It appears the rumour mill has been working overtime recently with stories of foreigners having their vehicles confiscated and subject to big fines because they didn’t hold a Turkish driving licence. Fethiye Times has received a number of e-mails from worried readers asking whether or not they need to change their British driving licence into a Turkish one.

As ever we have done our best to obtain rock solid information from an impeccable official source in Ankara and, in this case, have even translated the relevant Section 88 of the law on driving licences.  This Section is headed ‘Driving Licences Obtained in Other Countries’. 

In brief the law says:

1.  If you stay here on a tourist visa i.e. you visit regularly, or live here but go in and out every 90 days, you can drive on just your British licence.

2. If you hold a residence permit you should have your British licence translated into Turkish and notarised – or translated by the British Consulate – and carry the Turkish translation at all times along with the original British licence.

3. Only if you hold Turkish citizenship do you need a Turkish driving licence.

Fethiye Times will be ‘converting’ a British licence to a Turkish one over the summer so we’ll let you know about the process involved.

In the mean time drive safely, legally and don't take the rumours too seriously.