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New requirements to gain Turkish citizenship by investment

Changes were made to the condition of granting Turkish citizenship to foreigners who buy real estate. According to the new decision, Turkish citizenship can now be acquired by purchasing immovable properties that qualify as land with a condominium (land with project) or floor easement established (land with build up apartment, villa, office, shop & etc.) or with a finished building on it.

The Regulation on Amendments to the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law came into force after being published in the Official Gazette. An amendment was made to the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law issued in 2010, based on Article 46 of the Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901 dated 29/5/2009, to determine the procedures and principles to be applied in the execution of transactions regarding the acquisition, loss, proof of Turkish citizenship and multiple citizenship.

CLARITY ABOUT THE REGULATION

Article 20 of the regulation, which includes the section “Exceptional acquisition of Turkish citizenship, documents required for application and procedures to be carried out”, clarified the sale of real estate for foreigners who can acquire Turkish citizenship exceptionally. In today’s issue of the Official Gazette, “The provisions in subparagraph (b) of the second paragraph of the 20th article of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law put into force by the decision of the Council of Ministers dated 11 February 2010 and numbered 2010/139, the phrase “immovable property in foreign currency” has been changed to “condominium ownership (Kat irtifakı or Kat mülkiyeti) in foreign currency or land on which a floor easement (Kat irtifakı or Kat mülkiyeti) has been established or a completed building is located on it”.

Paragraph (b) of Article 20 titled “Exceptional acquisition of Turkish citizenship”, “The purchase of a condominium or floor servitude for at least $400,000 or the equivalent foreign currency, or a land-qualified immovable property with a structure on it, provided that an annotation is placed in the land registry not to sell it for three years, or a condominium or floor servitude has been established,”. The phrase “immovable property in foreign currency” in subparagraph (b) of the second paragraph of Article 20 of the Regulation has been changed as “immovable property in the form of a condominium in foreign currency or land with a floor easement established or a building on it”.

Turkish Citizenship cannot be acquired by buying Farmland or empty land without project

While previously the purchase of all immovable properties worth $400 thousand was sufficient for Turkish citizenship, with the change made, Turkish citizenship can now be acquired by purchasing immovable properties that qualify as condominiums (lands that have project build on it ex: apartments, villas, shops and etc.) or land with a floor easement established ( land that have a project approved on it ) or a building on the land. While the scope of the previous version of the regulation was very broad and caused criticism, it was pointed out that it would not be possible to grant citizenship through the sale of farmlands and empty lands with no project with the regulation. Article 20 of the Regulation on the Implementation of the Turkish Citizenship Law had been amended 7 times before.

Prepared by Irem Yildiz

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