The draft is welcoming news to all foreign investors as it relaxes the current rules and makes the purchasing process faster.
The current rules have come in for criticism among both foreign investors and the Turkish real estate sector for the amount of time it takes and tedious legal procedures involved when it comes to selling and buying properties and lands.
It also allows only foreign individuals and limited companies set up in Turkey by foreigners to purchase properties.
In the new draft, the limit usage rights of foreigners regarding property they purchased in Turkey to 99 years has been shelved and the much dreaded process of writing to the Turkish General Staff to make sure a piece of land or property is not located on a military zone has been reformed.
The new draft proposes that the General Staff prepares a map showing which parcels cannot be sold due to national security concerns. Until such a map is prepared, military authorities will have to respond to requests to buy property adjacent to military zones in one month at most.
Also the new reforms will allow foreign registered limited corporate entities to acquire properties directly. This will have huge implications on the Turkish real estate sector; it will enable companies registered in tax havens such as Gibraltar to purchase properties as well as enable off shore property ownerships which is currently not possible.
The draft is also somewhat controversial considering it gives citizens of Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Gulf Arab nations unlimited access to Turkish lands whiles banning Greek and Israeli nationals from buying Turkish lands.
However, the draft is generally positive and will boost foreign investments in Turkey, it gives almost all foreign nationals access to land investments in Turkey unless they are from Greece or Israel, then it’s a different matter.
But it is not all bad news, Greek and Israeli nationals might not be able to move to Turkey but at least they can still enjoy a holiday home.
