CItIzenshIp

WHY TO INVEST TO TURKEY

The Turkish economy posted record growth and climbed from 18^th place to 13^th globally from 2003 to 2019.

Adhering to prudent fiscal discipline, Turkey drastically diminished the public debt stock from above 70 percent in 2002 down to around 34 percent in 2019.​

The positive effect of the fiscal discipline has been reflected as a noticeably diminished deficit in Turkey’s budget balance during the past 18 years.

Over the past 18 years, Turkey has put in a noteworthy performance by increasing the size of its overall economy from USD 236 billion in 2002 to USD 717 billion in 2020.​

Turkey’s economic growth over the past 18 years has been driven by a robust domestic market and an entrepreneurial private sector that combined have spurred investments and exports.

Turkey successfully generated approximately 6.8 million new jobs during the 2009-2019 period.

With an eye-catching 11 percent average annual growth in exports, Turkey has outpaced the world performance and increased its export volume from USD 36 billion to USD 171 billion over the past 17 years. ​

In line with its remarkable performance, Turkey’s share in global exports has increased from less than 0.6 percent in 2002 to close to 0.92 percent in 2019.​

Turkey has grown its overall export volume from USD 36 billion in 2002 to USD 169 billion in 2020 and has achieved significant export diversification both in terms of export destinations and products.​

Turkey is one of the most promising real estate markets in Europe, and the mantra “location, location, location” rings especially true for this country. Strategically situated at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia, and home to 83 million people, Turkey offers great opportunities for real estate developers and investors by combining a large construction sector with growing commercial and industrial output.

• FDI inflows in Turkey stood at USD 7.8 billion, while real estate was USD 4.4 billion, 57percent of total FDI in 2020.
  
  
• Urban renewal and mega projects dominate the agenda for the foreseeable future, particularly in Istanbul. Some projects in the city include Marmaray, Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, Eurasia Tunnel, and IstanbulAirport.
  
  
• The Urban Renewal and Development initiative will encompass 7.5 million housing units. The initiative has a budget of USD 400 billion, with a large contribution coming from the private sector.
  
  
• The total number of homes sold in the Turkish property market reached 1.5 million units in 2020; likewise, sales of real estate to foreigners began to increase following the abolishment of the reciprocity law in 2012. In 2020, 40,812 homes were sold to foreigners in Turkey. Regarding home sales to foreigners, Istanbul was the top-performing province with 19,175 sales in 2020, followed by Antalya with 7,735 sales, Ankara with 2,746 sales, and Bursa with 1,340 sales.
  
  
• By 2020 year-end, the existing Grade A office stock in Istanbul surpassed 5.6 million square meters. There is more than 1.7 million square meters of office supply under construction including the Istanbul International Finance Center (IIFC), and it is expected that the total grade A office supply will reach almost 7.4 million square meters gross leasable area by the end of 2022.
  
  
• 447 shopping centers are operational in Turkey with a total gross leasable area of 13.6 million square meters. 133 shopping centers in Istanbul with a total gross leasable area of 5.1 million square meters represent 37 percent of the total leasable shopping center area in Turkey.
  
  
• ​Total logistics real estate supply in Istanbul and Kocaeli in 2020 was 10.2 million square meters. During 2020, 318,000 square meters of logistics leasing transactions were completed, almost triple the figure from 2019 year-end.

THE STEPS OF PROPERTY ACQUISITION BY FOREIGNERS

• Identify the property you want to purchase according to the budget and desired criteria, and contact the seller.
• Check the registry details of the property together with the seller or the seller’s representative at the Directorate of Land Register.
• An appraisal report that shows the actual value of the property shall be issued by a company authorized for property appraisal
• The document shall be checked by the Directorate of Land Registry, and any incomplete items shall be completed. The parties shall be informed about the fees they are to pay for the transaction.
• Apply to the Land Registry Directorate with the documents required to start the sales procedures of the property
• Deposit the fees. Pay the cost of the property to the seller. Payment can be made via TAKASBANK to make it more secure. In that case, the contract price deposited to the recipient’s account shall be blocked and it shall be transferred to the seller’s account after the contract is signed.
• Sign the official contract issued by the Directorate of Land Registry for the sale, under the presence of a public officer, and the sales transaction will be completed when the contract is signed.

THE RESTRICTIONS FOR PROPERTY ACQUISITION BY FOREIGNERS

First of all, the country of the foreigner desirous of acquiring a property must be among the countries cleared by Turkey for propertyacquisitionasspecifiedin Article 35. Property acquisition by foreign real persons is only possible within the scope of legal restrictions further to Article 35 of the Land RegistryLaw 2644. Foreigners may not acquire properties in military forbidden zones further to the Military Forbidden Zones and Security Zones Law No.2565. A foreign real person may acquire properties and restricted real rights of up to 30 hectares maximum. The President may increasethissizeuptotwotimes. Total area of properties acquiredby foreign realpersons and independent and continuous limited real rights maynotexceed ten percent (10%) of thesurfaceareaof thesubjectdistrictof theprivateproperty. Acquisition by foreigners is not possible at the places included in strategic areas and special security zones defined by the President as areas where foreign real and legal persons may not acquire properties.

THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR PROPERTY ACQUISITION

* The property’s Title Deed or details of village/quarter, section, parcel, building, independent unit

* Identity card or passport (together with the translated copy thereof where required). Submission of the same is compulsory in order to identify the nationality of the foreigner

* Property appraisal report issued by any of the organizations authorized by the Board of Capital Markets (SPK) for property assessment at http://www.spk.gov.tr/SiteApps/SirketIletisim/List/gds) .

* ”Real Estate Market Value Document” of the property from the related Municipality,

* Compulsory earthquake insurance policy for buildings (residences, workplaces… etc.),

* One photograph of the seller and two photographs of the buyer (taken in the last 6 months, at a size of 6×4),

* Certified interpreter if there is a party who fails to speak Turkish,

* If an action is to be carried out with a power of attorney issued abroad, the translation and the original or approved copy of the power of attorney.