A Turkish Criminal Record is available and the quality of the document is high. The document can be obtained in 2 or 3 days by applicants. It is available both to Turkish Citizens and other nationals, whether they are living in Turkey or residing abroad.
In Turkey, the applicant can obtain the document by visiting one of the 167 Criminal Records offices of the Ministry of Justice. The official there will do a computerized records check on the national system. To request the document from abroad, the applicant can write to Turkish Republic Ministry of Justice General Directory of Criminal Records Central Office in Ankara (address: Turkiye Cumhuriyeti, Adalet Bakanligi, Adli Sicil Genel Mudurlugu, Tuna Caddesi No. 10, Ankara), providing all identifying information and including international postage.
The police report will indicate the presence of a criminal record even if the convicted person was released after completing the sentence or was pardoned by an amnesty. The document lists each section of the conviction and sentence. Crimes are supposed to be entered into the system within three days of conviction. For crimes of moral turpitude, records for crimes committed by children between 11-14 years old are purged in 2-5 years; crimes by children between 15-18 are purged in 5-10 years; crimes committed by adults are purged in 5-10 years. Multiple crimes are not purged.
If a criminal record is needed in a language other than Turkish, the local Office of Criminal Records must request the information from the Turkish Republic Ministry of Justice General Directory of Criminal Records Central Office in Ankara (address above), which may take a few days. |
Manual retrieval by court researchers