Living in Turkey

Living in Turkey

Anyone who has been to Turkey on holiday can tell you about the beautiful beaches, dazzling blue sea, abundant nightlife and cheap beer. But what is the rest of Turkey like? Are the people friendly to foreigners? Is it expensive to live there? You will find the answers to these, and many other frequently asked questions below.

The Country

Imagine living in a country which is forward-thinking but also has an ancient history, where some aspects of life are ultra-modern but others continue as they have done for thousands of years. Turkey is a country of many paradoxes and this is what makes it such a fascinating place.

Turkey has a surface area of 783,562 km2 (302,535 sq miles), nearly 3 times the size of the UK and a population of about 72,600,000 (around 12,000,000 more than the UK), about 50% of whom are under 25. It is a constitutional republic, with a democratically selected parliament, and although most of its inhabitants are Muslim, it is a secular country with a judicial system based on the Swiss Civil Code.

Cities

The main cities are clean, with modern architecture and have all the facilities you would expect of any European city. Some cities also have very old buildings interspersed with the new and the remains of city walls, or Roman columns incorporated into more recent structures, making interesting combinations.

The Coast

Turkey is bounded by the sea on 3 sides (to the north the Black Sea; to the West, the Aegean and to the South, the Mediterranean) giving it thousands of miles of coastline, much of which is unspoilt, although the holiday-maker is more likely to be acquainted with the highly-developed tourist hotspots! Many coastal towns were centres of civilisation in ancient times and have ruins and museums full of artefacts to prove it.
Some Mediterranean beauty spots, such as cave systems, ancient sites and secluded beaches, are inaccessible by road and can only be reached from the sea, making a Blue Voyage (Mavi Tur) a must when you have some free time.

Transport/ Getting Around

Turkey is fairly easy to travel around, but it’s a big country! Most Turks choose to travel by modern luxury coach between cities. There are frequent departures to and from most towns and cities, but be prepared for a long journey. It takes about 6-8 hours to get from Istanbul to Ankara, for example, and this is one of the shorter trips. You can also get the train, which is cheaper. Seating areas are spacious and comfortable, with couchette sleeping compartments for longer journeys but trains are quite slow and it’s usually quicker to take a coach!

To get from place to place within cities, people use the bus, dolmus, or the ubiquitous yellow taxis. In parts of some cities, such as Istanbul, Izmir and Antalya you also have the option of taking the tram. In Ankara and Istanbul there is also an underground metro system linking major areas of the city. Istanbul has numerous passenger ferries and steamboats to take you from one side of the Bosphorus to the other in style.

People

Turks are very generous and hospitality is one of the cornerstones of the Turkish way of life. You can expect your colleagues and their friends to show their interest in you by asking lots of questions, inviting you to social occasions and to their homes, where they will treat you as an honoured guest. In fact, you will find that the majority of people you meet at work or out and about will be friendly and courteous to strangers, whether they're foreign or not!