Comprehensive Guide to Funerals in Turkey: Customs, Burial Process, and Required Paperwork

Death is a part of life. It might hit hard, especially if you are living far from your homeland. Understanding what happens when someone dies in Turkey can help ease the stress during such challenging times. Let’s get into the procedures, traditions, and paperwork in Turkey.

Dying at Home in Turkey

If someone passes away at home, call 188, the number for burial affairs. A forensic doctor will determine if the death was natural or required investigation. It’s important not to move the body until the doctor arrives.

• Natural death: A death report is issued, and the municipality transfers the body to the cemetery to complete burial procedures.
• Unnatural death: The incident is referred to forensic authorities and police for investigation.

Suspect foul play? Call the police at 155 immediately.

Dying in a Hospital in Turkey

When someone passes away in a hospital, the family receives a death report. The hospital takes care of most of the paperwork, while the municipality organizes body transportation to the cemetery. If the family wants repatriation of the deceased, they must coordinate with the hospital.

Funerals and Traditions in Turkey

Funerals reflect Turkey’s Muslim traditions. Typically, they occur shortly after death and involve funeral prayers at a mosque. People believe life is a trial for the afterlife, where fate is determined based on one’s deeds.

Every soul will taste death and you will be paid in full only on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever is kept away from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have triumphed…Quran (3:185)

The body is washed, wrapped in white sheets, and kept private until it’s ready for prayers and condolences. Money is often given to the poor, and family and friends gather for Quran recitations.

Die happily and look forward to taking up a new and better form. Like the sun, only when you set in the west can you rise in the east.Rumi

Types of Cemeteries in Turkey

Cemeteries in Turkey are classified into two categories:

• Paid Cemeteries: Offer services such as washing, shrouding, and digging graves. Costs vary significantly depending on the location. For example, in Istanbul, 2025 prices for a burial plot can range from a few thousand Lira to over 111,000 Turkish Lira in high-demand cemeteries.
• Free Cemeteries: Provided by the government for unidentified bodies, the poor, and victims of drowning.

Getting a Death Certificate in Turkey

How to Obtain It

• If death occurs in a public hospital, they issue and approve the certificate.
• For deaths in private institutions, certificates must be approved by authorized physicians.
• Deaths outside health institutions require certificates from municipal, family, or community doctors.
• In remote areas, stations like the gendarmerie or village heads may issue certificates.

Required Documents

• Original ID card of the deceased.
• If unavailable, relatives must provide a written declaration with details like full name and national ID number.

No additional identity documentation is necessary apart from these.

Transferring a Deceased Outside Turkey

For repatriation cases, contact “Mezarlıklar Daire Başkanlığı” (Funeral Department). Coordination with the consulate follows, including document translations and permits. Authorities require:

• Death certificate and forensic report.
• Certificate of non-communicable diseases.
• Sealed, embalmed coffin.

Non-Muslim Funerals in Turkey

Major cities in Turkey have cemeteries for non-Muslims or designated sections within Muslim cemeteries. Christian families can contact one of the following churches:

1. Anglican Church
2. Armenian Apostolic Church
3. Greek Orthodox Church
4. Catholic Church

For Jews, there is a lot of synagogue in many Turkish cities that you can visit and ask a Rabai for Jewish religious burial in Turkey.

Is there a crematorium in Turkey?

Is there a crematorium in Turkey? Turkey has no cremation facilities. While cremation is legally permitted under Turkish law, it is not practiced due to a lack of crematoriums in the country.

Can I bring the ashes of a deceased to Turkey?

Yes, you can bring the ashes of a deceased person to Turkey. You must carry them in your hand luggage and have the official death and cremation certificates. The urn must be made of a material that can be X-rayed by airport security, such as wood, plastic, or non-lead ceramic.

English speaking Funeral services in Turkey