Changing your name when you obtain Turkish citizenship
Anyone applying for Turkish citizenship may change their name entirely; it is the applicant's choice and is not compulsory.
Whether a name is changed depends on the wishes of the person being naturalised, since Turkish law grants anyone applying for Turkish citizenship the right to change their name if they wish, for reasons of their own.
There is also the case where the name is hard to pronounce in Turkish; here the official will advise the citizenship applicant to adjust some of the letters to make it easier to say.
In some cases the change is compulsory, for instance where the name carries a bad meaning in Turkish
Another case where a partial change is unavoidable is a name containing letters that do not belong to the Turkish alphabet, such as (W Q X).
Changing the name of someone who has obtained Turkish citizenship means they must prove their identity to various institutions, whether universities, banks, embassies or government offices, by producing the name-change document issued by the civil registry office. And if they wish to present their identity in a foreign country, they must obtain certification from the ministry of foreign affairs and from the embassy of the country concerned in order to produce the necessary documents.
Anyone wishing to change their name can open a name-change case at the civil court of first instance, while anyone wanting to change a few letters in their name with minor adjustments should go to the civil registry office in the province where they live.
A petition must also be written “dilekçe” showing the old name and the new name they wish to change to, along with the reason for the change. All the applicant's personal details must be provided, as well as a copy of their identity card, and the whole set is submitted to the civil registry