Issuing Body: Guozun Cathay Associates – Turkey Office
Case Closing Date: 1 February 2026
Key Outcomes: The case was fully resolved through a non-litigation approach. We completed verification of the real estate ownership and actual occupancy status in Istanbul, successfully asserted the right to rental proceeds, delivered a full set of statutory title documents and standardised authorisation documents, and clarified the pathway for the client’s independent disposal of the property going forward.
This case was jointly handled by the Turkey Office of Guozun Cathay Associates and the Cross-Border Real Estate Dispute Resolution Team of the Beijing Headquarters. Strictly abiding by the lex situs principle for real property rights under the laws of both China and Turkey, and relying on Guozun’s global cross-border legal service network and local practising qualifications in Turkey, we provided the Chinese client with a full-chain, low-risk solution for safeguarding overseas real estate rights and interests.
This case has been included in Guozun’s 2026 Typical Case Library for Cross-Border Real Estate. Its case-handling model of “official archive search for title confirmation + statutory notarised demand + dual-jurisdiction authorisation adaptation” has been widely applied to the standardised resolution of disputes arising from overseas property purchases across Eurasia.
I. Case Background and Engagement Process
Ms. Pang, a Chinese national, purchased a residential property in Istanbul, Turkey through a domestic real estate agency in August 2022. The purchase contract stipulated that the total purchase price would be directly offset by the guaranteed rental income for the first three years. In August 2025, upon expiry of the 3-year guaranteed rental term, Ms. Pang received no subsequent rental payments. Meanwhile, the original domestic agency, the local Turkish property manager, and the project developer all lost contact one after another. The actual occupancy status of the property and the flow of rental income remained unknown, posing a substantial risk of impairment to the client’s overseas real estate ownership and usufruct rights.
On 13 September 2025, Ms. Pang was referred to our firm via the Beijing Headquarters of Guozun Cathay Associates. Given the three core complexities of the case – cross-border verification of real estate title, rights enforcement against multiple uncontactable parties, and validity recognition of cross-border authorisation documents – our firm activated the China-Turkey Emergency Collaborative Case Handling Mechanism on the same day, and established a dedicated case team in conjunction with the Beijing Headquarters. The team comprises 2 local Turkish practising real estate lawyers and 3 members from the Beijing Lawyers Association’s Foreign-Related Lawyer Talent Pool, with full authority to conduct rights safeguarding and status clarification for the subject property.
II. Full Process of China-Turkey Joint Case Handling
This case follows the standardised collaborative model: the Beijing Headquarters oversees Chinese jurisdiction compliance assessment, legal document coordination and full-process client liaison, while the Turkey Office is responsible for delivery of local administrative and judicial procedures, enforcement of rights claims and coordination of local resources. Written deliverables and verifiable statutory documents are produced at every stage:
1.13 September – 15 September 2025: Dual-Jurisdiction Case Risk Assessment
Beijing Headquarters: Completed full collation and preliminary evidence verification of all materials submitted by the client, including the purchase contract, guaranteed rental agreement, payment vouchers and records of failed communication. Issued the Legal Application Assessment Report on Real Estate Title Disputes in accordance with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Choice of Law for Foreign-Related Civil Relationships. The report confirmed that substantive issues such as title confirmation, leasehold rights and possession protection are governed by Turkish law, and defined a three-tier case handling path: “title verification first – non-litigation demand second – disposal guidance last”, ruling out the pre-necessity of cross-border litigation.
Turkey Office: Completed preliminary title verification through the local enquiry channel of the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre of Turkey (Tapu Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü). Simultaneously mapped out the full statutory procedures for Turkish real estate leasing, possession protection and notarised demand, assessed the time cost and legal effect of non-litigation rights enforcement, identified core procedural barriers, and confirmed the feasibility of the non-litigation route.
2.16 September – 8 October 2025: Full-Dimensional Property Information Verification and Official Certificate Retrieval
Beijing Headquarters: Drafted bilingual preliminary authorisation documents concurrently, specifying the special agency authority for real estate archive search and status verification. Guided the client through the signing of the authorisation to provide a valid legal basis for local verification work in Turkey, and conducted ongoing compliance checks on the documents.
Turkey Office: Submitted a formal archive search application to the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre of Turkey with valid authorisation documents, and retrieved complete title registration records, mortgage details and lease filing information for the target property. Meanwhile, confirmed the actual occupancy status via local on-site verification, verified the tenant’s identity, rental paying party and remaining lease term, and successfully obtained the official property address certificate issued by the real estate registration authority, completing full clarification of the property’s status.
