Up until around 2014 there were quite a few websites about expat life in Turkey and a lot of interest from overseas about what living in Turkey must be like. Many foreigners had invested heavily in property in Turkey and the exchange rate of the Turkish Lira vs the US dollar, Sterling and the Euro always gave Turkey’s foreign residents a comfortable lifestyle. Turkey was one of the more popular places for expats seeking a life in the sun.
For some, that bubble has burst. Many expats have packed up and gone home or no longer continue to live in Turkey on a permanent basis. They will have seen their incomes fall against the rising cost of living, especially if they were pensioners. Turkey has witnessed a civil war in Syria and become home to around 3 millions Syrian refugees. Threats from ISIS, journalists in jail, and an attempted coup, have changed the political scene in Turkey. So, what does this all mean?
A common question that people will ask is “How safe is Turkey?” We have a separate video on this very subject if you are interested, but Turkey is still a safe country, and it has a great deal to offer if you can just fight your way through all the negative and adverse press. For some strange reason a lot of people seem to be more obsessed with how safe it is, rather than how wonderful it is, as a country.
According to the Turkish Interior Ministry, there are 4.7 million foreigners living in Turkey. The majority of these would be Syrian but Americans account for the highest proportion of foreigners working in Turkey, followed by the Russians, Germans, French and British. Of course there are also large number of retired people too.
Anyway, this video is for newly arrived expats, or those seeking information on living in Turkey. You might be planning to live here or have just moved here and you are finding your way around. When it comes to formalities and sorting out your paperwork, renting a place or working in Turkey you will need some advice. This video shows you a few of the most useful places you ought to know about. I apologise in advance for you hard core expats who have been here in Turkey for some time since you will already know most, if not all of these websites.
The places we show you here have links to the relevant websites. Now that is a bit of disappointment when you are on You Tube since you don’t want to be trying to write down all the links when you actually want to be watching the video. Well, that isn’t a problem since you can see all of these links in website format by visiting just the one website link, our very own www.turkishtravels.net
Make a note of this link and then the others will all be bookmarked for you on www.turkishtravels.net. Feel free to share, cut and paste and / or borrow the entire text of this resource for you forum, website or information pages.
So, this video is about how and where to get information about Turkey, the places where you can keep in touch with friends, or find out about what is happening in the community. Firstly, there are a couple of good forums. The first one is the
There used to be several forums for expats sharing all sorts of things Turkish. Nowadays there are only two that seem to have an active community. My favourite is Turkey Central which focuses on helping people. There is a huge amount of information here and the forum is operated by a friendly and informative American with the help and input from other regular members. If you have any questions about Turkey or thoughts that you would like to share with others then this might be your first port of call.
Turkish Living Forum is dedicated to living in Turkey and every day life. Similar to Turkey Central it has numerous topics and a host of expats share everything from what they had to dinner to complex issues and every day advice. This is a discussion forum about Turkey, the country and the people and places like Altinkum, Alanya, Akbuk, Kusadasi, Bodrum, and Fethiye. It has different sections for various topics and has a heavy British bias about it. You can find the forums here:
Perhaps the most comprehensive website for all aspects about living in Turkey is Doctor Martin’s Surgery. This website has up to date relevant information about Driving licences, Resident’s Permits, renting property, working in Turkey, and a host of other important material. It covers almost every aspect of the kind of documentation, registration and requirments that you are likely to come across as an expat living in Turkey.
It can be found at https://docmartinssurgeryforexpatsinturkeyblog.wordpress.com. Yes, it is a long web address but rest assured, a visit here to check on the latest updates to Turkish Officialdom is always worthwhile.
There is also a Facebook Group at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/544167955696716/
Do you want to take a look at some personal blogs and get some first hand experience of what it is like in any particular location? Well a good start might be the Expats Blog where you will find a host of blogs all in one place. This is a good resource but it doesn’t look like it is being updated with any new blogs. Some of the blogs have also been discontinued or no longer updated. It is still worth a visit though. Plenty of content here.
https://www.expatsblog.com/blogs/turkey
Internations is a community website designed especially for expats around the globe. The expats living in Turkey network is strong in the main cities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir but it does not give much cover in other areas. However, it is full of useful advice and information. Some parts of this website are freely available but there is a fee paying part to it which gives you access to events and other activities.
https://www.internations.org/turkey-expats
Turkey has some really good websites for online purchases. The cargo postal service in Turkey is absolutely outstanding. With intense competition from a host of providers the courier post companies do a good job in getting your purchases to you in a timely manner. I have tried Gittigidiyor the Turkish Ebay, and Hepsiburada their main competitor, but I prefer the N11 website for its buyer protection policies and trouble free shopping.
The property market in Turkey is currently in favour of the buyer at the moment. Many towns and cities have a glut of property against a down turn in the economy, and money is tight for many. You can find a bargain if you know where to look. There are many estate agents. It is so easy to open up an estate agency in Turkey with very little training and very little expense which is why you have to be so very careful about who you deal with. To understand the market, and the local costs, then you can visit the website Sahibinden.com and browse through the property available in your chosen location.
There are a couple of good English News websites for you to catch up on the local headlines. The most common one is the Hurriyet Daily News but the Daily Sabah is also fairly comprehensive in its coverage.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com
E-government in Turkey makes use of digital technology to improve service efficiency and effectiveness in Turkey. The Turkish website e-devlet kapısı, simply e-devlet or turkiye.gov.tr, is a resource providing access to government services, with an information portal for foreigners. This website will store your property information, your vehicle details, and a host of official documentation relevent to you as a person in Turkey. Just register at any Post Office.
https://www.turkiye.gov.tr or https://www.turkiye.gov.tr/non-citizens
Another really good website is the Turkish Republic Health Ministry site which lets you book doctors appointments online and gives you access to your medical records. There is a drop down tab in the main menu so that you can select English so that it all makes sense to you.
https://www.mhrs.gov.tr/Vatandas/
Well thats about all for now. Just a quick note on Watching TV in Turkey. Most expats will want to watch TV from their country of origin. There are many ways to watch overseas TV in Turkey. Some people prefer a Satelite Dish which will give you a limited number of free channels like BBC, CNN and Bloomberg. You can also subscribe to Netflix and watch it in Turkey. You can also watch almost everything on a TV with a web browser. We have found that the most reliable, and without doubt the easiest method of watching a wide range of TV Channels and providers is the Amazon fireTVstick 4k.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Amazon-Fire-TV-Stick-Streaming-Media-Player-Alexa/dp/B0791RGQW3
This video has shown you just a few of the places that you might find useful if you live and work in Turkey. There are many more.