“Signs like in a zoo”: they decided to mark Russian homeowners in Turkey

“They want to put signs on us, like in a zoo!” – Russian owners of Turkish housing are outraged, having learned from the local press that the authorities intend to “mark houses owned by foreigners with special signs.”

We found out who and what is behind this initiative and who should be alarmed.

The article, to which compatriots point in horror, reports that “real estate labeling” is an initiative of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism as part of the regulation on “regulating tourism activities.”

“We are not talking about housing that foreigners purchased for their own lives, but about the one they rent out to the detriment of the Turkish tourism industry,” the country’s Ministry of Tourism answers clarification questions. – This is not news; hoteliers and simply residents of tourist areas have been collecting signatures against the rental activities of foreigners since November.

Mehmet, a local realtor who works with Russians, explains the situation in simpler terms:

– It’s no secret that local homeowners in resort areas and in Istanbul do not like the fact that their business is being taken away by newcomers. And Russians are the most alarmed, since most of all rent out apartments bought in Turkey to tourists.

The Turkish press said that the houses of foreign owners will be “marked with a standard sign board installed at the entrance portal of the building.”

– What does “standard” mean? Are there already such signs somewhere? And what do they look like? – I appeal to the “Russian” real estate agency in Antalya.

“That’s the problem,” sighs the Russian-speaking manager Zeki. “Such signs have never existed; they were just invented.” But they haven’t figured out how to write it correctly yet, so they announced a tender. So that foreign owners don’t rush to court with something like segregation. You can’t write “Caution, the property belongs to a foreign citizen.” And the meaning of the action is precisely this – so that tourists know.

– But they already know who they rent from!

– Well, firstly, foreign owners often act through Turkish managers. And secondly, this is also necessary so that both illegal landlords and tenants understand that they will be checked. And sometimes the savings on illegal rentals are not worth the hassle that guests will receive from all sorts of inspections.

According to domestic tourists who have already experienced these “inspections”, the money saved is really not comparable to the unrest they experienced.

“We rented an apartment on the Aegean Sea from a Russian through domestic social networks,” shares Muscovite Marina. – First-hand, from your own – it’s cheaper than going on a tour or renting from the Turks, especially since international aggregators no longer officially work in Russia, and, therefore, are not responsible for the quality of services provided to Russians. We agreed and paid for housing in the Russian Federation with a card, which is more convenient than carrying around extra cash or scouring Turkey in search of a bank that services our cards.

According to the tourist, at the beginning the whole family – Marina, her husband and two teenage children – were very happy about the successful deal with their compatriot.

– The apartment is large, everyone has a bedroom and a toilet, the residential complex has its own swimming pool – the children are delighted! – Marina recalls. “But already on the second day our doors were pasted with some leaflets in Turkish and English. The first time we didn’t even bother to read it, we just threw it out. But the next morning they were stuck on again. Then we took them to the manager of the residential complex. And he said that our owner, judging by the leaflets, had big problems that he didn’t know about, and it would be better for us to move out before it’s too late.

According to Marina, she and her husband nodded to the manager, but out of Russian habit, they decided that not everything was so scary. And they didn’t even bother the owner of their home.

“We only came for three weeks and we have already paid for them,” Marina explains her behavior. – And our landlord has owned these apartments for five years. And probably over the years he has already learned to deal with the “big Turkish problems.” And our paid three weeks certainly don’t solve anything here.

Marina admits that she and her husband even had a crazy thought about whether the “problems” were set up by the owner himself in order to quickly smoke out some of the tenants and re-let the property again.

– And then we’ll search for him on social networks! – the Muscovite throws up his hands. – In general, we didn’t even call the owner, as if nothing had happened. But the next morning a whole delegation of people in uniform came to us. It turned out that the tax service. We replied that the owner of the property was neither in the apartment nor in the country. And we were told that since we, as tenants, did not insist on formalizing the transaction with the landlord, then we are also responsible, and a lawsuit may be filed against us. We supposedly had to make sure that our landlord filed a declaration with the tax office.

After this, the “unauthorized” tourists were politely asked to move out without waiting for a lawsuit.

“We lost money,” Marina sighs. – The owner of the house said that there was no need to be cowardly and run away, the tax authorities “just took us for a show-off.” I don’t know, but we never set foot near our compatriots anymore. And we spent our vacation in the private sector with the Turks.

According to Turkish tax officials, to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again, “signs like in a zoo” were conceived. The first batch is planned to contain 1,200 aluminum plates, and the tender for the “correct” text on them will end on March 25. The inscription on a sign on a foreigner’s house in Turkey is expected to “protect the interests of respectable tourists and ensure their safety.”