Rough guide to living in Turkey 

Language:The principal language in Turkey is Turkish, but in most touristic areas alot of people will speak a level of English, German, Dutch, French, Russian. 

Religion:Although a secular country, Turkey is 99% Muslim with the remaining 1% consisting of Christian and Jew. 

Identification:Both citizens and tourists are requested to carry photographic identification at all times 

Currency:Since 1st Jan 2004 the Turkish Lira has been faded out of circulation in favour of the Yeni Turk Lira (YTL), to enable a re-valuation of th Turkish monetry system to bring it into line with European Union membership.In the tourist areas most foreign currencies are either accept or can be easily changed.‘Shopping around’ can give better exchange rates and banks won’t necessarily give better rates than the high street change shops. 

Water:Tap water, in most places, is not suitable for human consumption.  It is perfectly fine for cooking and washing etc.Bottled water is available nearly everywhere and is either spring water or UV treated.Water delivery trucks will often drive set routes and offer a deposit scheme on large bottles of drinking water (19 litres), where by your empty water bottle is exchanged each time with another sealed bottle.  The deposit should be approximately 10 YTL and each exchanged bottle is approximately 2.5 - 3 YTL.Pumps to fit the water bottles are available in most supermarkets. 

Sanitation:There is no house specfic rubbish collection in Turkey, it is left to the individual to take their waste to one of the many council provided bins.  These bins are then generally emptied on a daily basis.The sewage system’s are not designed to take toilet paper or any other sanitary products and will block, instead it is expected that bins are used to collect any sanitary waste, which will then be thrown away with the other household waste as often as required.The vast majority of houses and public toilets, uses the modern ‘bowl toilet’, though the older style ‘squat toilets’ are still used in more remote areas.The small nozzel found at the back of the toilet bowl is connected to a tap to allow control of the water flow and is used to wash ones-self after using the toilet, similar to a beeday. 

Electricity & Electrical appliances:
·        Is 220-240V AC, the same as most of Europe.
·        Plugs & sockets are 2-pin.
·        UK style 3-pin converters are widely available.
·        Commonly used household appliances are widely available, including branded names. 

Supermarkets & Food shopping:‘Normal Ekmek’ is the standard loaf of bread in Turkey and is delivered fresh daily to markets, everywhere.  Other types of bread are available at Bakers and Supermarkets.Milk is usualy Long-life, though fresh milk is available.  Milk is ‘Sut’ and shouldn’t be confused with ‘Ayran’ a Turkish drink made from plain yoghurt, water and salt to aid digestion, often presented in a similar way to milk.The main supermarket chains in Turkey are: Migros, Gima, Tansaş and Kipa.  All providing a standard shopping experience similar to any store throughout Europe, Kipa is even part owned by Tesco’s.On the Bodrum Peninsula some of the supermarkets provide a free service bus that run set routes for their customers.  The same stores also run a yacht service, contact the store direct for more details.As mentioned above, because the majority religion is Muslim, pork products are often hard to find or very expensive.Imported wine & spirits are very expensive due to the high levels of tax placed on them.Turkish wine has improved greatly in recent years and some very good bottles are available at reasonable prices.A day trip to one of the neighbouring Greek Islands can provide most of the food products not available in Turkey if you can’t live without. 

Driving:Similar to most European countries, driving is on the right.Drivers are required to carry their driving license (with additional picture identification if not on the license) as well as the vehicle documents at all times, as routine stops by the Jandarma are common. Failure to produce the required documents when asked can result in on the spot fines.
· Speed limits are: 120kmh on designated highways,90kmh on all other major roads,70kmh where sign posted,50kmh through villages and where sign posted.