Article 17 of Turkish Citizenship Law states that a minor child adopted by a Turkish citizen can acquire Turkish citizenship from the date of adoption provided that he/she has no situation that poses an obstacle with respect to national security and public order. It shall be assessed according to the adopted person’s own national law, whether he/she is minor or not. If the adopted person is stateless or has multi nationality, Turkish law shall be applied. It is questionable how a minor can harm national security or public order.
Although there is not any provision referring to article 18 of the Law regarding the application procedure, the application should be examined by the commissions to be established and be sent to the Ministry of Interior Affairs for the decision. Even though the wording of article 17 may be understood as the minor shall acquire the citizenship on the date of Ministry’s decision, it is argued that the citizenship shall be acquired on the date of Court’s decision regarding adoption.
