date. TürkiyeRota will not invent a pair it does not deliver.

A sequence you can plan

A workable order is short. Name the receiving office and the purpose. Describe the document: type, languages, issuing country, approximate length. Agree the written pair, and whether a notary step is already known to be required. The translator then prepares the sworn text. If the file needs it, a notary in Fethiye, or another notary you agree, performs the notarial act. If an apostille is required on a Turkish public document, that document goes to the governor’s side or the judicial commission, on their calendar. A foreign original is apostilled or legalised in the issuing country before it travels, when that is what the Turkish office demanded.

A short page that is readable, in a pair Asuman already confirms, can often be scheduled within a working day. That is a planning range for the translation itself, not a promise, and it says nothing about the notary’s hours or the apostille queue. Notarization follows the Fethiye notaries’ own day. An apostille follows the kaymakamlık, the governor’s office, or the judicial commission. Official acceptance is the receiving office’s decision. TürkiyeRota does not issue permits, apostilles or notarial acts, and it does not control those queues.

How to ask for the work

Write on WhatsApp at +90 553 000 59 00, or use the contact form. The message that gets a useful quotation names the document type, the languages, the issuing country, the office that will receive it, the approximate length, the deadline, and whether a notary or an apostille is already known to be required. For interpretation, add the date and whether you need a person in the room or a remote line. Do not put a passport number, an identity number or a full scan in that first message. If a copy is needed later, the way to send it is agreed then.

Sworn and notarised translation keeps the same distinction on the service page. This note is the Fethiye version: which mark is which, which papers come up along this coast, and who in Muğla can prepare the written pairs above. It was written on 17 October 2026. A status table, a district office’s practice or an e-İkamet list can change after that. Read the row and the list that apply to your document on the day you file.