Turkey is currently witnessing an explosion in sales of land, housing and office space to foreigners. It seems that the biggest factor in the increase has been the change made in 2012 to the Reciprocity Law, which dictates the conditions under which foreigners can own Turkish property. This new regulation lifted the reciprocity requirement for property sales and stated in which regions of Turkey and under what conditions citizens of 183 countries may purchase property. The law allows foreigners to buy residential property, plots of land and office space throughout Turkey up to 30 hectares (74 acres) per person. There is no limit for foreign companies in Turkey; commercial companies are allowed to purchase as much property as they wish. However, in the event of a purchase of plotted or unplotted land, approval must be obtained from the relevant ministry within two years of blueprints being drawn up for buildings to be constructed.

Who can purchase land and where?

With the change to the Reciprocity Law, citizens of Syria, Armenia and North Korea can no longer purchase real estate in Turkey. Moreover, countries neighboring Turkey, such as Iran, Iraq, Georgia and Bulgaria, can no longer acquire property in provinces bordering those countries. Property sales cannot be made to Greek citizens in 26 coastal provinces, including Istanbul and the border province of Edirne. However, property sales to Greeks are permitted in inland regions. The 129 countries granted unconditional purchase of real estate include the United States, Germany, Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, the Dominican Republic, France, Finland, South Korea, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Britain, Spain, Italy, Japan, Canada, Kuwait, Qatar, Luxembourg, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu and Oman. In 2012, the previous “single residence” requirement was lifted for Israeli citizens. Citizens of 16 countries, including China, the Philippines, India and Iraq, are required to obtain special permission from the Ministry of the Interior. Iraqi citizens also need to provide a certificate of conformity from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As of August 2012, when the law was approved, the British were the foreign nationality with the greatest amount of property in Turkey and 35,825 British citizens currently own real estate in Turkey, followed by German citizens (29,223), Greeks (10,832), Irish (6,816), Dutch (5,907), Danish (5,833), Norwegians (5,541) and Russians (5,415). There are many reports of Israelis buying land in southeast Turkey.