If you have already fulfilled your dream of buying a property in Turkey and moving to live in Turkey, you may need to travel by car. You can read about the rules for importing cars to Turkey at the link https://operaproperty.com/ru/rules-for-importing-a-car-with-foreign-license-plates-to-turkey-in-2021/

Foreigners who have a driver’s license obtained at home have the opportunity to drive a car with their driver’s license for 6 months from the moment of entry into the country. After this period, you can:

Or leave Turkey and re-enter, resetting the deadline.
Or replace your driver’s license with a Turkish one. How to do this, we wrote in the previous article “Replacing a driver’s license with a Turkish one”.
If you have not previously received a driver’s license, then you can get a Turkish driver’s license.

The procedure for obtaining a license in Turkey is identical with many countries of the former CIS: it is necessary to study at a driving school and pass exams.

To start training, you must provide the necessary package of documents to the driving school.

 

Documents for obtaining a Turkish driver’s license:

A certificate of secondary education or a diploma of higher education, translated into Turkish and notarized.
Medical certificate of health status (sağlık raporu). It is taken in any hospital.
The original and a copy of the icamet (residence permit).
The original and a copy of the foreign passport.
4 biometric photos.

Recruitment to driving schools takes place constantly. As a rule, it is necessary to submit documents before the 9th of each month.

Estimated cost of obtaining the rights to category B (mechanics, automatic):

1600 TL – training course (theory lessons + driving lessons)
100 TL – Theory exam
200 TL – Driving test
988 TL – tax + plastic driver’s license

 

STAGE 1: theory

After submitting the documents, theory lessons begin on the appointed date. They are conducted in the driving school itself in Turkish, but some driving schools also have training in Russian. In any case, all materials are provided in pictures, the rules are very similar to ours, so be sure that you can easily figure it out.

The theoretical part lasts 5 working days, from 18:00 to 20:00 and includes: traffic rules, first aid, the device of the car. Attending theoretical classes is not mandatory, but we still recommend attending them.

After passing the theory, the driving school submits an application for the exam. The exact date, as a rule, is not known, it is appointed by the Ministry of Education, approximately 10-15 days after the application is submitted, providing time for preparation for the applicant.

 

The theoretical exam is conducted in the form of testing on a computer. To be admitted to the exam, you need to have a pass card with you, which you will be given at a driving school, as well as a passport and an icamete. You have the option to choose the language in which you will answer (Turkish, English, Russian, Arabic, Chinese). The test result will be known immediately after the exam. If you have not scored a passing score, you will have 3 more attempts: each next one after 45 days. It is worth remembering that you will have to pay for each attempt.

 

STAGE 2: DRIVING

After successfully passing the theoretical exam, driving lessons begin. The training includes the following skills: parking, L parking, driving on the highway, observing signs, ring, riding uphill, backing up on a slide, instant brake, riding downhill, traffic lights, traffic in a locality. During the training period, you must receive a notification from the Ministry of Education about the date and time of the driving test, which is assigned individually.

 

On the day of the exam, you need to be on the spot 20 minutes before the scheduled time. You must have a foreign passport, an ikamete and comfortable shoes with you. At the exam, a commission of 2 people and your instructor will be present in the car with you. The exam will take place at the site where you studied and along the same route.

If you have successfully reached the finish line, then the exam is passed!

On the exam, you need to be careful and extremely attentive. At the first mistake (for example, they forgot to turn on the signal), the commission disembarks from the car and this means that the exam has not been passed. Just like for the theory exam, you have 4 attempts to pass the driving test, and also each of them is paid separately.

 

After passing the exam within 5 days, you need to pay the tax and come to the driving school for your personal file, which, together with the payment receipt, must be taken to the Nüfus Müdürlüğü (population Department). After checking the documents and paying, you will be fingerprinted and in 5 working days your driver’s license will come to your home address by mail.

Features of Turkish road traffic

Turks behave quite aggressively on the roads. Violation of the rules on local roads is a common thing, both on the part of drivers and pedestrians. Those who plan to drive a car in Turkey will have to get used to these features. Strict compliance with the rules, especially the speed limit, will annoy other drivers. But we need to remain calm and not succumb to provocations.

The main part of the traffic rules in Turkey is almost the same as in Russia. Therefore, it will not be difficult for Russians to delve into the specifics of the local traffic management system.

But the amounts of fines are noticeably different. In Turkey, penalties for traffic violations are stricter than in Russia.