Companies in Turkey are entered in the Ticaret Sicili (Trade Registry), which is kept by the Ticaret Sicili Müdürlükleri (Trade Registry Directorates) attached to the local chambers of commerce and industry and supervised by the T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı (Ministry of Trade). All registry transactions run through MERSİS — Merkezi Sicil Kayıt Sistemi (Central Registry Recording System) at mersis.ticaret.gov.tr, and every registration takes legal effect on publication in the Türkiye Ticaret Sicili Gazetesi (Turkish Trade Registry Gazette) at ticaretsicil.gov.tr.

The company registry in Turkey

The governing statute is the 6102 sayılı Türk Ticaret Kanunu (Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102), supplemented by the Ticaret Sicili Yönetmeliği (Trade Registry Regulation). The register itself is decentralised — it is maintained by trade registry directorates across the country, of which MERSİS covered 238 as of 1 January 2015 — but it is a single national database. MERSİS was piloted from 2010 and now allows registration, amendment and termination of companies and commercial enterprises to be carried out electronically, storing all trade registry records in one central electronic database and assigning every legal entity and economic unit a unified identification number, the MERSİS numarası (MERSİS number), which public institutions use as a single point of reference. The system is integrated with other state databases covering identity numbers, addresses, tax numbers, notification duties, signature certification and e-Devlet service delivery.

Turkey does not keep a separate register for companies and for sole traders. A gerçek kişi tacir (natural-person merchant) running a ticari işletme (commercial enterprise) is registered in the same Ticaret Sicili as a company, and MERSİS handles both. Small tradesmen and craftsmen who fall below the commercial-enterprise thresholds are registered instead in the separate Esnaf ve Sanatkârlar Sicili (Register of Tradesmen and Craftsmen).

The range of registrable events is broad: establishment, branches and agencies, mergers, demergers, changes of type, changes of address, capital and share transfers, transfers of business, liquidation, bankruptcy proceedings and even the registration of a company website.

The most important current deadline concerns capital. By Presidential Decision No. 7887 of 24 November 2023, with effect from 1 January 2024, the minimum capital under article 332 of the Commercial Code for an anonim şirket rose from TRY 50,000 to TRY 250,000; the minimum initial capital for a non-public joint-stock company that has adopted the registered-capital system rose from TRY 100,000 to TRY 500,000; and the minimum capital under article 580 for a limited şirket rose from TRY 10,000 to TRY 50,000. Under provisional article 15 of the Commercial Code, joint-stock and limited companies whose capital is below the new minimum and which do not raise it by 31 December 2026 are deemed to be dissolved.

Legal forms that can be registered in Turkey

The Turkish Commercial Code divides ticaret şirketleri (commercial companies) into şahıs şirketleri (partnership-type companies) and sermaye şirketleri (capital companies), and adds cooperatives.

  • Kollektif Şirket (General Partnership) — a partnership-type company in which all partners have unlimited liability for the company’s debts and jointly manage the business. Partners must be natural persons.
  • Komandit Şirket (Limited Partnership) — combines komandite partners with unlimited liability and management authority with komanditer partners whose liability is limited to the capital they have committed.
  • Sermayesi Paylara Bölünmüş Komandit Şirket (Partnership Limited by Shares) — a hybrid in which the capital is divided into shares as in a joint-stock company while at least one partner remains liable without limit.
  • Anonim Şirket, A.Ş. (Joint Stock Company) — capital divided into equal shares; shareholders are liable only for their subscribed capital. Minimum capital TRY 250,000 since 1 January 2024. It may be founded by a single shareholder, must have a board of directors and a general assembly, and may be publicly held or closely held.
  • Limited Şirket, Ltd. Şti. (Limited Liability Company) — the most common form for small and medium business; minimum capital TRY 50,000 since 1 January 2024, formation by a single shareholder permitted, shares not freely transferable, managed by one or more müdür (managers).
  • Kooperatif (Cooperative) — a member-owned entity registered in the trade registry and governed by cooperative legislation alongside the Commercial Code.
  • Ticari İşletme / Gerçek Kişi Tacir (Commercial enterprise of a natural person, sole trader) — an individual merchant with no separate legal personality and unlimited personal liability, registered in the trade registry like a company.
  • Yabancı Şirket Şubesi (Branch of a foreign company) — the Turkish branch of a foreign undertaking, registered in the trade registry of the place where it operates; it is not a separate legal person.
  • Adi Ortaklık (Ordinary partnership) — a purely contractual partnership under the Code of Obligations with no legal personality; it is not registered as a company in the trade registry.
  • Esnaf İşletmesi (Tradesman’s or craftsman’s business) — the small-scale alternative to a commercial enterprise, registered in the Register of Tradesmen and Craftsmen rather than in the Ticaret Sicili.

Certain companies — for example those whose formation the Commercial Code and secondary legislation make subject to ministerial permission — require the approval of the Ministry of Trade for their formation and for amendments of their articles of association.

Information available from the Turkish registry

Publicity in Turkey works mainly through the gazette. The Türkiye Ticaret Sicili Gazetesi is published by TOBB — Türkiye Odalar ve Borsalar Birliği (the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye) under article 37 of the Commercial Code, and it carries the announcements that give registry entries their effect against third parties: formations, changes of name and address, capital increases and reductions, changes of directors and signature authority, mergers and demergers, liquidations and dissolutions. Its archive runs continuously from 1957, so a company’s whole registered history can be reconstructed from it. The gazette site allows users to search announcements, to view, download and print them, and to obtain certified copies with either a digital or a wet signature. It also provides a name-inquiry function showing whether a business name is already in use and which trade registry directorate holds the registration.

