Turkey - Important Facts

TURKEY

Full country name: Republic of Turkey

Area: 779,452 sq km

Population: 68.1 million

Capital City: Ankara

People: Turks (85%), Kurds (12%), 3% other Islamic peoples, Armenians, Jews

Language: Turkish, Arabic, Armenian, Greek, Kurdish

Religion: Muslim

Time Zone: GMT+2

Dialling Code: 90

Weights & measures: Metric

Member of EU: No

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TIME DIFFERENCES

Turkish time is Greenwich Mean Time plus two hours, with no seasonal change for daylight-saving. This means Turkish time is two hours ahead of British time during the winter, but only one hour ahead during the summer when British clocks go forward to British Summer Time (GMT + one hour).

ELECTRICITY

The voltage in Turkey is 220 volts, 50 cycles AC, as in Europe. A few buildings in Old Istanbul are still on 110 volts, but the voltage is usually marked on the sockets.

WATER

The water in Turkey is perfectly safe to drink, but it often has an after-taste because it is very heavily chlorinated. Most people prefer to drink mineral water which is cheap and plentiful throughout the country.

POST OFFICES

Post offices are usually located in the main squares of towns and cities and can be recognized by a yellow sign bearing the black initials PTT (Posta, Telefon, Telgraf). Major post offices are open from 8 a.m. to midnight from Monday to Saturday, and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays. Small offices are open from 8.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from 1.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m. from Monday to Friday. You can use post offices to buy stamps and telephone tokens, to make telephone calls and to send letters and telegrams.

If you wish to send a parcel home from one of the cities you must go to a special parcel post office (Paket Postahane) where your package will undergo a customs inspection. This normally involves a lot of red tape, and the process is so slow you begin to wonder if it's worth the bother. In small towns you'll probably find that the PTT office also serves as a Paket Postahane and the formalities usually take a lot less time.

Poste restante is only available at the central post offices (Merkez Postahane) in the major cities. Poste restante mail should be addressed Poste Restante, Merkez Postahane, followed by the city of your choice (Istanbul, Ankara or ýzmir).