EXPATS and holidaymakers are being advised of a number of changes on a few fronts here in Turkey.
Here is a quick synopsis of the changes:
Foreign car ownership update
DIDIM’S insurance rep Sami Isik has advised expat car owners of new rules just kicking in.
Basically, those looking to bring in their car from the UK can, according to new laws, bring it in for up to two years compared to the previous six months.
Sami, from Didim’s Aviva Insurance office, said: “If you are willing to bring your car from your own country with you, whether you are retired or not retired, you can keep your car in Turkey for a period of 2 years as long as you keep the car insured with a Turkish insurance policy for Third Party liability.
“You can park your car at home while you are travelling back and forth to your country or somewhere else abroad.
“If you still want to register the car in Turkey, you need to prove your state pension document to be able to register the car in Turkey with Turkish plates alongside a guarantee letter from your bank.”
For more details contact Sami on 0507 245 1743.
BBC shuts down iPlayer to UK VPNs
BBC shuts down iPlayer to UK VPNs
THE BBC is trying to block access to iPlayer from UK VPNs, crushing the spirits of those overseas hoping to get a fix of British telly.
Most expats in Turkey have signed over to XMBC boxes which stream via the Internet a variety of channels and programmes.
However, the BBC said it had instituted a blockade to deter pirates from ripping off its dramas, comedies, documentaries and other programs, which are funded by TV license-fee payers.
VPNs, aka virtual private networks, have many, many uses – including allowing people outside the UK to stream video from iPlayer.
You must be in the UK to watch iPlayer across the internet; using a UK VPN masks your true location, and convinces the BBC you’re in the country and thus allowed to view iPlayer.
Now the corporation is putting a stop to all that, or at least it’s trying to. If you try to watch iPlayer via a VPN, you’ll get this simple error message instead: “BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only.”
“We regularly make updates to our technology to help prevent access to BBC iPlayer from outside the UK, which breaks our terms of use,” a BBC spokesperson told The Register.
“BBC iPlayer is freely available to users across the UK without a VPN, and we also seek to ensure users of private VPNs such as those used by schools and companies in the UK have access.”
Quite how the BBC is banning connections to iPlayer via VPNs is not entirely clear: it appears to have drawn up a list of VPN providers and blocked connections from their IP address ranges. People running their own personal VPN service from a lone server could evade the blockade, potentially.
There’s no word what prompted the shift in position by the BBC, but it’s almost certainly down to rights issues. In 2011, a globally licensed, subscription version of iPlayer was tried out in Western Europe, Australia, and Canada, but the project was cancelled in May.
Ernesto Van der Sar, founder and editor of the Torrent Freak blog, added: “This effectively stops foreigners and expats from accessing the service, but it also affects license paying UK citizens who use a VPN to browse the Internet securely. They will now have to disconnect their VPN if they want to access iPlayer.”
Change to foreign phone registering
TURKISH and foreign visitors are entitled to bring one mobile phone into Turkey every 2 years for use during their stay in Turkey.
The time restriction required to register and tax a foreign mobile phone after entry into Turkey has now changed from 60 days to 120 days.
Unregistered phones will be blocked after 120 days of entry into Turkey. After this period you will not be able to register or unblock the phone.
It is necessary to register the mobile phones in order to use them with SIM card bought from a Turkish network operator. (In order to use such a mobile phone with a SIM card bought in Turkey from a Turkish network operator, the mobile phone number assigned to the SIM card needs to be correlated with the IMEI number of the mobile phone. The handset can only be registered with one line. Phones not registered in this way will be blocked and unable to receive or make calls or SMS)
How to check if your phone is registered
- Go to http://www.mcks.gov.tr/tr/imeisorgu.php
- Input your 15 character IMEI number, you can get this by typing #06# on your phone
- Press the “Sorgula” (search) button
How to register your foreign phone
Mobile phones brought into Turkey are to be registered with the Telecommunication Institution or with the mobile phone shops of Turkish Network Operators (Avea, Turkcell or Telsim).
What you need
165TL
Phones IMEI number (dial #06# on your phone to obtain)
Passport (Identity details indicated on the passport)
Copies of all Turkish entry/exit stamps in the passport
Tax payment reciept
A tax must be paid at the local tax office (vergi dairesi) before taking the phone to be registered. Go to your local tax office and enquire as to the desk for Cep Vergi (Mobile Phone Tax, pronounced Jep Vergee) you will be given a form to fill in (with English labelling also), hand over 115TL and the form to get your Tax reciept, dont lose this!
At the phone shop
Hand over all your documents and another 50TL and any mobile phone shop can register your phone, of course you will need a Turkish SIM card and Kontor now, good job youre in a mobile phone shop! Foreigners can obtain mobile phone contracts but you will have to pay a hefty deposit amounting to thousands of lira before being allowed, these vary between providers.
Online registration
As an alternative to visiting the phone shop you can now register your phone online if youre feeling brave. You can visit http://www.mcks.gov.tr/tr/index.php
You will have to submit information from the Tax receipt and your ID details and you should be able to register your phone online.
Steep hikes in car insurance due
RECENT hikes in mandatory auto insurance premiums have placed a huge burden on the public, with commercial driver unions lamenting sloppy regulations that have left citizens at the mercy of insurance companies.
Vehicle owners are required to take out a liability insurance policy to cover damages to other vehicles and third parties in event of an accident, with further coverage for their own vehicles also available upon request.
Yet, recent deregulation has helped insurance companies exploit drivers’ obligation to obtain insurance, associations familiar with the issue have remarked.
Since it is the commercial drivers who have the highest risk of accidents, their premiums increase more sharply than those of private drivers.
“We find it wrong that premiums for obligatory insurance are set in the free market. The state must decide on both the price and risks in compulsory insurance. … [Since deregulation], insurance companies have raised premiums eight times from April alone,” said Fevzi Apaydın, chairman of the Turkish Drivers and Automobile Federation (TŞOF).
The annual premium for the mandatory insurance of a minibus surged from TL 1,300 in 2014 to TL 11,810 this year, although the driver had no accidents during the last policy period, Apaydın said.
Drivers must renew compulsory insurance every year and pay premiums based on a risk exposure that changes according to accidents on the driver’s record.
Turk petrol tax hike
Despite a global drop in the price of oil, Turkey still imposes one of the world’s highest rates of tax on gas with a 64 percent tax burden per liter of gasoline, 56 percent for diesel and 54 percent for LPG, according to a recent report by the Energy Market Regulatory Agency (EPDK).
Although the price per barrel of oil fell to $47 recently, Turkish consumers have not benefited from this fall in prices, with taxes on fuel continuing to rise.
According to the EPDK report, the average pre-tax price per liter of gasoline, diesel fuel and gas stood at TL 1.64, TL 1.71 and TL 1.11, respectively, throughout September.
A customer purchasing TL 100 of fuel pays TL 64 tax for gasoline, TL 54 TL for diesel and TL 53 for LPG.
Turkey ranks fifth in Europe for the level of tax imposed on fuel, following the United Kingdom, Italy, France and the Netherlands.