Reviewed by Jane Katkova, Founder & Licensed CICC ConsultantTurkey has revoked the citizenship of 6,134 people who naturalised through its citizenship by investment programme. The figures were reported on 12 August 2026 following an announcement by the Interior Ministry earlier that month. It is the largest enforcement action in the programme's history and it reaches investors' families as well as the investors themselves.
Revocation figures and grounds
| Ground | Investors | People affected (with family) |
|---|---|---|
| Irregularities or fraudulent documents | 1,150 | 5,391 |
| Security and public-order assessments | 263 | 743 |
| Total | 1,413 | 6,134 |
According to the reports, investigators found a pattern in the real estate route. Inexpensive properties were given artificially inflated appraisals so that the transaction appeared to meet the US$400,000 minimum. The reports also describe fictitious transactions, sham sales, falsified documents and fabricated money transfers. Police operations have targeted property agents and others suspected of arranging these files.
Legal basis
Under Turkish citizenship law, citizenship obtained on the basis of false declarations or the concealment of material facts can be annulled. Citizenship can also be annulled where the qualifying investment is not kept for the required period, which is three years for real estate. Because spouses and children derive their status from the main applicant, they lose it with the investor.
Programme requirements are unchanged
The enforcement action does not change the programme's rules. The real estate route still requires a purchase of at least US$400,000 with a three-year restriction on sale recorded on the title deed, and the alternative investment routes remain available at their own thresholds. What has changed is the level of scrutiny applied to valuation reports and payment trails, both for new applications and for files already approved.
What this means for applicants
For US and Canadian citizens considering Turkish citizenship by investment, and for US or Canadian residents who already hold a Turkish passport obtained this way, the message is that approval is not the end of the due diligence. A file can be reopened, and a valuation that was inflated by a seller or agent puts the whole family's citizenship at risk even where the investor did not design the arrangement.
We advise new applicants to instruct an independent appraiser licensed by the Capital Markets Board, to compare the appraisal with recent sales in the same building, to pay the full declared price through a Turkish bank from an account in their own name, and to refuse any offer of a discount, cash-back or buy-back that makes the real price lower than the declared one. Clients who naturalised in earlier years should keep the valuation report, the bank receipts and the title deed, and ask Turkish counsel to review them if any part of the transaction was handled by an agent they no longer trust.
Applicants who want a second citizenship without property valuation risk can compare the donation routes of the Caribbean programmes. To review your own position, book a consultation with our team.