Sworn Translation in Kahramanmaraş

The yarn and textile industry of Kahramanmaraş gives the translation work coming from the province an unexpected slant: a good part of the files arise not from exports but from imports. At the heart of textile production stands machinery, and that machinery comes from abroad. It arrives together with a thick set of technical and legal documents.

That settles which way the work runs, too: most of the pages coming from Kahramanmaraş are translated into Turkish rather than out of it. This is the reverse of the familiar picture of an exporting province, and it changes how the work is done. The source is a text somebody else has written, often built in tight legal language; our task is not to simplify it but to carry it across as it stands and in full.

The chain of documents behind a machinery purchase

Buying a spinning frame or a weaving loom does not end with a single contract. In turn there come the quotation and the technical specification, the sales contract, the payment schedule and the security instruments, the shipping paperwork, the installation and commissioning protocol, the warranty terms, the spare parts list and the maintenance agreement. Nearly all of them are drawn up in the manufacturer’s language and translated into Turkish.

The item in that chain which causes the most trouble is the warranty text. What the warranty covers, in what circumstances it lapses and how time runs in the event of a breakdown are legal rather than technical sentences, and an ambiguous translation can turn years later into an argument over compensation. In contract texts we go over this section separately.

Operating manuals go to the operator

Translating a machine manual is a question of safety, not of law. The warning wording, the emergency stop instructions and the maintenance intervals have to be understood without hesitation by the operator on the floor. In texts of this kind, short sentences and consistent terminology come before any literary concern.

Demand on the export side

In the sale of yarn and cloth the direction reverses: product specifications, test reports and supply agreements are translated out of Turkish. Arabic comes to the fore in sales to the regional markets and in dealership documents, while English is both the common language of machinery imports and the standard language of exports. You will find the per-page tariff on the pricing page.

The extra documents in a second-hand machinery purchase

A good share of machinery investment in the textile sector is made with second-hand looms, and that creates a further layer on the documentary side. Where a single file from the manufacturer is enough for a new machine, a second-hand one has to have its history documented as well: previous ownership records, maintenance history, overhaul reports, valuation assessments and any remaining warranty terms.

Most of these documents come from the seller’s own internal records and follow no standard form. Handwritten maintenance books, service records kept in date order and parts replacement lists set out in tables are the kinds we meet most often. Here the work of translation is not to bring an untidy record into order but to carry it across as it stands and in a legible form.

Valuation reports, for their part, call for a separate kind of care, since they form the basis on which a value is fixed. The condition gradings and the descriptions of defects used in the report bear directly on the price the buyer will pay; softening or sharpening that wording is not acceptable.

Fitting in with the investment timetable

In machinery investment, translation is the unseen item on the installation timetable. The protocol has to be ready by the time the installation team arrives, and the contract has to have been put before the bank when the loan is drawn down. We have no branch in Kahramanmaraş; the documents are translated at the office in Ankara, and the wet-signed copy arrives by courier. With a bulky technical set, uploading the file first and seeing the page count is the quickest way to plan the budget.

The account below is a general framework; what changes from province to province is not the tariff but only the logistics of delivery. Ask the competent authority for confirmation before you apply.