Passports and Visas

Valid passports or other documents are required.

1. For Ordinary Passport Holders

Being a citizen of one of the following countries and having a valid ordinary passport you can enter Turkey without obtaining a visa, staying up to:

a) Up to 3 months 

Argentina, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Chile, Denmark, El Salvador, Equador, Federal Republic of Germany, Fiji, Finland, France, Greece, Grenada, Hong Kong (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport holders only), Iceland, Iran, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritus, Monaco, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Quatar, St. Lucia, St. Marino, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vatican

b) Up to 2 months

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Indonesia, Macedonia, Romania 

c) Up to 1 month

Bolivia, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, Kirghizystan, Maldives, Republic of South Africa.

2. For Official (diplomatic, special, service) Passport Owners

a) Up to 3 months 

Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahama, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, El Salvador, Equador, Federal Republic of Germany, Fiji, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Greece, Grenada, Hong Kong (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passport holders only), Iceland, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritus, Mexico (only for diplomatic passport holders), Monaca, Morocco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Quatar, Russia (only for diplomatic passport holders), St.Lucia, St.Marino, Saudi Arabia, Seyechelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Uruguay, Vatican

b) Up to 2 months 

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Indonesia, Macedonia, Romania.

c) Up to 1 month 

Bolivia, Bulgaria (only diplomatic passport holders), Costa Rica, Estonia (diplomatic passport holders only), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kirghizystan, Latvia (diplomatic passport holders only), the Maldives, Moldavia, Mongolia, People's Republic of China, Phillippines, Republic of South Africa, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Vietnam (only for diplomatic passport holders), Yemen

3. Visa at Borders

Being a citizen of one of the following countries and having a valid ordinary passport you can enter Turkey with obtaining a sticker type visa at Turkish International border gates, staying up to:

a) Up to 3 months

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, United States of America

b) Up to 1 month

Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekhistan, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

c) 15 Days

Georgia.

Currency Regulation

There is no limit on the amount of foreign currency that may be brought into Turkey, but not more than $US 5.000 worth of Turkish currency may be brought into or taken out of the country.

The exchange slips for the conversion of foreign currency into Turkish lira should be kept, since you may be required to show these when reconverting your Turkish currency back into foreign currency, and when taking souvenirs out of the country.

Custom Regulations

a) The following items may be brought into country duty free; 
* Clothing and travelling accessories
* Electronic equipment
- 1 black and white TV set
- 1 colour TV set (max. 55 screen)
- 1 colour pocket TV set (max. 16 screen) 
- 1 black and white TV set-radio-tape recorder (combined)
- 1 video camera and 5 video cassettes
- 1 film machine (up to 8mm) and up to 10 rolls of film
- 1 slide machine
- 1 pocket computer (main memory capacity max. to RAM 132)
- 1 portable compact disc player
- 1 portable radio or portable tape recorder
- 1 walkman or small tape recorder
- Electronical game devices without cassettes and cartridges
- Up to max. five compact discs, records and cassettes
- GSM mobile telephone with sim card 
* Sporting and game equipment
- 1 camping tent with two sections
- 1 scuba diving set for underwater sports
- 1 pair of wings
- 1 sea boat without motor
- 1 surfboard with sailing appliances for water sports
- 1 pair of flippers
- Other personal sporting equipment and clothes (excluding motorboats and sea motorcycles)
- Chess set
- Draught set
- 5 playing cards
* One from each musical instrument totalling max. 3
- 1 mouth organ
- 1 mandolin
- 1 pipe
- 1 harmonica
- 1 flute
- 1 guitar
- 1 accordion
* Necessary medical items
* Necessary kitchenware
* Consumption materials 
- 200 cigarettes, 50 cigar and 200 gr tobacco or 200 cigar roll paper or 200 gr pipe tobacco or 50 gr snuff
- Apart from the above mentioned, 200 cigarettes, 100 cigars and 500 gr pipe tobacco on condition of being purchased from shops out of customs line 
- 1.5 kg. of coffee, 500gr. Tea,, 1kg. of chocolate, 1kg. of confectionery 
- One 100cl or two 75cl or 70cl bottles of spirits
- five 120ml bottles of perfume or cologne 
* Others
- 1 portable typewriter, 1 camera (with max. 5 rolls of film), 1 bicycle, 1 pocket calculator, 1 iron, 1 binocular, 1 prayer rug, 1 table clock, 1 portable heater with gas, 1 cat or dog or 1 bird or 10 aquarium fishes
* Giftware
Gifts not exceeding 300 Euro in value and not for trading purposes may be brought into the country duty free.

