Karen it is as I posted at the beginning of this thread.
Here is the link from Kalkan News clarifying the rules. The original 90/180 day Visa stated your 90 days began on the first day of entry to Turkey. From 10 November, the 90/180 day Visa states the 90 days are calculated from your departure date and you can only have been in Turkey for 90 days during the previous 180 days. What this means is that the start date and end date on your Visa is irrelevant.
http://kalkan.turkishlocalnews.com/portal/component/content/article/67-residency-and-visas/319528-obtaining-a-visa-to-enter-turkey-as-a-visitor?directory=53Here is an excerpt:
Firstly, let's recap on the way things were originally explained, when the new 90/180 day visa system was introduced, back in February 2012.
It was understood that a visa entitled you to stay for 90 days, within a period of 180 days, starting on the first day of entry. The view was that once your visa expired, you could buy another one, and the clock would start ticking again.
The wording on the sticker itself explained things as follows: "MULTIPLE ENTRY VISA VALID FOR AN INTENDED STAY OF NO MORE THAN 90 DAYS PER PERIOD 180 DAYS. DURATION BEGINS ON THE DATE OF ENTRY TO TURKEY. HOLDER HAS NO RIGHT TO WORK".
So for example, in the graphic below, we show a traveller arriving in April for 30 days, and then returning in August and spending a further 60 days - leaving at the end of September. The traveller has a one month break, before coming back to Turkey and buying a new visa in November, and staying for 60 days.
Visa graphic
The original view was that this was perfectly acceptable, even though the traveller has been in Turkey for 120 days between August and December. The point being that this period was on more than one visa, and the clock was seen as being reset when the new visa was purchased.
Our understanding now is that this is not permitted, and in the above scenario, a penalty would be incurred.
The latest view
The key difference in interpretation is that the calculation on how many days you have spent in Turkey is made at your point of departure. It does not matter if the previous 180 days are covered by one visa or two.
The main thing here is that at the point of departure you must not have been in Turkey for more than 90 out of the previous 180 days. If you have exceeded 90 days, you will face a penalty. See graphic below.
Visa graphic
The official wording
Earlier we gave you the wording on the visa sticker, but here is the official wording from the relevant law. (Our thanks to Sozer Çizmeci at
www.expatuci.com for this).
The decision of Council of Ministers to implement the 90/180 days visa rule was taken on 10th October 2011. They amended Article 3 of Law No. 5683 as follows:
“süre…vize muafiyet süresi veya vizede belirtilen kalış süresi yeterli ise yabancının Türkiye'den çıktığı gün itibarıyla önceki 180 gün zarfında 90 gün olarak uygulanır”.
The translation of the amendment is:
"duration is calculated, (if the visa exemption period or visa period is sufficient) as 90 days within the previous 180 days from their date of departure".
The emphasis here is on the words “from their date of departure”.