Turkish Cars are licenced locally in the owner's home province. Tukish Licence Plate watching is a an interesting hobby, as you can always tell the stranger or visitor from the locals by the the first two (three) letters of their licence plate.
The text format on Turkish Plates is one of the following:
PPX9999, PPX99999 or
PPXX999, PPXX9999 or
PPXXX99, PPXXX999
PP - two (three) digit prefix denoting the location, shows the province code number of the main residence of car holder.
X/XX/XXX - one/two or three letters.
9999/999/99 - four/three or two digits suffix depending on the size of letters before, not exceeding than six letters and digits together.
In some provinces, numbering is categorized in groups for tax collecting offices of different districts.
The colouring and alphabetical coding of Car Licence Plates also indicates what type of user the owner may be. These codings are discussed at the end of this web page.
There are 101 provinces as listed below:
Turkish Province Codes
A private vehicle plate from Ankara (Province Code 06)
Turkish Province Codes were originally 67 in number and were in alphabetical order - thus Adana was code 01 to Zonguldak code 67. As time went on some towns were re-named and consequently because they kept their own Province Code Number the alphabetical series was broken. For instance Maraş (code 46) became Kahramanmaraş - Hero Maraş - [renamed by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to honour its part in the War of Independance] - but still followed Manisa (code 45) although the alphbetical series was broken.
As time went on the Province Codes (originally totalling 67 from Adana - 01 to Zonguldak - 67) were added to, thus forming a total of 81 codings and these additions are also not in the total alphabectial series. But car plate watching is a fun thing in Turkey.
Thanks to H.O.K. of Antalya for corrections to the list. Jan 2006
Turkish Province Codes
#01 - Adana
#02 - Adıyaman
#03 - Afyon
#04 - Ağrı
#05 - Amasya
#06 - Ankara
#07 - Antalya
#08 - Artvin
#09 - Aydın
#10 - Balıkesir
#11 - Bilecik
#12 - Bingöl
#13 - Bitlis
#14 - Bolu
#15 - Burdur
#16 - Bursa
#17 - Çanakkale
#18 - Çankırı
#19 - Çorum
#20 - Denizli
#21 - Diyarbakır
#22 - Edirne
#23 - Elazığ
#24 - Erzincan
#25 - Erzurum
#26 - Eskişehir
#27 - Gaziantep
#28 - Giresun
#29 - Gümüşhane
#30 - Hakkari
#31 - Hatay
#32 - Isparta
#33 - İçel (Mersin)
#34 - İstanbul
#35 - İzmiri
#36 - Kars
#37 - Kastamonu
#38 - Kayseri
#39 - Kırklareli
#40 - Kırşehir
#41 - Kocaeli (İzmit)
#42 - Konya
#43 - Kütahya
#44 - Malatya
#45 - Manisa
#46 - Kahramanmaraş
#47 - Mardin
#48 - Muğla
#49 - Muş
#50 - Nevşehir
#51 - Niğde
#52 - Ordu
#53 - Rize
#54 - Sakarya
#55 - Samsun
#56 - Siirt
#57 - Sinop
#58 - Sivas
#59 - Tekirdağ
#60 - Tokat
#61 - Trabzon
#62 - Tunceli
#63 - Şanlıurfa
#64 - Uşak
#65 - Van
#66 - Yozgat
#67 - Zonguldak
#68 - Aksaray
#69 - Bayburt
#70 - Karaman
#71 - Kırıkkale
#72 - Batman
#73 - Şırnak
#74 - Bartın
#75 - Artdahan
#76 - Iğdır
#77 - Yalova
#78 - Karabük
#79 - Kilis
#80 - Osmaniye
#81 - Düzce
See Detailed - - (External link in Turkish)
Turkish Car Licence Plate Coding
Private Vehicles - Turkish
A private vehicle plate from Istanbul (Province Code 34)
TR
34 ZD 8866
Private Vehicles - Turkish: PP X 99999 to PP XXX 999 (Black characters on white background) - where PP equates to the Province Number and X or XX or XXX is alphabetic.
