Türkiye
A customs union with the EU and a bridge to the Caucasus and the Middle East
Türkiye has been in a customs union with the European Union since 1995 — no duty is paid on industrial goods in either direction, and consignments travel with an A.TR certificate rather than a proof of origin. That makes it the nearest non-EU manufacturing market and a natural Middle Corridor hub. Agricultural products and coal and steel sit outside the customs union under their own regime.
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Setting up a company
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Legal forms
- ·Sole trader
- ·Foreign ownership
- ·How long registration takes
- ·Documents to incorporate
- ·What to watch for
- ·Special regimes and zones
Taxes
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Corporate income tax
- ·VAT
- ·Withholding tax — dividends
- ·Double taxation treaty
Visas and residence
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Short stay
- ·Residence
Citizenship
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Citizenship by investment
- ·Dual citizenship
Investment opportunities
Setting up a company and tax are the part of the profile you cannot assemble elsewhere in an afternoon. The rest of the page is open.
- ·Zones and incentives
What it makes and needs
Motor vehicles and parts, machinery, textiles and clothing, steel, food and chemicals.
Energy, machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals and automotive components.
Industrial machinery and automation, automotive components, power and renewables, healthcare, food technology.
Money and payments
TRY — Turkish lira
The rate floats and the lira has depreciated persistently amid high inflation. Domestic contracts between residents must be in lira under the currency rules; cross-border contracts are written in EUR or USD.
Importing into their market
A customs union with the EU for industrial goods: no duty, and the consignment travels with an A.TR certificate. Agricultural and ECSC products have their own preferential regime with a proof of origin.
Türkiye has adopted most EU technical regulation, so CE marking is recognised across much of the range; some products additionally need Turkish registration or a conformity document.
Bringing their goods into the EU
Industrial goods of Turkish origin enter the EU duty-free on an A.TR certificate. Agricultural lines carry quotas and their own rates.
Outlook
Base case: the customs union with the EU keeps industrial goods duty-free in both directions, domestic manufacturing stays strong and cheap, and the main contract risk is not tariffs but the currency. When invoicing in lira without hedging, the exchange-rate risk sits with the supplier.
What to watch: inflation and the central bank rate, the lira, a possible modernisation of the customs union with the EU (talks cover extending it to agriculture and services), and CBAM's effect on Turkish steel and cement exports.
Practical matters
Turkish is the language of the authorities and the registers; English is common in exporting firms and in the larger cities.
Road haulage from the EU is regular and fast; the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway links Türkiye to the Middle Corridor, and Mersin and Ambarlı serve the Mediterranean.
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A visa, legalising a document, an invitation letter, the commercial attaché before a trade fair — these only go through a mission. Below are the official registers rather than transcribed addresses: missions move and consular hours change several times a year, so a link to the register stays current where a transcript would not.
Where a country has no mission in Bratislava or Prague it is usually accredited from Vienna, Berlin or Warsaw — the register says which.
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