Traffic Insurance was due today - Ok so we left it a bit late to sort out! started to try to renew yesterday anyway it seems the problem was not with our residency but with a new computer system that kicked off on 1st April insurance now linked with the traffic police system, because our old policy did not include passport or tax number, this hasn't been required in the past (this we could have added with the previous agent before expiry date had we known)! Because the computer said NO - it wouldn't come up with showing I had a policy and all the details needed to be able to proceed with a renewal!! Anyway with paying a bit extra we got it sorted - didn't fancy a trip to the traffic police to see if we could add details to their system as we didn't have the time with the policy expirying today. One lesson learn't don't leave anything until the last minute!
Thanks to the lovely lady (Dina) in the renault garage who speaks excellent english, explained everything to us, i.e you don't need a residency number for insurance so long as you have passport and tax numbers, she deals with all insurance policies, car, home etc.
However, would be interesting to know whether anyone else experiences these problems because according to her - its one big headache for foreigners and Turks alike!