TURKEY
Country Profile
Bridging Europe and Asia, Turkey is celebrated as the seat of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. Turkey became a republic in the aftermath of World War I, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who espoused the principles of secularism and nationalism. Significant changes to Turkey’s Government came into effect in 2018, when the nation adopted a presidential system separating the executive from the legislature. This followed an attempted coup in July 2016, and growing tensions with both the European Union and the United States. Turkey’s economy grew eleven per cent in 2021, the highest rate amongst G20 countries.
- Official name: Republic of Turkey
- National anthem: The Independence March
- Location: Middle East
- Capital city: Ankara
- Official language: Turkish
- Sovereignty: 29 October 1923, the date on which Turkey was proclaimed a republic
- Government type: Presidential republic
- Head of State: President
- Head of Government: President
- Basis of legal system: Swiss civil law; Italian civil law; German civil law
- Currency: Turkish lira
- Climate: Hot-summer Mediterranean climate
Citizenship by Investment in Turkey
- Launched in January 2017 and finding its basis in Turkey’s Citizenship Law, Act No. 5901 and in Regulation 2016/9601, passed by the Council of Ministers on 12 December 2016
- Seven routes to economic citizenship
- Processing takes between three to six months on average, despite high application numbers
- No requirement to learn Turkish, to attend a mandatory interview, or to establish residence by physical presence
- The applicant must obtain an investor residence card and provide biometrics
- No restrictions on an applicant’s country of origin
- The decision on the grant of citizenship rests with Turkey’s President
