I wouldnt openly advise anyone to drive over with a transit van full of furniture. You only need to get one alert customs man to inspect and your buggered.
The value amount of goods for personal effects is 1500 euros for which you pay a 10% tax.
Also another thing not quite correct. When you ship goods in permanently, make sure you tell them its a permanent import and not a temporary one (Gecici kabul), a permanent import means you pay tax on the items at the rate of 18% of what the customs man deems it is worth (taking into consideration wear,tear and age) and once you pay the tax then thats it. No yearly tax, no not selling anything for 5 yrs etc. KKYOB can confirm this as his shipment was a permanent import.
If you do a temporary import then you put up a bond instead of paying tax. This bond will be tied with the 'beyanname' (customs declartion form, green and white) and has to be renewed every year or 2 years depending on the beyanname. The goods listed on the form HAVE to leave Turkey for you to get your bond back.
Temporary imports are generally only done for working expats and not touristic expats who have come here to settle and your moving company or customs agent should have been aware of that.
Also another tip, if you import used house hold goods, make sure they are used and not looking brand new. If you have something brand new then just remove the plastic etc to make it look that the box etc has been opened instead of coming right off the shelf.