The comment reads as follows: “Dear Mr. Çektir, I have been reading Today's Zaman for two years. I'm the widow of a Turkish doctor, with an Austrian passport. My husband worked for 40 years in Germany. Due to the fact that this newspaper is published in English, the handling and behavior of the Republic of Turkey and their controlling institutions is mostly seen from a British or American expat's perspective and this is not a true picture of Turkey. Coming back from a trip to Germany, I saw your article about official translations today. From my point of view, it reflects the saving-money-mania of European people. With an Internet connection it is quite easy to get all documents translated in your home country; all major translation offices have liability insurance and that makes it safe. It usually takes two days to get this done. The price is, of course, higher but that means people are saving money in the wrong place and that will later fall on the shoulders of unprofessional people in Turkey.
“How can you find people of the same professional level as in major European cities in small places like Didim? For documents like contracts, there has been a system in place since Oct. 5, 1961, the Hague Convention, of which Turkey is a member and under which an official document called an Apostille Certificate can be issued. All the information about it is available on the internet. On the one hand people are investing thousands of pounds or euros and on the other they are trying to save on the cost of translation and UPS, etc. I don't understand that.
“Another topic in your legal corner is the question of residency in Turkey which is always seen through the eyes of and commented upon by British and American people. The Turkish state handles this in a very democratic way. The demands a country makes on a Turkish citizen who wants to reside in their country are the same as the demands and costs made by Turkey. As an Austrian citizen I pay NOTHING for residency in Turkey, because the Republic of Austria has the same regulation for Turkish people and is easy in handling the case. I got my first residency for five years and also after the death of my husband. The second one was for another five years and only took 10 days from the İzmir Police Department. One of my girlfriends, who is of German origin, paid 60 euros and got hers in 10 days. The same price is charged in Germany for a similar document.
“I would like to give you an idea of the behavior of the British immigration office towards Turkish citizens: Great Britain is not a member of the Schengen Agreement and that means a tourist visa fee for Turkish visitors. Many years ago, we needed one for my husband. You cannot imagine the paperwork that was required and how expensive it was. My husband was working at that time in a hospital in Germany; they wanted to know everything about us -- savings books, income, that he was still a member of staff, etc., and a personal interview. I blew up in the consulate because I felt there was so much discrimination against my husband and asked for the consul himself. I told him we were happy to be German citizens and had no plans to ever immigrate to the UK. We weren't able to accept a long wait because my husband was the emergency doctor later that afternoon. The price for the visa was very high but our cruise ship had a stop in Edinburgh. Isn't it right that Turkey handles this in the same way? These people should ask their government to do better, not the Turkish one. … I hope that in the future you publish more carefully regarding this matter -- but how would you know about it if you haven't had the same experience. I love Turkey and I have never had a problem with the authorities; everybody tries to understand my ‘çat-pat Türkçe.' Best regards.”
If I understand your point correctly, you are highlighting that only stressful and bad experiences are published here, giving people the impression that this is the whole picture of Turkey.
First of all, I would say that you shouldn't be worried about this. Millions of people still think that this is a very nice country and the people are also very pleasant. People do not write letters or send complaint emails to a newspaper when they are happy about something. At least I have never received delightful letters about services in Turkey. In this article in particular, I focused on two major points: the first one being that a notary should accept another document created by another notary and should not insist on creating a new one and causing an additional cost and the second one that translators are supposed to make precise translations, not what the other party needs to hear in a transaction.
Thank you very much for this nice letter drawing attention to an important matter for me. I will write more about your constructive comments in the next article.
NOTE: Berk Çektir is a licensed attorney at law and available to answer questions on the legal aspects of living in Turkey. Send enquiries to b.cektir@todayszaman.com The names of readers are disclosed only upon written approval of the sender.DISCLAIMER: The information provided here is intended to give basic legal information. You should get legal assistance from a licensed attorney at law while conducting legal transactions and not just rely on the information in this corner.
