hi murphy and welcome,if you do a search you will find all the information you need on importing household goods,its been covered before,also there our strict laws in turkey on working there,i pasted this article to get you started...goodluck...
Importing your household goods for a vacation or a retirement home
Those who have a work permit may not have as many hassles and may not pay duty. The information below applies to those who have a retirement or vacation home in Turkey.
To import personal effects and furniture, you will first need:
a) a house title (not just a land title, a house title) or a rental contract
b) a valid residence permit
c) an inventory list in Turkish with the value of each box
d) cash to pay the import duty that comes to around 33% of the value of your goods (even though each item will be assessed separately, the total averages out to around 33%). In lieu of cash, you will need a bank guarantee for the dutiable amount and that guarantee has a high fee payable every 3 months while you are living here. Best to pay the cash. In theory, if you re-export all your things, you get it back. We'll see!
In the law, vacationers and retirees do not have the right to import furniture and personal effects. In fact, many do imports goods and they get cleared through customs. However, there are some do's and don'ts that will make the process less painful.
All household goods must be imported in one shipment. You cannot import some goods now and some later separately. You also cannot import one shipment in your name and a second shipment in your spouse's name. Your goods and personal effects can be imported ONLY for the duration of your residence permit; by law they must be re-exported when your permit expires although it is questionable if this is verified.
Items that are consumable such as canned or packaged food, chemicals of any kind, shampoo, dog treats or dog food, modeling clay and anything that can spoil is not allowed. This is based on the idea that such items would spoil if kept for the duration of the residence permit, usually 5 years. Antique carpets are also forbidden for import. Lest you think you can hide things, the Customs officials open your boxes to verify their contents.
If you ship less than 500 kilos, the procedure is simple and you can probably clear customs within 1 day, maybe without even using a Custom's Broker. You will still want to hire a shipping company to transport your things to your new home. Ask the shipper about insurance during transport. If offered at the point of origin, buy insurance from door to door. I didn't and it was a mistake. If you buy insurance here, you will need the license plate number of the truck to obtain the insurance.
If you have more than 500 kilos of household and personal items, expect a looooong bureaucratic hassle and at least 2 weeks to get your things. Hire a good custom's agent, a good shipping company and expect to pay about 33% in import duties, plus port charges if your things arrived by boat.
If you sent things by boat, you must either get them cleared within 5 days or pay storage charges for the container. Get to the port on the same day the shipment arrives and have all the above documents plus your passport in hand. The Customs will take your inventory list and codify each and every item to determine that item's duty percentage and value. This procedure takes anywhere from 3 days to 10 days depending on what you have. If your shipper at home tells you to make a very detailed inventory, DON'T (except for your own information)! I was told this and it only complicated and delayed the process by several days.
Don't try to import a car if you plan to stay longer than 6 months (and do not have a valid work visa). Even if you are willing to pay the 70-80% KDV, you still cannot import a car if you are not officially working here.
If you plan to spend less than 6 months, then you can drive into Turkey but you must take your car out not 1 day after the allowable 6 month period, and the car must remain outside Turkey for several months (6?) before being brought in again. You can bring a car in for 1 year under certain circumstances, but you must then export it and you can NEVER re-enter Turkey with that same car. In practice, this means you cannot import it at all.
Hope this helps smooth the process.
dennis