b) The following items are forbidden to export from Turkey:
- Antiquities
- Tobacco seeds and plants
- Indian hemp
- Wood and charcoal
- Angora goats
- Wild animals (alive or dead)
- Some natural flower bulbs
- Datça data palm (phoenix the ophrasti crenter)
- Timber of the trees of walnut, mulberry, cherry, pear, plum, common ash, common elm and lime linden
- Pterocarya carpicifolia
- Liquidambar orientalis
- Saplings of olive, fig, hazelnut, pistachio, sultana
- Sahaleb
- Exports in the context of Vienna Convention on Protection of Ozone Layer and its protocols
- Exports of the chemicals listed in Annex of Chemical Weapons Agreement (List-1) to the third countries

Postal System and Phone Calls

Telephone, telegram and fax services both domestic and international have been integrated into direct dialing system. Regular mail services, parcel post services (Surface/Air), express mail services are available.

Major post offices are open 8.00-24.00 hrs. Public telephones mainly operate on a system of plastic telephone cards.

Useful Numbers

Directory assistance 118
Postal code assistance 119
Repair service 121
International operator 115
Coin-box repair service 122
Automatic-dialing (0+city code+number)
Police 155
Emergency 112
Fire 110

Business Hours

Business Offices 9.00 am to 6.00 pm
Government Offices 8.30/9.00 am to 5.30/6.00 pm
Lunch Break 12.30 am to 1.30 pm
Shops 9.00 am to 7.00 pm
Banks 8.30 am to 5.00 pm

Banks & government offices are closed on Saturday & Sunday

Public Holidays

New Year's Day / January 1
National Sovereignty & Children's Day/April 23
Atatürk Commemoration and Youth & Sports Day /May 19
Victory Day/August 30
Republic Day (Anniversary of the Declaration of the Turkish Republic) /October 29
Three days for Ramadan and four days for Kurban holidays depending on the Muslim calendar.

Weights and Measures

The metric system is in force.

Local Time

GMT + 3 hours (April-September)
GMT + 2 hours (October-March)

Currency and Money Matters

The Turkish Lira (TL) is official currency of Turkey. Exchange rates for the Lira are quoted by the Central Bank and adjusted on a daily basis. Turkish Lira is included among the convertible currencies of IMF, from the beginning of April 1990.

Electricity

Domestic 220 volts, 50 cycles
Industrial 380 volts
Plugs European round 2-prong plugs
Lamp Sockets Screw type

Tipping

Service charge normally is not included in restaurant bills. Tipping at a rate of 10% to 15% of the total is common. However, tipping is not expected by taxi drivers, it is enough to pay the amount recorded by the counter.

Telephone Area Codes (for major cities)

Adana 322
Ankara 312
Çanakkale 286
Erzurum 442
Antalya 242
Diyarbakir 412
Bursa 224
Hatay 326
Istanbul 212 (Thracea)
216 (Anatolia)
Izmir 232
Trabzon 462
Mersin 324
Zonguldak 372

Health Care

Hospitals render service for 24 hours. There are private clinics almost in every section of the major cities. Turkish law requires that at least one pharmacy be open in a given neighbourhood at nights and weekends.

The information provided here is very brief, but you may obtain full details at the nearest Turkish Embassy or Consulate

info@e-turkey.org
E-Turkey.Org Team