A Turkish university diploma and its transcript are the core documents of applications abroad for employment, postgraduate study and professional recognition. In the apostille chain they are handled in two layers: the original diploma and its translation. The two layers may not go to the same office, and a receiving university or employer that knows this will read the two apostilles on the file correctly.
The division one district office describes: Zile
The apostille page of the Zile District Governor’s Office states that the originals of documents issued by a university in the province, such as the diploma and the transcript, are apostilled by the valilik, the provincial governor’s office, while the notarised translations of those documents are apostilled by the kaymakamlık, the district governor’s office. The logic of the division follows from what the apostille certifies: on the original, the signature of the university official; on the translation, the signature of the notary who certified it. The division of work may be arranged differently in other provinces, and the office to be visited should be asked beforehand.
Pre-approval by the university or by YÖK
Some application guides mention an approval by the university or by Yükseköğretim Kurulu (YÖK), the Turkish Council of Higher Education, before the apostille. This site’s survey found no official rule that makes such a pre-approval compulsory; the Zile page speaks of the apostille on the original without any intermediate step. Before the diploma is taken for its apostille, the governor’s or district governor’s office concerned should be asked in which form it accepts the document. A receiving institution that sees no pre-approval stamp is therefore not looking at an incomplete file.
No electronic route
The diploma and the transcript are not among the documents covered by e-Apostil, the official Turkish electronic apostille system. A barcode graduation document downloaded from e-Devlet, the Turkish e-government portal, is not apostilled directly at the district office either; a printout that the university’s official has certified with a handwritten signature and seal can be considered. The apostille in that case certifies the signature of the official who certified the printout, not the barcode.
A foreign university diploma in Türkiye
When a diploma from a foreign university is submitted to YÖK for recognition, YÖK asks for a Turkish translation certified by a Turkish notary or by a Turkish diplomatic mission abroad. On YÖK’s recognition page an apostille is expressly required for two countries only. For documents from Bulgaria, both the original and the translation made in Bulgaria have to carry the seal and the apostille of the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science; for diplomas and transcripts earned in Ukraine, an apostille is likewise required. For other countries the page does not spell out an apostille condition, and the current list should be read before the application.
Transcript and diploma supplement
The transcript and the diploma supplement are separate documents, and an apostille covers only the document on which it is placed; each document receives its own apostille. Where the receiving institution asks for the transcript as well, the apostille and translation plan is best made for the diploma and the transcript together, since each of them passes through the same steps on its own.
University diploma: both directions in brief
For a Turkish university diploma, the first question is which office apostilles the original, the second whether a translation and an apostille on it are needed at all. For a diploma coming into Türkiye the direction reverses: the apostille or consular certification is obtained in the country of the diploma, and the Turkish translation is certified in Türkiye. In both directions the translation is made by a sworn translator and certified by a notary before any apostille is placed on it.