Official Vehicles - Turkish
An official Zabita vehicle plate from Manisa (Province Code 45)
TR
18 GH 3832
Official Vehicles - Turkish: PP X 99999 to PP XXX 999 (White characters on black background) - where PP equates to the Province Number and X or XX or XXX is alphabetic. Used by Town Corporations and Officals on business. The Zabita are local corporation uniformed officers for contol of prices etc.
Provincial Vehicles
A Province Government vehicle plate from Aydin (Province Code 09)
TR
42 A 0057
Province Government Vehicles: PP A 9999 (Red characters on white background - with single or double letter "A" in red as identifier for Provincial Official Car Licence)
This car a Province Government Vehicle for Aydin (Province Code 09). It is parked in the Provincial Government Office car park.
Police Vehicles
A Police vehicle plate from Aydin (Province Code 09)
TR
10 AA 057
Police Vehicles: PP A 9999 or PP AA 9999 or PP AAA 999 (White characters on Blue background - with singleletter "A" or doubleletter "AA" or triple letter "AAA" as alphabetic Identifier for police vehicles.)
This vehicle is parked outside a local police station in the Province of Aydin.
Members of International Organisations
TR
09 B 446
Members of International Organisations: PP B 999 or 99 B 9999 (Blue characters on White background with single letter B as alphabeteic identifier for International orgarisations such as UNESCO etc..)
Diplomatic Corps.
TR
06 CF 057
Diplomatic Corp. PP CA 999 to PP CZ 999 (White characters on green background with "CA" to "CZ" as alphbetic identifier)
Consulates
TR
01 CP 445
Consular Vehicles: PP CA 999 to PP CZ 999 (Green characters on white background - withletters "CA" to "CZ" alphbetic identifier)
Temporary One Month
TR
34 G 1757
Temporary (One Month) Vehicles: PP G 9999 (Black characters on Yellow background - with single letter "G" as alphabetic identifier)
Temporary Customs
TR
35 GMR 836
Temporary Customs Vehicles: PP GMR 999 (Red characters on Green background - with letter group "GMR" - gümrük - customs - as alphbetic identifier.)
Foreign Temporary Residents
TR
16 MB 226
Foreign Temporary Residents: PP MA 999 to PP MZ 999 (Black characters on white background - with "MA" to "MZ" as alpabetic identifier for foreigners with temporary residence permit)
Taxis
A Taxi vehicle plate from Aydin (Province Code 09)
TR
67 TRF 834
Taxis (optional):
PP TXX 999 (black characters on white background - with Letter "T" in first position as alphbetic identifier)
Test Vehicles
TR
26 T 2167
Test Vehicles: PP T 9999 (red characters on white background - with single letter "T" as Test Vehicle Identifier)
Special License Plates
President of Turkey
CB 001
State President:
Yellow characters on red background in CB ### format.
Members of Parliament
TBMM 081
Members of Parliament:
Yellow characters on red background in TBMM ### format.
Prime Minister, Government Members, Undersecretaries and Director General of Security
0063
Prime Minister and Civil Servants:
Yellow characters on red background in #### format.
Province Governers
45 0026
Province Governor:
Yellow characters on red background in PP 9999 format - where PP is the Province Code No. - as 34 equates to Istanbul Province or 45 equates to Manisa Province.
Military
174 572
Military:
Black characters on white background in 999 999 format.
Jandarma (the French Gendarme): Military based civil policing body.
Turkish Cars are licenced locally in the owner's home province. Tukish Licence Plate watching is a an interesting hobby, as you can always tell the stranger or visitor from the locals by the the first two (three) letters of their licence plate.
DUR
Tek yön
Girilmez
Taşıt Giremez
Giriş
Park etmek yasaktır
Hastane
Yaya geçidi
Yol yapımı
Dinlenme Alanı
Yol Ver