Vehicle registration plates of Turkey explained

Türkiye (Turkey)
Country:Türkiye (Turkey)
Countrycode:TR
Colour Front:Black on white
Colour Rear:Black on white
Size:520x
Serial Format:Not standard

Turkish vehicle registration plates are number plates found on Turkish vehicles. The plates use an indirect numbering system associated with the geographical info. In Turkey, number plates are made by authorized private workshops.

Appearance

Turkish number plate is rectangular in shape and made of aluminium. On the left, there is the country code "TR" in a 4×10 cm blue stripe like in EU countries (without the 12 golden stars). The text is in black characters on white background, and for official vehicles white on black. On all vehicles two plates have to be present, being one in front and the other in rear except motorcycles and tractors. The serial letters use the Turkish letters except Ç, Ş, İ, Ö, Ü and Ğ.

Dimensions

Blue stripe

The blue stripe was introduced after the entry of Turkey to the European Customs Union in 1996,[1] in accordance to compliance to EU laws. Since then, the blue stripe area is often modified by car owners (even by some parliament members like Devlet Bahçeli[1]). The predominant modification of this sorts is to replace the blue color with red crescent and the star of the Turkish flag. This type of modification is in the grey area of the law, for it does not clearly specify which color is to be used in the stripe.[2]

Additionally, vehicle inspection stickers were often stuck on this area.

Numbering system

The text format on the plates is one of the following:

In some provinces, numbering is categorized in groups for tax collecting offices of different districts, for example dolmuş, a type of public transportation in Ankara have plates of the form "99 X 9999" and a vehicle from Polatlı, Ankara has plates of the form "99 XXX 99", "99 XX 9999" from Etimesgut district. On the other hand, a dolmuş in Eskişehir has a plate of the form "99 X 9999".

99 - two digits prefix denoting the location, shows the province code number of the main residence of car holder. There are 81 provinces as listed below:

X/XX/XXX – one, two or three letters.

9999/999/99 – four, three or two digits, depending on the number of letters before, not exceeding six letters and digits altogether.

Diplomatic and consular registration plates are issued with randomly generated numbers since 16 August 2004 for security concerns.[3]

Types

Type (Used by) Appearance Format and Explanation
General issue Private vehicles and commercial vehicles owned by private entities.
Provincial governments, university rectors 99 AA 999 (red characters on white background):
99 A 99999, 99 AA 999 or 99 AAA 999 (white on blue)
99 JAA 999 (white on blue). Since 2018, replaced old military plates.
99 SGH 999 (white on blue). Since 2018, replaced old military plates.
99 B 9999 (blue on white)
Corps Diplomatique: 99 CD 999: (green on white)
99 CC 9999: (white on green)[4]
Temporary
99 G 9999 for temporary transportation, 34 T 99999 for testing (black on yellow). Valid duration for max. 1 month.
Temporary customs 99 GMR 999 (red on green)
Foreigners with temporary residence permit 99 MA 999 to 99 MZ 999: (Black on white)
99 SAA 999 to 99 SZZ 999: (Black on white)
Taxis (Istanbul province only) 34 TAA 99 to 34 TKZ 99
Taxis (except Istanbul province) 99 T 9999
Vanity plates Turkey allows vanity plates to be issued. A desired text can be written instead of the serial letter place.
99 [TEXT] 999
Presidential carsThe number plate of the president has no numbers, instead it uses the Presidential Seal of Turkey. Other convoy cars use the format CB 00X ("CB" for Cumhurbaşkanı (English: President)), with golden text on a red background.
Deputy Speaker and chairpeople of the parliamentary commissionsTBMM stands for Grand National Assembly of Turkey
Speaker, Vice President, Members of the Cabinet, Chief of the General Staff, the highest ranking commanders of armies, some undersecretariesGold on red (9999)
Province governors99 9999 (golden on red), with first two-digits as province code number prefix
Official vehicles belonging to the government and public administrations99 AA 999: (white on black), with first two-digits as province code number prefix
Military999999 (black on a white rectangle of 7×20 cm on the bumper of the vehicle, painted by a stencil). 000999 General Staff of the Republic of Turkey, 100999 First Army, 200999 Second Army, 300999 Third Army, 400999 Aegean Army, 500999 Navy, 600999 Air Force. Prior to 2018, Gendarmerie used to use 700999 series.
Pre-1996 format (private vehicles)These plates lacked the blue stripe (euroband) on the left hand side.
Pre-1962 format (private vehicles)These old plates had the name of the province written in full, black background with white letters and usage of dashes.
Pre-1996 format (police) white on green

Location codes

First two digits indicating the province code:

Code Province Code Province Code Province
01 28 55
02 29 56
03 30 57
04 31 58
05 32 59
06 33 60
07 34 61
08 35 62
09 36 63
10 37 64
11 38 65
12 39 66
13 40 67
14 41 68
15 42 69
16 43 70
17 44 71
18 45 72
19 46 73
20 47 74
21 48 75
22 49 76
23 50 77
24 51 78
25 52 79
26 53 80
27 54 81

Province names until code 67 go alphabetically, with the exception of Mersin, Kahramanmaraş and Şanlıurfa provinces for their previous names taken in account were İçel, Maraş and Urfa, respectively. The ones after the original 67 provinces are newer additions, these province names go chronologically.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Plakadaki AB mavisine kırmızı etiketli protesto. 8 July 2012. tr. 3 March 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130303031057/http://haber.gazetevatan.com/Plakadaki_AB_mavisine_kirmizi_etiketli_protesto_180861_1/180861/1/Haber. dead.
  2. Web site: Bir dakika karanlığın AKP karşıtı versiyonu kırmızı bantlı plakalar. Hürriyet. 14 March 2013. Yurtsan Atakan. tr. July 9, 2008 . dead . https://archive.ph/4MBPZ . 18 April 2013.
  3. Web site: Protokol: Prensip Genelge Notalar: Araçlar . T.C. Disisleri Bakanligi . Yabancı misyonlara ait resmi ve özel araçlara, ilgili temsilcilik için ayrılmış harf ve numara grubu içinden tahsis yapılması uygulamasına, 16 Haziran 2005 tarihi itibarıyla son verilmiş ve sözkonusu araçlara rastgele (random) plaka tahsisi yöntemine geçilmiştir. Böylelikle, güvenlik endişelerine sebep olan, diplomatik ve konsüler plakalı araçların hangi temsilciliğe ait olduklarının istenmeyen şahıslar tarafından bilinmesi durumu, büyük ölçüde önlenmiş bulunmaktadır..
  4. News: . The number plate number of this van is 34 CC 2342, which corresponds to the code for Istanbul (34) and vehicles used by consulates (CC). . Examining CCTV Videos of the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul Connected to Khashoggi's Disappearance . Bellingcat Investigation Team . October 15, 2018.