Would you consider Turkey?

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, The Hammer2021 said:

I have been  there have you? A bridge connects Turkey mainland to Europe.  Part of Turkey is Europe. They were considered  for entry  to the EUROPEAN  UNION...That might give you  a CLUE..LOL..failing  that..look at an Atlas or.. cross the Bosphorous..a river from Europe into Istanbul. Culturally  Turkey  is one of the most Westernised Muslim  countries and has only recently  become Islamic

You're not wrong historically but they appear to have backtracked.

But I still have a theory that expats there can find their bubbles regardless.

[sead]

1 minute ago, The Hammer2021 said:

I have been  there have you? A bridge connects Turkey mainland to Europe.  Part of Turkey is Europe. They were considered  for entry  to the EUROPEAN  UNION...That might give you  a CLUE..LOL..failing  that..look at an Atlas or.. cross the Bosphorous..a river from Europe into Istanbul. Culturally  Turkey  is one of the most Westernised Muslim  countries and has only recently  become Islamic

So there you said it. Recently became Islamic. Well with that crazy Erdogan you can forget all abut what their great Ataturk created. 4000 sentenced to prison just because he thinks they tried to dethrone him. If you think talking about the King in one country has severe prison sentences then go Turkey now and say something. Turkey is NOT what it has been. Stay clear of it at all cost is my recommendation. he just converted 2 churches and one of them the great Hagia Sofia into Mosques. 

[sead]

Just now, sead said:

So there you said it. Recently became Islamic. And second....THEY were considered.. Well they arent anymore are they. And the reason is??Well with that crazy Erdogan you can forget all abut what their great Ataturk created. 4000 sentenced to prison just because he thinks they tried to dethrone him. If you think talking about the King in one country has severe prison sentences then go Turkey now and say something. Turkey is NOT what it has been. Stay clear of it at all cost is my recommendation. he just converted 2 churches and one of them the great Hagia Sofia into Mosques. 

 

[grin]

I spent some time traveling around in Turkey one summer while still in college. Since then I have been back for a few short visits, mostly in Istanbul. A friend of mine has retired there with his wife who is from Iran. They were both academics at a top US university so I was somewhat surprised that they retired there.

 

A few years ago I saw a post somewhere on a Thai political website that was titled something like "Top Ten Annoyances in a Country that Starts with a T" . It was a list of the usual stuff that applies to Thailand but at the end of the article it noted that this was about Turkey and not Thailand. It was a very nice lead up to the conclusion. Unfortunately this article seems to have been taken down. Now I wish I had saved it to a PDF.

 

There are quite a few academic articles available about the similarities between Thailand and Turkey. Mostly political articles about the regimes and coups but also economic and cultural.

 

For some contemporary views of Istanbul there is a very very long Netflix series: Black Money Love

[Lokie]

I loved vacations to Marmaris, Turkey between 1999 - 2006 Im from UK so was only a 4hr flight down to Dalaman airport then about 90mins transfer by Coach or just over an hour by car to resort. Marmaris on southern coast of Turkey (you can take Hydrofoil 90 mins to Corfu - Greek island) Is a fantastic place to have a vacation. 

 

In resorts english is spoken everywhere so no issue with language, are many resorts as you know in Southern Turkey I really loved Marmaris to the extent I nearly bought a apartment just outside in Armutalan in 2006, lol I discovered Thailand around this time and that was it, if not came to thailand I would have bought the apartment in Turkey. I always had great times there with no trouble what so ever, friendly people. 

 

It did go a little down hill as the eastern bloc coumtries started arriving there in early 2000s basically these tourists were filling spaces in shops etc on beach but did not spend (or have money to spend) on items, I had Turkish friends who said these people come into shop but just look never buy - is bad for business... demographically it was mainly Western European Tourists, Brits, Nordic, Dutch,German followed by French, Belguim & Italian, bit like Thailand really then started getting lots of russians etc... Istanbul is an amazing city as you will know - historically unmatched but way differant to the holiday resorts.

 

It can be a bit old fashioned in ways, example like back when I visited there was not any scene for LBGT, but maybe thats changed and they have come into the 21st century, My thoughts or feelings are while the current guy is in charge things may not be as cool as they could be - so worth checking out.

