Category: NATIONAL
Turkey has to investigate what really caused
A recent court decision to drop a nearly two-decade-long trial regarding the death of 33 artists and intellectuals, along with two hotel workers and two assailants, has caused public outrage countrywide, but it has also showed clearly that Turkey has to investigate what really caused the massacre and who is really responsible for it. On [...]
Wishes to get married in Turkey
I recently received the following question: “I am getting married to a Turk soon. I am a foreign citizen and a resident of Turkey. I have been told that I needed to get my birth certificate translated into Turkish, which I have done. I have also been told that the Turkish authorities might need other [...]
Military service in Turkey
On Dec. 15, 2011, a most anticipated law was enacted. Parliament approved a new bill regarding exemption from military service in lieu of payment, which enables men who are 30 years old and older to skip military service in exchange for TL 30,000. According to “The Bill Amending the Law on Military Service,” men who [...]
Foreigners to understand
This week I have taken the liberty of writing about my own complaints regarding a new procedure that makes life more difficult for nothing. The heading above is inspired by expats’ complaints regarding local regulations, which are already difficult for foreigners to understand. I want to let you know that you are not alone in [...]
This violence is all around
Why would someone beat someone else? What a nasty topic to write about. I selected this heading greatly disturbed in my mind and heart. My first choice for the heading was “woman killers,” but then I felt that would be too strong. It is even difficult to write about this, but the extent of violence [...]
Turkish Banks in 2012
Following consecutive regulatory actions, Turkish banks have come under pressure from rising funding costs and deteriorating earnings quality since the end of 2010. As a result of the policy crossfire caused by the Central Bank Turkey (CBT) and the Banking Regulatory + Supervision Agency (BRSA), we have been conservative on banks’ Net Income Multiplier (NIM) [...]
Erdogan’s tour of Arab Spring nations
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s tour of Arab Spring nations and the messages he gave during these visits continue to echo in the Turkish media. There is no doubt that these visits, which have further boosted Turkey’s international standing and Erdogan’s popularity, will play a major role in the shaping of the future of these [...]
The Energy Market Regulatory Authority
The Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) released a new communiqué on Aug. 13, 2011 amending the old communiqué dated Apr. 4, 2002 published in the official gazette. I will give a rough translation of this communiqué in this article. The communiqué changed Article 4, paragraph 1, as follows: “55. Production plants working on renewable energy [...]
While on holiday in Kusadasi
The bodies of two Irish women murdered while on holiday in Turkey were flown home today. Marion Graham and her friend Kathy Dinsmore from Co. Down, were stabbed to death near Izmir last week. Distraught family members of the women spent some time in the morgue at Dublin Airport before the bodies were taken away. [...]
Greek and Turkish Cypriots
Turkey’s foreign minister on Saturday called for a deal reunifying ethnically split Cyprus before the island assumes the European Union’s presidency in mid-2012. Ahmet Davutoglu said that a “new state” bringing together Greek and Turkish Cypriots would make a Cyprus EU presidency legitimate because it would represent the whole island. Responding to Davutoglu’s remarks, Greek Cypriot [...]
Regarding residence permit applications
Residence permit-related matters are always popular and it is amazing that almost every question is based on an individual issue, pushing me to write about this topic frequently. I received the following email regarding residence permit applications based on marriage: “I moved over to Turkey in March 2011, initially on a tourist visa after being [...]
Turkey will increase its export
Turkey will increase its exports to $500 billion by 2023, the country’s prime minister announced Monday at a conference that brought together Turkish trade counselors stationed in 85 countries to discuss boosting the country’s exports. “We will increase our exports by four times, making it $500 billion in 12 years. Turkey’s Assembly of Exporters has [...]
Turkey to foreigners in 2010 were up 40%
At a recent press conference, held by the Turkish Real Estate Investing Partners Association (GYODER), it was revealed that property sales in Turkey to foreigners in 2010 were up 40% reaching sales of $2.5 billion compared to the previous year. Not quite eclipsing the pinnacle of Turkey’s property performance, between the economic peak in 2006 [...]
Foreigners living in Turkey
I have realized that we use the word foreigner, in Turkish “yabanci,” a lot. I mean it. I don’t know how foreigners living in Turkey feel about this, but I would probably feel strange, if not foreign. An American friend was really affected by this word. It was like a running joke, and she didn’t [...]
Turkey is going ahead
Turkey is going ahead with the construction of its first nuclear reactor, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday and stated very clearly and will make sure safe as possible and comply with rules. Prime Minister stated that sooner will be better for Turkey and he urged. “We want to finish them as soon [...]
