[virtuecat]

Introduction
Living in Turkey is an extremely enjoyable experience for expatriates and their families. It offers modern housing, good schools, fine shopping malls, first-rate hospitals, etc. In major cities, such as İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir and Bursa, there is no need for an expatriate to be concerned about the problems connected with settling down in a foreign country. In these cities a wide variety of housing alternatives ranging from small apartments to luxurious villas in housing complexes is available. The important subject of children's education is easily addressed by Turkey's International Private Schools. Nor does shopping create a problem. If you want to cook at home, all the ingredients you need are easily obtainable at supermarkets and shopping malls. If you prefer eating out you will find good restaurants in every neighbourhood. Further information on housing, education, transportation, entertainment and hospitals etc. is presented in the following sections. You can also visit Mymerhaba.com, a portal for expatriates where they can read at first hand about the experiences of foreigners in Turkey.




Introduction
Living in Turkey is an extremely enjoyable experience for expatriates and their families. It offers modern housing, good schools, fine shopping malls, first-rate hospitals, etc. In major cities, such as İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir and Bursa, there is no need for an expatriate to be concerned about the problems connected with settling down in a foreign country. In these cities a wide variety of housing alternatives ranging from small apartments to luxurious villas in housing complexes is available. The important subject of children's education is easily addressed by Turkey's International Private Schools. Nor does shopping create a problem. If you want to cook at home, all the ingredients you need are easily obtainable at supermarkets and shopping malls. If you prefer eating out you will find good restaurants in every neighbourhood. Further information on housing, education, transportation, entertainment and hospitals etc. is presented in the following sections. You can also visit Mymerhaba.com, a portal for expatriates where they can read at first hand about the experiences of foreigners in Turkey.



Eating Out

Turkish cuisine is legendary for its delicious starters, its traditional main course specialities, its kebabs and its desserts. In major cities such as İstanbul, İzmir and Ankara there exists a wide choice of eating establishments ranging from casual fast-food self-service restaurants to outstanding haute cuisine dining establishments. In these cities there are also restaurants serving international cuisine as well as well-known worldwide fast-food chains such as McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and Burger King. A list of restaurants is available at Mymerhaba Tap water is safe to drink in most places, but, in general, people prefer to drink bottled water or to have drinking water delivered to their homes.




Transportatiot
transport. In most cities, you have several alternatives, such as light rail systems, the underground system, municipality buses, private buses, the dolmuş and taxis. For municipality buses you may need a ticket purchased in advance. However, these tickets are not valid on private buses where only cash is accepted. The dolmuş is a special service found only in Turkey. These are generally minibuses which function like collective taxis and follow predetermined routes. Each passenger pays according to the distance he/she wants to travel and then gets off at specific or requested stops. Taxis are plentiful in all cities. They are identified by their yellow colour. In each city taxi fares are determined by the local authorities. The fare is based on the distance travelled and it is displayed on the taxi meter. There is a day rate which is charged between 6 ** to midnight and a night rate from midnight to 6 **. In İstanbul, Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Eskişehir, İzmir and Konya light rail systems and the underground are also among the transport options. In coastal cities, such as İstanbul and İzmir, you can also use fast passenger ferries.

Education
In Turkey, there are a number of international schools where the curriculum is carried out in major European languages. In addition, in major cities many private schools teach through the medium of foreign languages. A complete list of private schools appears on the Association of Private Schools website.



Healthcare
For your health problems, you can either attend a doctor's clinic or go to a hospital. A list of doctors' clinics is available in the yellow pages of Mymerhaba.
Hospitals in Turkey are categorized as State Hospitals, University Hospitals and Private Hospitals. Social Security, for the ordinary working Turkish citizen, is organized by the State. Since these State Institutions do not cover the fees imposed by Private Hospitals, the State and University Hospitals are more crowded than the Private ones. People having private health insurance should use Private Hospitals. Among the private, state and university hospitals there are many facilities which provide service completely on a par with international standards from the point of view of infrastructure and expertise. Below you will find links to the lists of hospitals in Ankara, Istanbul, İzmir and some other provinces