 

However;

the people, place is/are beautiful. I have recently started looking again at buying there, they came close to being part of the EEC Eurozone but basically Erodogons stance and issues to do with human rights, Kurdish rights etc kyboshed that, know that in eastern Turkey is/has always been civil strife (as Southern Thailand) with Kurdish Sepratists this goes back over 100 years...

 

Hope this may help you or give some pointers to reserch, as said is few years since my last stay there but I would recommend Turkey to anyone.

 

Regards 

[Jingthing]

OK, a Turkey visa expert I ain't, but I think that what I've found so far is probably true.

 

-- The short term one year residency based on tourism is no longer renewable. Maybe it will be later, but not now.

 

-- You can get the short term residency (one year at a time) based on ownership of ANY housing in Turkey. Not land. Housing. Not sure if you need to live in it or not. Indefinitely renewable under current rules.

 

-- Having all the required documents for the short term residency based on housing ownership will almost definitely be approved, as will annual renewals.

 

-- There doesn't appear to be a minimum value for this. So buying an el cheapo 25,000 dollar condo should work. 

 

-- I'm not aware of a path towards permanent residency this way

 

However, for people looking to move to Turkey for life, as in Thailand, you'd always be on a one year leash, subject to them changing the rules. So for residency security based on ownership, you'd really need to spend 250,000 dollars.

 

From my own POV, this makes Turkey which already wasn't very high on my list, even lower (because longer term residency security is something that would be a high priority as that's one of the biggest problems with the Thai retirement status). 

Edited June 5, 2021 by Jingthing

[Meat Pie 47]

So not talking about Turkey, why you guys don't retire in your home country ? I did and I am feeling good I have every thing I need, nobody tells me what to do, and force restriction on me .

No reports, no visa restriction.

[bojo]

10 minutes ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

So not talking about Turkey, why you guys don't retire in your home country ? I did and I am feeling good I have every thing I need, nobody tells me what to do, and force restriction on me .

No reports, no visa restriction.

I'm from the Uk and need the sun when I retire...................

[Meat Pie 47]

Just now, bojo said:

I'm from the Uk and need the sun when I retire...................

Majorca is not far away 

[bojo]

1 minute ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

Majorca is not far away 

Lovely place............only been there back in late 60's................I lived on Samui for 13 years and swore I'd never live on a small island again, worth considering perhaps if it's not too small..............

[Meat Pie 47]

5 minutes ago, bojo said:

Lovely place............only been there back in late 60's................I lived on Samui for 13 years and swore I'd never live on a small island again, worth considering perhaps if it's not too small..............

I was only talking about not retiring in a foreign country 

[Jingthing]

250K USD isn't that much money for a lot of people. According to this, you only need to hold on to your buy Turkish citizenship property for three years. So if you've got that money to play with, here's a possible way to make a profit on a Turkish citizenship buy. 

 

 

[sirineou]

When one considers retirement. one is considering what they will do for the rest of their lives after they stop working (by definition) . 

Turkey is politically unstable. and given the support Erdogan enjoys there I would even venture to say socially unstable. 

 Both not desirable variables for one to bet the rest of their retirement  lives on. 

 

[arick]

Your better off in Portugal or Italy.. 

[simon43]

[quote]

...Marmaris on southern coast of Turkey (you can take Hydrofoil 90 mins to Corfu - Greek island)...

[/quote]

 

Blimey!  That's a fast hydrofoil!!  Corfu is about 1,500 km away from Marmaris by sea ????

[sirineou]

2 minutes ago, simon43 said:

[quote]

...Marmaris on southern coast of Turkey (you can take Hydrofoil 90 mins to Corfu - Greek island)...

[/quote]

 

Blimey!  That's a fast hydrofoil!!  Corfu is about 1,500 km away from Marmaris by sea ????

I think that's a mistake. Corfu is on the west coast of Greece, close to Italy . He is thinking of Rhodes. 

[ChipButty]

20 minutes ago, simon43 said:

[quote]

...Marmaris on southern coast of Turkey (you can take Hydrofoil 90 mins to Corfu - Greek island)...

[/quote]

 

Blimey!  That's a fast hydrofoil!!  Corfu is about 1,500 km away from Marmaris by sea ????

