The Turkish Licence Plate Numbering System

Turkish Cars are licenced locally in the owner's home province. Turkish 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.

Where is that car from...?

The Turkish Province Code List. The Turkish Car Licence Plate System ..and a little about Turkish Traffic Signs. It is easy to see where a Turkish vehicle come from once you know the province codes on the number plate..

Examples licence plates

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 81 province codes as listed below:

Turkish Province Codes

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 Independence] - but still followed Manisa (code 45) although the alphabetical 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 alphabetical series. But car plate watching is a fun thing in Turkey.

See Detailed Map of All Turkey (External Link in Turkish)

Car Licence Plate Coding

Private Vehicles - Turkish

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

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 Officials on business. The Zabita are local corporation uniformed officers for control of prices etc.

Provincial Vehicles

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

Police Vehicles:
PP A 9999 or PP AA 9999 or PP AAA 999 (White characters on Blue background - with single letter "A" or double letter "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 Organizations

Members of International Organizations:
PP B 999 or 99 B 9999 (Blue characters on White background with single letter B as alphabetic identifier for International orgarisations such as UNESCO etc..)

Diplomatic Corps.

Diplomatic Corp.
PP CA 999 to PP CZ 999 (White characters on green background with "CA" to "CZ" as alphabetic identifier)

Consulates

Consular Vehicles:
PP CA 999 to PP CZ 999 (Green characters on white background - with letters "CA" to "CZ" alphabetic identifier)

Temporary One Month

Temporary (One Month) Vehicles:
PP G 9999 (Black characters on Yellow background - with single letter "G" as alphabetic identifier)

Temporary Customs

Temporary Customs Vehicles:
PP GMR 999 (Red characters on Green background - with letter group "GMR" - gümrük - customs - as alphabetic identifier.)

Foreign Temporary Residents

Foreign Temporary Residents:
PP MA 999 to PP MZ 999 (Black characters on white background - with "MA" to "MZ" as alphabetic identifier for foreigners with temporary residence permit)

Taxis

Taxis (optional):
PP TXX 999 (black characters on white background - with Letter "T" in first position as alphabetic identifier)

Test Vehicles

Test Vehicles:
PP T 9999 (red characters on white background - with single letter "T" as Test Vehicle Identifier)

Special License Plates

President of Turkey

State President:
Yellow characters on red background in CB ### format.

Members of Parliament

Members of Parliament:
Yellow characters on red background in TBMM ### format.

Prime Minister, Government Members, Undersecretaries and Director General of Security

Prime Minister and Civil Servants:
Yellow characters on red background in #### format.

Province Governors

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 Vehicles

Military:
Black characters on white background in 999 999 format.
Jandarma (the French Gendarme): Military based civil policing body.

Some Signs on the Road

Signs on the Road
DUR	Stop/Halt
Tek yön	One way
Girilmez	No entry (in general)
Taşıt Giremez	No vehicle entry
Giriş	Entrance
Çıkış	Exit
Park yapılmaz/edilmez	No parking
Park etmek yasaktır	No parking
Şehir merkezi	City center
Araç çıkabilir	Vehicles exiting
Askeri bölge	Military Zone
Hastane	Hospital
Yaya geçidi	Pedestrian Crossing
Tırmanma şeridi	Climbing Lane
Yol çalışması	Road work
Yol tamiri	Road repair
Yol yapımı	Road construction
Servis Yolu	Service Road
Ağır Taşıtlar Sağdan gidiniz	Trucks use right lane
Dinlenme Alanı	Rest area
Servis Alanı	Service area
Uzun araç	Long vehicle
Tırmanma sağdan	Slower vehicles use right lane
TEM "Tem Oto Yolu"	Transit European Motorway
AS. İZ.	Military Police (Askeri İnzibat)
Yol Ver	Give Way

A Motoring Vocabulary