Ankara

• State Hospitals
• University Hospitals
• Private Hospitals

İstanbul

• State Hospitals
• University Hospitals
• Private Hospitals

İzmir

• State Hospitals
• University Hospitals
• Private Hospitals

Web Site of Ministry of Health

• State Hospitals
• Training Hospitals
• Private Hospitals

Leisure & Entertainment

In the major cities there is plenty of entertainment. İstanbul, İzmir, Ankara, Bursa and Antalya all have an excellent nightlife, with plenty of good bars and clubs etc. In other smaller towns, you can also find cinemas, restaurants offering traditional cuisine as well as other traditional entertainment. At the cinemas, movies are shown in their original version with subtitles in Turkish. A wide range of activities such as golfing, mountaineering, skiing, and yachting can be carried out in Turkey. In recent years, golf facilities to international standards have emerged. There are 6 golf courses with the Administration Certificate and 9 courses with the Investment Certificate granted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. These facilities are in Antalya, Ankara, Aydın and Istanbul. There are also important centres for winter tourism in Ankara, Bolu, Bursa, and Erzurum.
You could also opt for a weekend escape to other cities. Turkey is a peninsula surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea, the Marmara Sea and the Black Sea. It is divided into seven regions. Each region has a unique cuisine, landscape, climate and fauna. Since Turkey, for many centuries, has been the centre of several civilizations, there are sites of historic importance in almost every city in Turkey. Holiday resorts have sandy and sunny beaches and plenty of high quality tourist facilities.
For further information you can visit the Ministry of Culture and Tourism website.






Religion
tradition of tolerance and co-existence between peoples of all beliefs and creed. At the moment, about 99% of the Turkish population is Moslem. The remaining 1 % consists mostly of Orthodox Christians, Gregorian Christians and Jews. markets in the big cities where you can find pork and bacon for sale. There is an age limit of 18 for the sales of tobacco related products and alcholic beverages. For further information about religion and religious sites, visit the website All about Turkey.



Work Permits
The fourth article in THE LAW ON WORK PERMITS FOR FOREIGNERS states: 'Unless otherwise provided for in bilateral or multilateral agreements to which Turkey is a party, foreigners are obliged to get work permits before they start to work either for a company or independently in Turkey.'
Foreigners residing out of Turkey can apply for their work permit to the Turkish consulate in the country where they reside. The consulates then forward these applications directly to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Foreigners who have a valid residence permit in Turkey or their employers are entitled to make their application directly to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. If the Ministry grants a work permit, it will be valid only when the required working visa and residence permit is taken.
When applying to the Ministry the following documents are required:




I-Documents requested from foreıgners

• Written request for work permit addressed to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security,
• Foreign Personnel Application Form (in 4 copies, bearing photograph taken
  within the last six months, including the original signature of the employer and the foreign personnel. In case there isn’t the original signature of neither the employer nor the foreign personnel, the individual contract made by and between the parties or the certificate of employment acceptance by the employee evidencing that the job proposal made by the employer has been accepted by the employee or its approved copy.),
• Copy of passport certified by Notary Public with Turkish translation,
• Copy of Diploma certified by Notary Public with Turkish translation,
• For applications filed from Turkey, valid Residence Permit,
  (The period of the Residence Permit has to be at least six months and the application has to be made within this period),
• Curriculum Vitae (the enclosed C.V. format has to be completed)
  

II-Documents requested from the institution/establishment which shall employ foreign personnel

• Written request for work permit addressed to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security,
• Balance-sheet and profit/loss statement of the last year, approved by the tax office,
• If the establishment has foreign capital, the original of the Turkish Trade Register Gazette showing the establishment’s last capital and partnership structure or its copy certified by the establishment,
• For Private Educational Institutions supposed to employ instructors of foreign nationality; copies of the Institution’s License and the letter of approval by the Ministry of National Education,
• For administrative personnel to be employed by tourism establishments, copy of the operational and investment certificate having been obtained from the Ministry of Tourism, if any,
• Certificate evidencing that establishments (including consortiums) having been awarded any contract in any tender opened by public institutions and establishments have undertaken the task which they they shall be assigned by the relevant institution and establishment,
• As for corporate bodies supposed to employ any foreign expert in the framework of the engineering, architecture, contractorship and consultancy services, detailed account of salaries evidencing that Turkish and the copy of the contract executed with the foreigner.

