Suprising news came to light this weekend. Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybeki is said to be proposing a bill to allow foreign investors and those owning a property in Turkey the right to claim Turkish citizenship.
You can tell the election is getting close when proposals that sound almost too good to be true start to appear. The sort of bills that ‘may‘ get passed following the November 1st poll. The latest, as reported by Haber Turk, certainly does sound attractive if it is to be believed. It would allow foreign property owners and investors in Turkey the automatic right to claim citizenship or long term residency in Turkey if they wished. According to the article posted last Friday, Zeybeki wants Turkey to be in a position to be able to compete with it’s “rivals” in other Mediterranean countries. He want’s to attract more foreign investment and property ownership in Turkey.
Zebeki believe’s that offering the right to Turkish citizenship would allow investors to enter the country freely, without the need of visas. It would give them similar rights to existing Turkish citizens, namely the right to work and conduct business as they wished in Turkey. Foreigners would also not need to undertake National Service.
“If this proposal is passed, it would undoubtedly attract more property investors to Turkey. It would mean foreigners owning a property in Turkey would have the same rights as natives. Living and working in Turkey would suddenly become far easier with few visa or permit restrictions. I do think that the reality of this proposal could create problems though. Locals may dislike foreigners taking jobs if they have limited language ability and could have been done by a local. They are also unlikely to like it if these new Turkish citizens didn’t have to undergo National Service yet were to be considered Turkish. I do think the current laws regarding residency and rights to work in Turkey do need to be reconsidered, yet doubt this bill will be passed. It will be interesting to see how far it gets following the November election.” Suleyman Akbay, MD Oceanwide Properties.
So what are your thoughts? How likely do you think the bill is to get passed or is it simply pre-election hype? Comment below and let us know.
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