3.9 October – 18 October 2025: Finalisation of Formal Authorisation Documents and Service of Statutory Notarised Demand
Beijing Headquarters: Revised and finalised the full-process bilingual Power of Attorney (POA) in line with local procedural requirements in Turkey, expanding agency authority to cover demand issuance, lease negotiation, eviction handover and document receipt. Clarified the statutory procedures and documentary requirements for notarisation and authentication within China to the client, ensuring the legality of cross-border document circulation.
Turkey Office: Conducted final local compliance review of the POA clauses in accordance with the Turkish Notary Law and the format requirements of the real estate registration authority, ensuring the documents are valid for all scenarios including Turkish notarisation, real estate registration and judicial proceedings. After confirming that the property was still occupied by a third-party tenant appointed by the original property manager and that no rent had been paid to the owner, issued a Turkish statutory notarised demand letter (İhtarname) to the actual occupant and the original property manager on behalf of the client. The letter formally asserted the right to rental proceeds, specified the legal obligation to settle outstanding rent within the time limit and cooperate with property handover, and notified the parties of the litigation, enforcement and credit sanction consequences for non-performance.
4.19 October 2025 – 31 January 2026: Demand Performance Follow-Up and Subsequent Disposal Guidance
Beijing Headquarters: Provided regular case progress updates to the client, explained property owners’ rights and precautions under Turkish law, assisted the client in screening prospective tenants, identified legal risk points for subsequent disposal actions such as re-leasing and resale, and offered cross-border asset compliance advice under Chinese law.
Turkey Office: Continuously followed up on responses to the demand letter, conducted multiple rounds of negotiations with the property’s actual occupant, and delivered briefings on owners’ rights and statutory procedures. Assisted the client in establishing formal communication channels with prospective tenants, and clarified the local statutory procedures for subsequent lease filing, rent collection and property handover, to ensure the legality of the client’s future independent disposal.
5.1 February 2026: Case Closing and Outcome Delivery After the client confirmed completion of all entrusted matters and clear ownership of the property rights, the joint case team delivered a full set of case outcome documents to the client, including:
Turkish Real Estate Title Archive Search Report
Officially issued property address certificate
Notarised demand certificate
Standardised bilingual Power of Attorney
Legal Guide for Subsequent Disposal of Overseas Real Estate
These materials ensure the client holds complete statutory title documents and has clear, compliant pathways for future independent leasing, sale, rights enforcement and other disposal actions.
III. Core Case Handling Difficulties and Authoritative Solutions
The complexities of this case represent common issues in disputes involving Chinese citizens purchasing property in Turkey. Drawing on dual-jurisdiction expertise and local practical experience, Guozun’s China-Turkey joint team has developed a replicable standardised solution:
1.Compliance and Validity Recognition of Cross-Border Real Estate Information Verification
Legal Basis: Turkish Real Estate Registration Law; Article 36 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Choice of Law for Foreign-Related Civil Relationships
Solution: Adopt the compliant pathway of “valid authorisation from the Chinese client + enquiry by a local Turkish practising lawyer with official correspondence”. We strictly adhere to the application procedures and documentary requirements of the Turkish real estate registration authority. All enquiry results are issued as official standard-form documents by the statutory registration body, ensuring full statutory probative force and eliminating the risk of invalid documents or inadmissible title evidence arising from procedural defects.
2.Efficient Non-Litigation Rights Enforcement Under Multiple Uncontactable Parties
Legal Basis: Property Law Chapter of the Turkish Civil Code; relevant rules governing the Turkish notarised demand (İhtarname) system
Solution: Where both the domestic agency and overseas property manager are uncontactable, we bypass the intermediate uncontactable parties and serve a statutory notarised demand letter directly to the property’s actual occupant. This achieves three legal effects in one step: fixing evidence of outstanding claims, interrupting the statute of limitations, and giving notice of eviction obligations. Compared with cross-border litigation, this route reduces time costs by over 70% and significantly lowers financial costs. Furthermore, the demand document can serve directly as core evidence in subsequent litigation, balancing efficiency and legal rigour.