MERSİS holds the structured data behind those announcements: the trade name, the MERSİS number and trade registry number, the legal form, the registered office and address, the field of activity, the capital, the partners or shareholders and the persons authorised to represent the company, together with the record of every registered change. Access to the MERSİS company query, however, is not anonymous: the "Firma Sorgu" function under the "Sorgular" menu is available to users who are registered in the system and logged in.

What is not published through the trade registry is financial reporting and beneficial ownership. Turkish companies keep statutory books — every merchant keeps the journal, the inventory book and the general ledger, with partnership-type companies additionally keeping the general assembly meeting and negotiation book, joint-stock companies and partnerships limited by shares keeping the share ledger, board resolution book and general assembly book, and limited companies keeping the share ledger and general assembly book — but these are internal records, not registry publications. Beneficial-ownership data is collected by the tax administration under the anti-money-laundering framework rather than published in the trade registry, and no public beneficial-ownership search facility could be confirmed on the Ministry of Trade’s own registry pages at the time of writing.

Documents that can be obtained from the registry

  • Ticaret Sicili Tasdiknamesi / Sicil Tasdiknamesi (Trade Registry Certificate) — the trade registry directorate’s certificate of a company’s current registered particulars: trade name, registry and MERSİS numbers, address, field of activity, capital and representatives. The standard proof of registration for banks, tenders and counterparties.
  • Yetki Belgesi (Certificate of Authority) — the document showing who is authorised to represent and bind the company, in what capacity and within what limits.
  • Sicil Kayıtları Sureti (Copy of registry records) — a transcript of the entries held on the company’s registry file, including historic entries.
  • Faaliyet Belgesi (Certificate of activity) — confirmation that the enterprise is registered and active, commonly required in public procurement.
  • Ticaret Sicili Gazetesi sureti (Certified copy of a Trade Registry Gazette announcement) — an official copy of a published announcement, issued with a digital or wet signature through the gazette’s own website.
  • Şirket Sözleşmesi / Esas Sözleşme (Articles of association) — the registered constitutional document of the company and its subsequent amendments, as published in the gazette.
  • Unvan sorgu sonucu (Trade name inquiry result) — confirmation whether a proposed trade name is already registered and with which directorate; the first step before incorporation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who keeps the business register in Turkey?

The trade registry directorates attached to the chambers of commerce, under the supervision of the Ministry of Trade. Their records are held centrally in MERSİS and published in the Türkiye Ticaret Sicili Gazetesi.

What is a MERSİS number?

The unified identification number assigned through the Central Registry Recording System to every company, commercial enterprise and other registered entity, used as a single reference across Turkish public institutions.

How much capital does a Turkish company need?

Since 1 January 2024, TRY 250,000 for an anonim şirket, TRY 500,000 as initial capital for a non-public joint-stock company using the registered-capital system, and TRY 50,000 for a limited şirket, under Presidential Decision No. 7887.

What happens to companies with capital below the new minimum?

Under provisional article 15 of the Turkish Commercial Code, joint-stock and limited companies that do not raise their capital to the new minimum amounts by 31 December 2026 are deemed dissolved.

Are sole traders registered in the same register as companies?

Yes. A natural person running a commercial enterprise is registered in the Ticaret Sicili through MERSİS. Smaller tradesmen and craftsmen are registered instead in the Register of Tradesmen and Craftsmen.

Can I search Turkish companies for free?

The Trade Registry Gazette site offers searching of published announcements and a trade name inquiry to registered users, and sells certified copies of announcements. The MERSİS company query is available to users who are registered in and logged into the system.

Sources

  • T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı (Ministry of Trade) — MERSİS, Merkezi Sicil Kayıt Sistemi — mersis.ticaret.gov.tr
  • T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı — Ticaret Sicili sıkça sorulan sorular (Trade registry FAQ) — ticaret.gov.tr
  • T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı — Şirketler sıkça sorulan sorular (Companies FAQ, including minimum capital and provisional article 15) — ticaret.gov.tr
  • T.C. Ticaret Bakanlığı, İç Ticaret Genel Müdürlüğü — Anonim ve Limited Şirketlerde Asgari Sermaye Tutarları Artırılmıştır — icticaret.ticaret.gov.tr
  • Resmî Gazete — 24 Kasım 2023 tarihli ve 7887 sayılı Cumhurbaşkanı Kararı (Presidential Decision No. 7887) — resmigazete.gov.tr
  • Türkiye Ticaret Sicili Gazetesi (Turkish Trade Registry Gazette), TOBB — ticaretsicil.gov.tr
  • Ticaret Sicili Yönetmeliği (Trade Registry Regulation), Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi — mevzuat.gov.tr
  • İstanbul Ticaret Odası — Ticaret sicil belgeleri: Sicil Tasdiknamesi, Yetki Belgesi, Sicil Kayıtları Sureti — ito.org.tr

Keywords

business register Turkey, company registry Turkey, Ticaret Sicili, MERSİS, Türkiye Ticaret Sicili Gazetesi, legal forms Turkey, anonim şirket, limited şirket, company documents Turkey, ticaret sicili tasdiknamesi, minimum capital Turkey, Ministry of Trade Turkey