Life in Turkey

• Banking in Turkey
• Living in Turkey
1. Necessities
2. Communication
3. Getting around

Communication

All of the essential information to communicate within and from Turkey.
 

1. Courier Services
2. Post Office
3. Addresses
4. Telephone
5. Media

1. Courier Services
   
   
• DHL
• Customer Services: (0212 444 0040/444 0041/www.dhl.com.tr)
• Credit: AmEx, MC, V
• DHL offers international and domestic service.
• Intercargo
• Istanbul Office: (0212 275 1544/www.intercargo.com.tr)
• No credit
• National delivery
• UPS
• Courier Bookings: (0212 444 0033);
• Courier Bookings: (0212 444 0033);
• National delivery
• Customer Services: (0212 444 0066/www.ups.com)
• Credit: AmEx, MC, V
• Domestic and international service
• Yurtiçi Kargo

• Istanbul Office: (0212 365 2365/www.yurticikargo.com.tr)

  National deliveries

1.  
2. Post Office

Recognizable by their yellow-and-black PTT signs, post offices can be found in every neighborhood.  Postcards cost about $0.50 to Europe, $0.60 to the Americas and Australia. When mailing, stamps can only be bought at post offices.  Airmail rates for parcels start at around $26.  When sending packages, keep in mind that all contents will be inspected at the post office; partially sealing packages and bringing small packing supplies are advisable. 

3. Addresses

Although seemingly difficult, understanding written addresses in Turkey is just a matter of applied knowledge. When writing an address, street name is followed by house number with a slash separating it from the flat number. If on a side street, the nearest main street is customarily included before the street address.
For example: John Smith lives in flat 3 at 93 Yesil Pinar Sokak, off Siraselviler Caddesi, in the Cihangir district of Istanbul. His address would appear as the following:

John Smith
Siraselviler Caddesi
Yesil Pinar Sokak 93/3
Cihangir / Istanbul

4. Telephone

The country code for Turkey is 90.  When dialing from abroad omit the zero before the area code.  All public phones operate with pre-paid cards and many operate with credit cards.  Local vendors and post offices sell phone cards of which there are two types: the thin, floppy regular version and the rigid ‘smart card.'  Standard public phone rates are around $1 USD per minute, with reduced rates for international calls 10pm to 9am Monday thru Saturday, and all day on Sundays and holidays. 

Turkcell, Avea and Telsim are Turkey's only GSM network providers.  Purchasing a SIM card, or HAZIR kart, is the most economical choice if someone is planning on making lots of calls.  To subscribe bring a photocopy of a passport to any authorized dealer.  There is a subscription fee, usually between $20-25 USD that includes 100 units of talk-time.  Top-up cards are easily found and are sold in predetermined units.  The Turkish system operates on 900 MHZ; US mobile phones will not function in Turkey.     

5. Media

Although an international country, foreign language media is slightly lacking.  The only English-language newspaper is the Turkish Daily News.  Foreign newspapers, although easy to find, are expensive and generally arrive late in the day.  Most foreign magazines are also easily found in major cities.  A number of foreign television cable channels, such as BBC Prime, CNN and Discovery are available, as well as public CNBC-E.