Turkey offers citizenship to wealthy foreigners who buy property and invest

By bne IntelliNews January 13, 2017

Turkey has made changes to its citizenship laws to lure more foreign capital and investment, local media reported on January 12.

The government will grant citizenship to foreigners who buy properties worth at least $1mn and invest a minimum of $2mn, or deposit at least $3mn in a bank account for more than three years, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The measures are being introduced at a time when the country’s economy is facing strong headwinds. Economic activity has been weak since the failed coup attempt in July last year and the currency remains shaky.

Foreigners purchased a total of 16,727 residential properties in Turkey during January-November last year versus 20,697 a year ago, the latest data from national statistics office TUIK shows.

Iraqis topped the list with the purchase of 2,992 units in the period, followed by Saudis with 1,682 and Kuwaitis with 1,591. Russian citizens bought 1,140 houses in Turkey in the first 11 months of last year.  

Foreigners purchased 5,226 units in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, and 4,037 houses in Antalya, a popular tourist resort.

Turkish real estate companies are optimistic that the citizenship offer will help developers increase their property sales to foreigners to an annual value of $10bn, according to Hurriyet Daily News.

 

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