Presidential decree restricts acquiring Turkish citizenship via investment conditions

A presidential decree has excluded land and field acquisitions from the regulation that allows foreign nationals to obtain Turkish citizenship by buying property in Turkey. The amended regulation only allows building/flat acquisitions for foreigners to earn Turkish citizenship.

Tuesday December 12 2023 05:33 pm

Duvar English

A presidential decree published on Turkey’s official gazette dated Dec. 12 restricted the range of acquisitions allowed for foreign nationals to obtain Turkish citizenship.

The amendment replaced “real estate” with “building/flat ownership,” thus excluding empty plots and fields from the acquisition foreigners can make to obtain Turkish citizenship.

The decree was signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and has come into effect upon publication.

The regulation on the implementation of the law on Turkish citizenship states that real foreign nationals are eligible for Turkish citizenship on the condition that they make at least 400,000 dollars of property acquisitions from Turkey and hold ownership for at least three years.

Foreign nationals bought 30,599 properties in Turkey during the first ten months of 2023. The Mediterranean province of Antalya came first in the number of properties bought, followed by Istanbul and the Mediterranean Mersin provinces, according to Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) data.