Are Turkish degrees recognised? Recognition guide 2026

The short answer: who decides whether your degree counts

A Turkish university degree is issued inside the Bologna system, with ECTS credits and a Diploma Supplement¹². Türkiye has also been a party to the Lisbon Recognition Convention since 1 March 2007¹¹. That makes a Turkish bachelor's or master's degree easy to read and compare for the convention's 57 parties.

Recognition, however, is never granted by Türkiye. It is decided by the body in the country where you want to work or study next: a ministry, a recognition centre or a professional regulator. For regulated professions such as medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, that body usually adds its own conditions, lists and exams.

How quality is assured in Türkiye: YÖK, YÖKAK, Bologna and Lisbon

Every university in Türkiye works under the Council of Higher Education (YÖK). Türkiye joined the Bologna Process in 2001¹². Since the 2005-2006 academic year, universities must give graduates a Diploma Supplement in a widely spoken European language with the diploma¹².

• ECTS (AKTS): one academic year is 60 ECTS, equal to 1,500 to 1,800 hours of student work; one ECTS is 25 to 30 hours¹².
• Diploma Supplement: describes the degree, its level and content; it does not replace the transcript and does not by itself grant academic or professional recognition¹².
• YÖKAK: the Higher Education Quality Council runs institutional accreditation; 43 universities went through its 2025 programme and will be re-evaluated after two years¹³.
• Lisbon Recognition Convention: parties assess foreign qualifications under shared rules; Türkiye ratified it on 8 January 2007¹¹.

These tools make a Turkish degree transparent. They do not oblige any country outside the convention to accept it, and they do not replace a professional licence. Program accreditation, such as TEPDAD for medicine, is a separate layer that matters most for doctors.

Medicine, dentistry and pharmacy: accreditation, directories and language

Medical faculties in Türkiye are accredited by TEPDAD, the Association for Evaluation and Accreditation of Medical Education Programs. The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) lists TEPDAD as an agency with recognition status until July 2033¹⁴. TEPDAD's own list shows 65 accredited medicine programs in Türkiye, each with a start and end date¹⁵.

Dentistry and pharmacy have their own Turkish accreditation bodies, DEPAD and ECZAKDER, shown in YÖK Atlas. Far fewer programs carry them: 20 of 103 universities teaching dentistry and 20 of 54 teaching pharmacy²⁰.

World Directory of Medical Schools and the US route

The World Directory of Medical Schools (WDOMS) aims to list every medical school in the world. Its own terms say a listing does not mean recognition, accreditation or endorsement¹⁶. For the United States, Intealth notes in a school's WDOMS record whether it meets its Recognized Accreditation Policy, which a school accredited by a WFME-recognised agency satisfies; the policy does not change eligibility for ECFMG Certification¹⁷.

Iran: the Ministry of Health list for medicine, dentistry and pharmacy

For medical fields, Iran's Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education evaluates foreign degrees through its Education Services Center. It publishes a list of approved foreign universities for each intake, based on QS, Times and Shanghai rankings and on the universities' performance¹. Since 2021 each list stays valid for two academic years³.

The rules that decide your case

1. The university must be on the list valid when you start the main course; the start is proven by your visa, your exit date from Iran and your attendance in main-course classes¹³.
2. Preparatory, language, foundation or pre-med years do not count as the start, even when the university makes them compulsory, as Turkish universities often do⁵.
3. From the 2023-2024 intake, the whole program must be completed at an approved university; part of the degree at a non-approved one is not evaluated¹.
4. Colleges affiliated with a listed university and its branches in other countries are not approved¹³.
5. Online or non-attendance study is not evaluated, and you must have lived in the country of study at least 9 months of each year⁴.
6. Graduates of general medicine must pass the ministry's designated exams before final approval⁷.

Northern Cyprus is a special case. The Ministry of Health removed Eastern Mediterranean University from its list from the 2018-2019 intake⁶, and the 2023-2024 list names no university in Cyprus at all¹.

Iran: the Ministry of Science list for all other fields

Degrees outside medicine are evaluated by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology through the Student Affairs Organisation. It sorts foreign universities into groups: A (excellent), B (good), C (average), D (weak) and E (not acceptable)⁹. Its page of approved foreign universities was last edited on 28 April 2026 and lists 18 Turkish universities for January to December 2026⁸.

• The 2024 version of the same list named 32 Turkish universities; the 2026 version names 18, so a university can drop between intakes⁸.
• For a bachelor's degree from a group C or D university you need a high-school average of at least 12 out of 20, or an exam or interview instead⁹.
• A doctorate from a group C university started after 22 June 2019 is evaluated only up to master's level⁹.
• Full-time study needs proven residence in the country of study: 30 months for a four-year bachelor's, 12 months for a two-year master's, 24 months for a doctorate⁹.
• The application asks for every passage of your passport for the study years and the start-of-study letter, and the documents are verified through the Foreign Ministry's Mikhak system¹⁰.

The Ministry of Science list also covers Northern Cyprus: Near East University and Eastern Mediterranean University are in group C for 2026⁸. This applies to non-medical fields only; for medicine the Ministry of Health list decides.

Recognition in other countries: what we could confirm

Where a country is a party to the Lisbon Recognition Convention, its recognition centre assesses a Turkish degree under the convention's shared rules. Its 57 parties include Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Ukraine and most European states; Uzbekistan, Iran and Iraq are not parties¹¹.

• Iraq: the Ministry of Higher Education keeps an online guide of foreign universities approved for scholarship and self-funded study; its July 2024 update listed 2,250 universities for self-funded study and set a minimum average of 95% to open a study file for medicine and 85% for dentistry and pharmacy¹⁸.
• Russia: recognition is decided by Rosobrnadzor under article 107 of Federal Law 273-FZ; applications go through the national information centre at nic.gov.ru¹⁹.
• United States (medicine): check the school's WDOMS record and its ECFMG Sponsor Note¹⁷.
• Other countries: ask the recognition centre or health ministry of your country for its written rules before you enrol; we only state rules we could read at the source.

Checklist: run it before you apply or pay a deposit

• Find the official list for your field in your country and the intake year it covers.
• Confirm the university's exact name on that list, not a sister campus, college or branch abroad.
• For medicine, check that your track (Turkish or English) is on TEPDAD's list with a current period¹⁵.
• Check the language certificate your ministry wants and get it before the main course starts⁵.
• Plan for in-person study and keep every passport stamp and your residence permit for the evaluation⁴¹⁰.
• Avoid transferring to a university that is not approved; for Iran's Ministry of Health the whole program must be at an approved university¹.
• Keep your admission letter, start-of-study letter and course calendar; they prove the start date³.

Then compare programs and costs with our university finder, the tuition fees guide and the guide to private universities, and follow the step-by-step guide to applying.

Our data: who teaches medicine, dentistry and pharmacy in English

These tables come from the YÖK Atlas 2026 guide²⁰. They show each university that offers the program in English, fully or partly, its type and city, and whether YÖK Atlas shows an accreditation for the program. Each name opens the university's card in our finder.