· Gokcen OZKAN
Is a Turkish E-Signature Valid in Europe? eIDAS and Law No. 5070 Compared
The wrong question and the right one
Exporters ask us this constantly: "Is our e-signature valid in Europe?"
Put that way the question has no yes-or-no answer, because "valid" conflates two distinct legal questions:
Can my EU counterparty have my signature excluded as evidence?
Is my signature treated as equivalent to a handwritten signature in the EU?
The answer to the first is no. The answer to the second is — automatically — also no. The gap between those two answers determines who bears the burden of proof when a dispute arises.
Two regimes, twenty years apart
Türkiye built its electronic signature regime before the EU built its current one. Law No. 5070 on Electronic Signature was adopted on 15 January 2004, published in Official Gazette No. 25355 of 23 January 2004, and entered into force on 23 July 2004, with a further year allowed for secondary legislation.
The EU's present framework, eIDAS (Regulation (EU) No 910/2014), was adopted in 2014 and became applicable on 1 July 2016. Türkiye was, in structural terms, twelve years ahead.
Despite that head start there is a gap today — but the gap is not technical. It is institutional.
Law No. 5070 on Electronic Signature — Turkish Legislation Information System
Official Gazette — 23 January 2004, No. 25355
Three tiers versus two
eIDAS defines three tiers:
SES — Simple electronic signature. A name at the foot of an email, a scanned signature, a click-to-accept. Cannot be denied admissibility, but carries weak evidentiary weight.
AdES — Advanced electronic signature. Uniquely linked to the signatory, with subsequent alteration detectable. Middle strength; a qualified certificate is not required.
QES — Qualified electronic signature. Created with a qualified certificate and a qualified signature creation device. Equivalent to a handwritten signature.
Law No. 5070 defines two tiers: "electronic signature" and "secure electronic signature". The latter — commonly called nitelikli elektronik imza (NES) — rests on a qualified certificate and, under Article 5, produces the same legal effect as a handwritten signature.
There is therefore no direct Turkish equivalent to the AdES middle tier. In practice this means companies looking for an intermediate option must choose either the weakest or the strongest.
Note also the Article 5/2 exception: legal transactions that the law subjects to an official form or a special ceremony, and contracts of surety, cannot be executed with a secure electronic signature.
The real issue: the Trusted List
A Turkish qualified certificate, issued by an ICTA-authorised certification service provider on ETSI-conformant infrastructure, meets the technical criteria of a QES under eIDAS.
But technical conformity is not enough. Mutual recognition under eIDAS runs through the EU Trusted List: for a signature to be treated as a QES, the trust service provider must be supervised by a Member State and listed on that State's trusted list.
Türkiye is not an EU Member State, is not on the list, and there is no separate mutual recognition agreement.
The practical consequences:
Under the non-discrimination principle, your Turkish e-signature cannot be denied legal effect or admissibility as evidence in the EU solely because it is electronic. A court must consider it.
But the automatic equivalence and evidentiary presumption attached to a QES does not extend to you. Proving authorship, integrity and reliability falls on you.
The door is not closed. You simply carry your own paperwork through it.
European Commission — eIDAS Regulation
eIDAS 2.0 and the approaching deadlines
eIDAS 2.0 (Regulation (EU) 2024/1183) entered into force on 20 May 2024, introducing the European Digital Identity Wallet.
December 2024 — first implementing acts published, setting technical and interoperability rules.
December 2026 — every Member State must provide at least one EUDI Wallet.
End of 2027 — obligated private-sector entities, including banking, telecoms, healthcare and very large online platforms, must accept the EUDI Wallet as an authentication method.
Member State readiness varies and some have signalled delays or limited functionality at launch, but the direction is fixed. For a Turkish exporter this means your EU counterparty's identity and signature infrastructure will standardise within two years.
What to do
Put a signature-method clause in the contract. Freedom of contract allows the parties to agree which signature type they accept. A clause stating that the parties accept execution of the agreement by a specified type of electronic signature pre-empts most later validity arguments and costs nothing. This is the cheapest and most effective measure.
Choose governing law and jurisdiction deliberately. The evidentiary weight of your signature depends on which law governs the dispute. Under Turkish law, your NES is at full strength.
For high-value transactions, consider an EU-listed qualified trust service provider. Not necessary for every contract — but for documentary credits, long-term supply agreements or high-risk transactions, a certificate from a provider on the EU Trusted List removes the burden of proof entirely.
Use timestamping. Independent proof of signing time materially strengthens evidentiary weight under both regimes and costs little.
What Maresign does
As an authorised ArkSigner sales representative we supply qualified electronic signatures (QES), electronic seals, timestamping and registered electronic mail — installation and user training included.
But as this article shows, choosing the right product requires knowing which document is signed with which counterparty under which law. Mapping that is the first thing we do in a needs analysis.
The needs analysis is free. Request a quote or write to digital@maresign.com
This article is for information only and does not constitute legal advice.
Maresign Dijital Güven Teknolojileri · Metropol İstanbul, B Blok No: 22, Ataşehir / İstanbul · +90 850 305 40 15 · digital@maresign.com · Last updated: 20 August 2026