Leveraging Turkish identification numbers for investigations in Sayari Graph
Sayari Graph includes various sources of public records for Turkey, including records from the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette, Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, and a list of Companies with Foreign Capital from the Turkish Ministry of Trade.
The Turkish Trade Registry Gazette, in particular, provides critical information including individuals’ full names and Turkish Identification Number (T.C. kimlik numarası or TCKN), and can facilitate ultimate beneficial ownership investigations through public records in Graph.
Uncovering ID numbers
Turkish Gazette publications often include basic identifiers for a given company or individual — this includes information like business addresses, identification numbers, and general company attributes.
Searching for companies in the Turkish Gazette with the Turkish Trade Registration Number
Upon establishment, every company in Turkey needs to register with the Turkish Chamber of Commerce of the municipality in which it is domiciled. The company then receives its trade registry number, by which the company is identified. Two separate companies located in different cities in Turkey may have the same trade registration number, therefore it is important to know which specific municipality the company is located in. Additionally, if the company changes municipality, it must register with the new municipality’s chamber of commerce and obtain a new trade registry number.
To search for a specific company in the Turkish Gazette, users must first identify the municipality in which the company is domiciled. After selecting the municipality, users can then query by the company’s trade registration number (Ticaret Sicil Numarası), or its full legal name.
When is information in the Turkish Gazette true for?
The Turkish Gazette is published daily. The company updates that are submitted by each company are usually published after two business days, and can be accessed both online and through a paper subscription. The information in the Turkish Gazette will remain true until another announcement pertaining to the specific company is published.
Each gazette entry includes various dates. At the top right corner, the gazette will include the number of the publication along with the publication date. The excerpts for each company will include the date for when the company’s information was added to the gazette, and a date for when the documents were officially submitted to the gazette to be recorded.
Additionally, if available, the dates for specific company changes and meetings that were held will take place in the company-specific announcement.
(Fig 1: Turkish Gazette snapshot from Sayari Graph, including the outlined name of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, and his Turkish ID Number.)
Not every single gazette entry includes the identification numbers of individuals whose names are mentioned, but if the entry includes a significant update such as ownership change or shareholdings, identification numbers are usually provided. In some instances, the Turkish ID number may be hidden by asterisks, but may still appear in other gazette entries where the same individuals or entities are listed. For this reason, it is important for analysts to have the ability to efficiently review a wide range of gazette entries.
(Fig. 2: Sayari Graph snapshot including the records search results for “Berat Albayrak” highlighting his identification number)
With a Turkish ID number on hand, Graph users can search within public records for any other connections an individual may have. In the case of Turkish sources, it is possible to run a query with an individual’s ID number to identify other public records in which they are mentioned, allowing the user to build an ownership network focused on a particular person of interest.
Other unique identifiers available in the Turkish Gazette publications
In addition to entity and individual Turkish ID numbers, the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette may also include foreign identification numbers for non-Turkish citizens that are part of a registered entity in Turkey, and in rare cases, passport numbers of foreign individuals are provided as well.
Sayari Graph allows for searches across millions of public records in different jurisdictions. Making use of different identification numbers can maximize the outcomes of investigations for Graph users.