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The qualification documents required to be submitted by bidders participating in public procurement procedures conducted under the Turkish Public Procurement Law are specified in the contract notice and the Administrative Specifications. The qualification criteria and the documents requested by the contracting authority must comply with the provisions of the public procurement legislation and must not restrict competition.
Where a bid is submitted by a foreign bidder, the bidder shall submit the equivalent documents issued in accordance with the legislation of its country of establishment, as required under the Administrative Specifications and their annexes, provided that such documents satisfy the prescribed qualification criteria.
With the introduction and widespread implementation of electronic procurement in Türkiye, the vast majority of public procurement procedures are now conducted electronically through the Electronic Public Procurement Platform (EKAP). Registration with EKAP is mandatory for all natural and legal persons wishing to participate in public tenders. Moreover, the registration process has been fully digitalized, eliminating the requirement for domestic bidders to submit hard-copy documents during registration.
In addition, most qualification documents required in public tenders have either been integrated into EKAP or made electronically verifiable through data-sharing protocols established between EKAP and other public institutions. As a result, bidders are generally no longer required to submit physical qualification documents. Instead, bids are submitted electronically by completing the Tender Participation Form and uploading only those documents that cannot be verified through EKAP. Qualification information relating to bid securities, financial statements, turnover, work experience certificates, and quality and conformity certificates may be verified directly through the platform.
In the case of foreign bidders, however, most qualification documents originate outside Türkiye and therefore cannot be verified through EKAP. Since EKAP registration is also mandatory for foreign bidders, they must first complete the registration process and subsequently upload all qualification documents that are not electronically verifiable through EKAP in accordance with the applicable rules governing the submission of documents.
Accordingly, the procedure to be followed by foreign bidders wishing to participate in public tenders in Türkiye is summarized below.
Foreign natural and legal persons are subject to a manual registration procedure.
For this purpose, applicants must enter the information requested by the Public Procurement Authority into the system, following which the Protocol on the Use of the Electronic Public Procurement Platform by Natural and Legal Persons is generated electronically and signed using an electronic signature.
Pursuant to the Decision of the Public Procurement Board dated 13 November 2018 and numbered 2018/DK.D-357, foreign applicants must complete their EKAP registration by physically submitting to the Public Procurement Authority the equivalent documents required under Article 7 of the Regulation on Electronic Procurement Implementation, issued in accordance with the legislation of their country of establishment and in compliance with the document submission requirements set forth in the relevant procurement implementation regulations.
Foreign bidders are required to upload to EKAP the equivalent qualification documents issued in accordance with the legislation of their country of establishment where such documents cannot be electronically verified through the platform.
The documents uploaded must comply with the requirements governing the form and manner of submission prescribed under the public procurement legislation.
Documents issued by diplomatic missions of the Republic of Türkiye located abroad are exempt from legalization requirements. The authentication of documents issued in foreign countries, as well as documents issued by foreign diplomatic or consular missions in Türkiye, shall be carried out in accordance with the following principles.
Public documents issued in countries that are parties to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention) and bearing a valid Apostille certificate are exempt from further legalization by diplomatic missions or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Where an applicable bilateral treaty provides otherwise, the provisions of that treaty shall prevail. Documents falling outside these categories must undergo the applicable chain legalization procedure through the competent diplomatic missions and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Documents issued by honorary consulates may not serve as the basis for administrative or legal proceedings.
The translation and certification of documents prepared in foreign languages are likewise governed by the public procurement legislation.
Accordingly, where foreign-language documents are submitted by domestic bidders, the translations must be prepared by sworn translators in Türkiye and certified by a Turkish notary public. Such translations are exempt from certification by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the case of foreign bidders, translations prepared by sworn translators in the country of origin and bearing an Apostille certificate are accepted without any additional authentication. Where no Apostille is available, the signature and any official seal or stamp appearing on the translation must be authenticated either by the competent Consulate of the Republic of Türkiye in the relevant country or, alternatively, by the diplomatic or consular mission of the issuing country in Türkiye followed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye.
Alternatively, if the documents are translated by sworn translators in Türkiye and certified by a Turkish notary public, no further authentication is required.
The bidder must download, through EKAP, the tender documents relating to the procurement procedure in which it intends to participate.
The bid shall be submitted electronically through EKAP by completing the Tender Participation Form and providing all information and documentation necessary to demonstrate compliance with the applicable qualification requirements.