http://www.investinturkey.gov.tr

Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey borders eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest, Greece to the west, Georgia to the northeast, Armenia, Azerbaijan (the Nakhichevan exclave), and Iran to the east, Iraq and Syria to the southeast. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean Sea to the west, and the Black Sea to the north. Turkey also contains the Sea of Marmara, which is used by geographers to mark the border between Europe and Asia, thus making Turkey transcontinental.

The region comprising modern Turkey has overseen the birth of major civilizations such as the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. Because of its strategic location, where two continents meet, Turkey's culture has a unique blend of Eastern and Western tradition, often described as a bridge between the two civilizations. A powerful regional presence from the Adriatic Sea to China in the Eurasian landmass between Russia and India, Turkey has come to acquire increasing strategic significance.

Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic whose political system was established in 1923 under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, following the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I. Since then, Turkey has become increasingly integrated with the West while continuing to foster relations with the Eastern world. It is a founding member of the United Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, a member state of the Council of Europe since 1949, and of NATO since 1952 Since 2005, Turkey has been in accession negotiations with the European Union, having been an associate member since 1963. Turkey is also a member of the G20, which brings together the 20 largest economies of the world.

[Blue Blood]

turkey is pretty cute modern.do u get that what i mean by it?.aynwayz.when i come here from japan i scared a lit bit cos i didnt know turkish that was the biggest prob for me at the begin but when i star to go to school its got more scary and difficult 4 me.^^.my dad is a turkish man but i dont know turkish i learnt japanese for all my life.but when i got new friendz everything got easier and funny.so now i love 2 live in turkey its pretty cool.

Republican era

Main articles: History of the Republic of Turkey and Atatürk's reforms

The occupation of İstanbul and İzmir by the Allies in the aftermath of World War I prompted the establishment of the Turkish national movement.[3] Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, a military commander who had distinguished himself during the Battle of Gallipoli, the Turkish War of Independence was waged with the aim of revoking the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres.[2] By September 18, 1922, the occupying armies were repelled and the country saw the birth of the new Turkish state. On November 1, the newly founded parliament formally abolished the Sultanate, thus ending 623 years of Ottoman rule. The Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 led to the international recognition of the sovereignty of the newly formed "Republic of Turkey" as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, and the republic was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923, in the new capital of Ankara.

Kemal Pasha became the republic's first president and subsequently introduced many radical reforms with the aim of founding a new secular republic from the remnants of its Ottoman past. According to the Law on Family Names, the Turkish parliament presented Mustafa Kemal with the honorific name "Atatürk" (Father of the Turks) in 1934.

Turkey entered World War II on the side of the Allies on February 23, 1945 as a ceremonial gesture and became a charter member of the United Nations in 1945. Difficulties faced by Greece after the war in quelling a communist rebellion, along with demands by the Soviet Union for military bases in the Turkish Straits, prompted the United States to declare the Truman Doctrine in 1947. The doctrine enunciated American intentions to guarantee the security of Turkey and Greece, and resulted in large-scale US military and economic support.

After participating with United Nations forces in the Korean conflict, Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1952, becoming a bulwark against Soviet expansion into the Mediterranean. Following a decade of intercommunal violence on the island of Cyprus and the subsequent Athens-inspired coup, Turkey intervened militarily in 1974, resulting in the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus recognised only by Turkey.

Following the end of the single-party period in 1945, the multi-party period witnessed tensions over the following decades, and the period between the 1960s and the 1980s was particularly marked by periods of political instability that resulted in a number of military coups d'états in 1960, 1971, 1980 and a post-modern coup d'état in 1997. The liberalization of the Turkish economy that started in the 1980s changed the landscape of the country, with successive periods of high growth and crises punctuating the following decades.