The meeting was less well attended than the March meeting, this time there were only about 50 people attending where 200 turned up in March. Here is my interpretation of what was discussed although I have to say that I'm less clear on some of the subjects after attending the meeting than I was beforehand !
RESIDENCY
Following feedback from ex-pats on the muddled system you need to follow to obtain residency, Turkey will establish dedicated residency offices in 148 town across the country, Fethiye being one of them. All residency applications and the issuing of permits will be handled by these offices which will also have English speaking staff. The new law on residency is being finalised but the pro consul confirmed that after a period of 8 years continuous (unbroken) residency, you will be granted indefinite residency status, the fee for this has not yet been decided and the new law will be translate into English.
These new residency offices will also run cultural events and conduct Turkish language courses etc.
HEALTHCARE
Now this is a bit of a muddle, first the good news, the SGK office have appointed an English speaking ex-pat consultant, his name is Mr Gonder. SGK is not compulsory and anybody with at least 6 months permanent residence can join the scheme with no back payments. The pro Consul still believes that to opt out you need to either surrender residency, become a Turkish citizen, marry a Turk or die ! However the SGK office did confirm that they have sent out a circular asking people to confirm if they wish to stay in the scheme or opt out, however, the local SGK office could not find any other opt out clause other than those mentioned above in the law relating to this new healthcare scheme. The UK government have made an official request of clarification, so far no reply has been received. There are 550 British Nationals registered for SGK in Fethiye and they are asking that you attend the new office to confirm whether you wish to remain or leave the scheme. So far the SGK office have written to 300 scheme members asking them to attend and confirm their intentions, 100 people have responded and 10 have opted out. You should note that if you opt out then your cover ends immediately, so its best to do this at the end of the month. It was stated that if you wish to opt out then you should do it sooner rather than later as the clarification sought by the consulate may come back saying that any opt out is not possible.
It was always a condition of joining SGK that you had to have a medical (in the case of a married couple, only one partner needs to do this and you can choose which one) this is also the case for Turkish Nationals, it seems that Fethiye were just slow to adopt this rule.
DRIVING IN TURKEY
No more blue plates will be issued? The MA to MZ registartion system for foreigners will continue. Cars bought in Turkey can be driven by your direct relatives (Husband/Wife/Children) but to do so, their names have to be added to the log book and then when you come to sell the vehicle, they also have to agree to the sale.
Foreigners can own and drive a car with their UK driving licence as long as you also have a translated and notorised copy of your licence. Some insurance companies may insist you hold a Turkish licence, this is not a legal requirement but a case between you and your insurance company if they insist.
Any new licences issued from 2014 will be an EU style licence and valid for 5 years, all existing Turkish licences will be replaced by 2015 with the new style licence and again valid for 5 years. After 5 years you will need to apply and pay again and your application will need to be accompanied by a medical report.
PROPERTY
The consulate confirmed that matters around property, developers, estate agents, management companies need to be dealt with by a solicitor or the police, the consulate will not become involved. The military are in the process of equiping every deed office with detailed maps showing restricted areas, this will mean that in the future, military clearance can be granted or refused immediately at the local deed office.
WILLS
UK wills are valid in Turkey but need to be certified by a UK court which apparently is a difficult procedure, even then the local judge may add his own interpretation to a will. The advice from the pro consul was to have a Turkish will. This sparked a lively debate where it became clear that a number of the lawyers in Fethiye are accused of being thieves and that most of them have have different interpretations of what needs to be done. The main problem seems to be around proving who are your relatives, for a Turkish citizen its not a problem, they turn up at a government office and are given an official print out of all living direct descendants and spouse. For a UK person, you have to follow a complicated procedure of getting birth certificates certified by a UK court and then your dependants have to apply to the probate office to claim a share of your estate. It appears that if you die without leaving a Turkish will then exactly the same procedure applies.
It was pointed out that UK wills are NOT valid regarding any savings held here in Turkey, a number of the ex-pats recommended that people should have joint accounts where the money can be quickly transferred or withdrawn on the death of one party. The official procedure is that the judge will freeze a bank account, in the event of a surviving spouse, 50% of savings will be apportioned to the spouse and the remaining 50% will be held in probate and dealt with in the same way as property with the deceased dependants making claims on the estate.
It was confirmed that there are death taxes on both property and savings but the level was not known.
