Turkish IBAN format

Structure breakdown

The Turkey BBAN (positions 5–26) is the country-specific part of the IBAN and is 22 characters long. Turkey splits it into 3 fields: Field 1 is 5 digits; Field 2 is 1 character; Field 3 is 16 characters. The exact meaning of each field (bank code, branch, account number) is defined by Turkey's national registry and is stable, so a TR IBAN that matches the pattern and length is structurally valid even before the MOD 97 check.

The table below applies the 5!n1!c16!c pattern to a real, MOD 97-valid Turkey IBAN (TR330006100519786457841326). Each row shows one field of the IBAN — country code, check digits, then the BBAN fields in order — so you can see exactly how a TR IBAN is assembled. This is the same breakdown the IBAN validator produces when you paste a Turkey IBAN.

Turkish IBAN format — 26 characters, block by block

A Turkish IBAN is always 26 characters and follows the structure TR + 2 check + 5 bank + 1 reserved + 16 account. In the human-readable grouping defined by ISO 13616 it looks like TRXX 0000 6XXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX — four-character blocks separated by spaces, with the last block holding the final two characters. The spaces are presentation only; the stored IBAN is 26 characters with no spaces.

Turkish IBAN examples for the top 4 banks

The five-digit bank code at positions 5–9 of a Turkish IBAN tells you which bank holds the account. The table below gives a MOD 97-valid sample IBAN for each of Turkey's four largest banks, alongside the bank's SWIFT/BIC code. Use these for payment-form tests and demos — they are synthetic and do not map to real accounts.

⚠️ These are synthetic test IBANs that pass MOD 97 but do not belong to any real account. Never send money to them.

Common Turkish IBAN mistakes (the 24 vs 26 myth)

The single most common mistake with Turkish IBANs is miscounting the length as 24 characters. A Turkish IBAN is 26 characters, not 24. The confusion usually comes from dropping the two MOD 97 check digits at positions 3–4, or from comparing against a 24-character IBAN from another country (for example, no major IBAN country uses exactly 24, but several use 22 or 23, which adds to the confusion). If a form rejects a Turkish IBAN for being the wrong length, count again — it should be 26.

• Length is 26, not 24. The structure is TR + 2 check + 5 bank + 1 reserved + 16 account = 26. Dropping the check digits or the reserved character is what makes people think it is 24.
• Spaces don't count. The human-readable grouping TRXX 0000 6XXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX contains spaces for readability; the real IBAN stored and validated is 26 characters with no spaces.
• Country code is TR, not TK. TK is the deprecated ISO 3166 code for Tokelau; Turkey has always been TR in IBAN.
• The reserved character is 0. Position 10 is currently always 0; do not put a 1 or a bank-specific digit there — it will fail validation.
• Bank code is 5 digits, not 4. The bank code at positions 5–9 is five digits (e.g. 00061 for Ziraat); a 4-digit domestic branch code is a different identifier and does not belong in the IBAN.

Turkish IBAN check digits

Positions 3–4 of a Turkey IBAN hold two MOD 97-10 check digits. ISO 13616 computes them by rearranging the IBAN so the BBAN leads and the country code plus check digits trail, converting letters to numbers (A=10 … Z=35), and taking the giant resulting integer mod 97. The check digits are chosen so the whole IBAN leaves a remainder of 1. If any single character of a TR IBAN is mistyped, the remainder changes and validation fails — which is why the format checker on this page can flag a typo from one wrong digit.

What makes a Turkish IBAN valid

A Turkey IBAN is structurally valid only when it passes three independent checks at once. First, the character set: the first two characters must be the letters TR, the next two must be digits, and the BBAN may contain only digits and uppercase letters. Second, the length: a TR IBAN must be exactly 26 characters, because Turkey fixes its BBAN at 22 characters and ISO 13616 fixes the country code and check digits at four. Third, the MOD 97 checksum. The 5!n1!c16!c pattern adds one more layer — it confirms the BBAN splits into 3 fields of the right size and type, so a Turkey IBAN with the right total length but the wrong internal split still fails. This is why the format checker on this page is stricter than a generic length-only check.

Common Turkish IBAN format mistakes

Most Turkey IBAN format errors come from a handful of avoidable mistakes. Pasting a domestic Turkey account number instead of the IBAN is the most common — the IBAN always starts with TR and is 26 characters, while a local account number is usually shorter and has no country prefix. Dropping or adding a character when copying from a statement is next; because the length is fixed, even one extra digit fails. Confusing the country code with a similar one (for example TR vs a neighbor) changes both the expected length and the check digits, so the whole IBAN fails. Finally, including spaces in the stored value is harmless for validation but can break payment forms that count characters literally — strip spaces before you submit a TR IBAN to a wire form.

Turkish IBAN and SWIFT codes

When you send or receive an international payment to Turkey, the IBAN tells the network which account to credit, and the bank's SWIFT/BIC code tells it which bank holds that account. After checking the TR IBAN format here, open the Turkey SWIFT codes page to find the receiving bank's BIC and complete the wire instructions.