The Role of the Notary?
In most countries, except the UK and other 'common law' jurisdictions, the Notary plays a major part in the process of buying and selling real estate.
In Turkey, the document transferring ownership of the property is (usually) signed in front of an officer from the land registry rather than a Notary. This does not mean that the Notary has no role to play. Depending on the circumstances of the case the preliminary contract may well be signed by the seller in front of a Notary.
You will need advice on a range of issues that will be very different from the advice needed by a Turkish person buying a house in Turkey. You will need to have the Turkish system — and its implications — explained to you. The local system may produce the most unexpected and undesirable results if left on its own. The interaction of UK and Turkish law, particularly with regard to taxation and inheritance rights, calls for careful consideration. This is especially so as the cost of rectifying a wrong initial decision is often as much as the whole expense of the purchase in the first place. Giving that advice calls for specialised knowledge, not only of both Turkish and English law but increasingly also of European Union legislation on property, tax and inheritance .A local lawyer — especially in rural Turkey, where relatively few transactions occur which involve foreigners — cannot be expected to be conversant with foreign legal systems and will almost certainly not be in a best position to advise non-Turkish clients appropriately. He will, therefore, not think about the problems that his "normal" procedure may create for foreigners. The local lawyer may not speak English, at least to the standard needed to have a sensible discussion with you about technical and complex matters. It is therefore unwise and potentially very expensive not to seek the assistance of a specialist English lawyer able to advise on Turkish legal matters within the context of English law. Your solicitor should be able to understand thoroughly legal documents in both languages so as to advise you effectively in English. This implies not only legal experience in both countries but, of course, technical language skills as well.