 Distance: 791.5 km; Duration: 7h 36m 

https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Marmaris/Corfu-Island 

Edited June 6, 2021 by ChipButty

[Farang99]

Before the current political leader Turkey was a tolerant multi cultural country. Under the present one it is emulating the Middle Eastern fundamentalists with more restrictions every day. I'd rather have Malaysia

[thaibeachlovers]

Only if Istanbul was still called Constantinople.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, Farang99 said:

Before the current political leader Turkey was a tolerant multi cultural country. Under the present one it is emulating the Middle Eastern fundamentalists with more restrictions every day. I'd rather have Malaysia

I went to Penang for my visa run a few years ago. IMO it's Thailand without the sanuk. LOS wins every time.

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, Jingthing said:

250K USD isn't that much money for a lot of people.

For that money one could have an excellent retirement in LOS. Why would one even want to live in a fundamentalist Islamic country if one ever thought LOS a good place to live?

 

PS, if it's not fundamentalist now it certainly appears to be going that way.

Edited June 6, 2021 by thaibeachlovers

[Deli]

Lived there for a year but when it was still much more liberal, prior to the Dictorship of Erdogan. Loved it and would definitely consider it, if more liberal again. That's my only con, you missed out many pros, specially the Turkish women. Loved them ????

[madmen]

8 hours ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

So not talking about Turkey, why you guys don't retire in your home country ? I did and I am feeling good I have every thing I need, nobody tells me what to do, and force restriction on me .

No reports, no visa restriction.

The availability of young firm bodies. 

[Jingthing]

11 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

For that money one could have an excellent retirement in LOS. Why would one even want to live in a fundamentalist Islamic country if one ever thought LOS a good place to live?

 

PS, if it's not fundamentalist now it certainly appears to be going that way.

Thailand isn't selling Thai passports to retirees 

I think you're kind of exaggerating what kind of country Turkey is.

But no worries.

I'm not trying to sell Turkey.

I'm disappointed that my previous understanding of easy indefinite renewals without investing appears to not be so.

If it's true that similar can be done by buying even a cheap condo then I'm sure they get plenty of takers on that.

Edited June 6, 2021 by Jingthing

[PB172111]

It appears that the sea has issues around Istanbul with this ‘so called’ sea snot that is hampering vessel movement in the marinas. Apparently caused by pollution, sewage and of course, climate change. Here is the link

https://news.sky.com/story/turkey-plagued-by-largest-outbreak-of-sea-snot-on-record-as-mucus-hits-sea-of-marmara-coastline-12325258

[thaibeachlovers]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Thailand isn't selling Thai passports to retirees 

I think you're kind of exaggerating what kind of country Turkey is.

But no worries.

I'm not trying to sell Turkey.

I'm disappointed that my previous understanding of easy indefinite renewals without investing appears to not be so.

If it's true that similar can be done by buying even a cheap condo I'm sure they get plenty of takers on that.

There's more to living in a country than owning a place to live. I lived in Saudi, and they had to pay me large amounts of money to stay. Without the inflated wages, no one I worked with would have stayed more than initial contract.

Turkey seems to be going like Saudi.

Edited June 6, 2021 by thaibeachlovers

[holy cow cm]

Nope better places to go than that. Not a fan of Muslim countries to live, but ok to visit.. My biggest problem is I can't seem to quite Thailand cold turkey. 

[Jingthing]

On the Turkey Condo based residency, I can think of worse bets.

 

So you buy a cheap condo.

 

To keep things smooth, you hire a local visa advisor to make sure your residency application is perfect the first time every time.

 

More likely than not that will work for as long as you need it to work.

 

If not you've still got a holiday Condo to either sell or maybe rent out

 

So if a person really wants to retire in Turkey and not spend 250k usd that route is probably a pretty good deal.

[EVENKEEL]

In my older years I'm looking forward to staying in the USA again. 

[Jingthing]

I have a theory about authoritarian governments and expats. They may indeed be horrible for locals but if you're not a citizen you shouldn't be involved in local politics anyway so are they really that bad for expats? Arguably they are often better at least in some ways. Not a politically correct observation but I think its true.