3.Dual-Jurisdiction Validity Adaptation of Cross-Border Power of Attorney
Legal Basis: Turkish Notary Law; Notary Law of the People’s Republic of China; relevant provisions on consular authentication and Hague Apostille
Solution: Adopt a “dual legal verification by China and Turkey” model. The Beijing Headquarters defines the scope of authorisation, signing specifications and authentication procedures in accordance with Chinese notary rules, while the Turkey Office revises clause details to meet the format requirements of local notarisation, real estate registration and judicial procedures. This ensures the authorisation documents satisfy the procedural requirements of both jurisdictions and have full agency legal effect in all scenarios in Turkey, avoiding invalid agency acts caused by vague authority or non-conforming format.
4.Establishment of a Document System for Long-Term Overseas Real Estate Rights
Legal Basis: Turkish Real Estate Registration Law; relevant Turkish laws and regulations on residential leasing
Solution: Taking the officially issued property address certificate as the core title instrument, we simultaneously complete three foundational tasks: title verification and filing, demand-based rights assertion, and standardisation of authorisation documents, to build a complete overseas real estate rights document system for the client. This system can directly support all subsequent disposal actions by the client, including independent leasing, sale and rights enforcement, removing barriers to rights assertion caused by missing documentation.
IV. Applicable Authoritative Legal Basis
(A) Chinese Laws
1.Article 36 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Choice of Law for Foreign-Related Civil Relationships: Real rights in immovable property shall be governed by the law of the place where the immovable property is located.
2.Article 272 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China: A lawsuit brought for a dispute over immovable property shall be under the exclusive jurisdiction of the people’s court at the place where the immovable property is located.
3.Article 33 of the Notary Law of the People’s Republic of China: Where a notarial certificate needs to be used abroad and the country of use requires authentication first, it shall be authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China or an institution authorised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassy or consulate of the relevant country in the People’s Republic of China.
(B) Turkish Laws
1.Turkish Civil Code (Türk Medeni Kanunu): Ownership of immovable property is established by registration with the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre. A legally registered owner enjoys full rights of possession, use, benefit and disposal, and is entitled to claim return of the property, payment of outstanding rent and compensation for occupancy loss from any person occupying the property without lawful authority.
2.Turkish Real Estate Registration Law: The owner or their legally authorised agent has the right to apply to the real estate registration authority to enquire into registration information including property title, mortgages and lease filings. Enquiry results and address certificates issued by the registration authority in accordance with law shall have statutory probative force.
3.Turkish Notary Law: A formal demand letter (İhtarname) issued by a notary public in accordance with law is the statutory method of demand in civil and commercial matters, and may produce legal effects including interruption of the statute of limitations, notification of performance obligations, and pre-notice of contract termination. A power of attorney issued by a natural person outside Turkey must complete notarisation and consular authentication (or Hague Apostille) procedures in the person’s country of residence. It shall have agency legal effect within Turkey if it conforms to local form requirements.
(C) International Convention
Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (the Hague Convention): Both China and Turkey are States Parties to the Convention. Public documents complying with the Convention may undergo cross-border authentication by way of an Apostille certificate, greatly improving the efficiency of cross-border circulation of powers of attorney and notarial documents.
V. Authoritative Practical Recommendations Based on Case Experience
Drawing on years of practical experience of Guozun Cathay Associates’ Turkey Office in serving Chinese citizens with overseas property purchases, we put forward the following three authoritative recommendations for investors in Turkish real estate:
1.Standardise property purchase documentation
When purchasing real estate in Turkey, you must retain complete original copies of purchase contracts, payment vouchers, title registration certificates, and guaranteed rental / property management agreements. Clearly specify core clauses including rental payment cycles, property handover standards, breach liabilities and dispute resolution methods. For property management agreements, priority should be given to filing with the local real estate registration authority to ensure enforceability.
2.Conduct regular rights and status verification
It is recommended to entrust a compliant local Turkish lawyer to conduct a routine verification of property title and lease status every 12 months, to stay informed of the property’s actual use and rental payment status. This avoids long-term loss of contact leading to impaired rights and greatly increased evidential difficulty.
3.Engage professional support promptly for rights enforcement
In the event of rights impairment such as loss of contact with the property manager, unpaid rent, or unauthorised occupation of the property, you should engage a legal team with dual Chinese-Turkish jurisdiction service capabilities within 3 months. Evidence should be preserved and rights asserted in a timely manner through non-litigation methods such as statutory notarised demand, to avoid expiry of the statute of limitations or further escalation of property losses due to delay.