I am considering living in Turkey for a while. I already have my own work and entrepreneurial projects that I can do from comforts of my own home or anywhere there is Internet.
So basically, I'll be working remotely, and Turkey seems to offer a fine living experience with lower cost of life compared to say where I am now. (2 - 4x difference in most cases)
All I need is some fine nature rich place which has access to all the good stuff like super markets and stores and all, but is still not a very heavy populated city or something.
Any ideas? Do I have to know Trukish to survive there? What about renting apartments? I heard Turks are not very open to foreigners?
Also, any ideas about short term residential visas?
Ankara, and other cities in Ankara region would suit you.
Istanbul is a 'crowded city' so if that suits you, sure why not. If you want something with Islamabad vibes, calm environment and enough big city infrastructures, then Ankara, Eskişehir come to mind, green patchy cities. Coastline cities also fit, Antalya being one.
All cities have supermarkets, enough facilities and stuff, there are plenty of places for entertainment activities.
You will 100% need Turkish to survive normally. You can always use your google translator but it's still very difficult to work with. In my experience, outside Istanbul, 90% of Turkish people don't know English at all, and those who do know don't know it very well to converse in it easily.
Like any country, you will find racists in Turkey as well. But generally speaking Turkish people are very welcoming and kind, but you will find bad apples everywhere ofcourse. They're more open and kind towards Pakistani people and Turkic people from other Turkic countries.
In regards to Apartments, they cost, a lot. I don't know but I do know they cost a lot.
Also one Turkish member already mentioned some rents but I find them hard to believe.
In my experience, in Ankara, apartments in the lower end will cost 1500 TL+ for a 3 room, per month. The utilities are not covered but save gas, utilities are cheap. In the mid range, it can be 2500 TL+ per month. And so on. So it's not expensive, pretty decent. The prices ofcourse depend on the location as much as on the condition.
Regarding residence and citizenship. You will need a residence permit issued for foreigners, and as for citizenship, they don't provide it to foreigners, you have to invest some millions of dollars to get it immediately, and in the case where you become eligible then you have to give up your original citizenship since dual citizenship isn't allowed.
None of these should be a concern for you. There are two big concerns you should have as a Pakistani.
1. The Food
No, this is not a joke. Turkish food will taste very non spicy to a Pakistani. They don't spice their food so much at all.
Secondly, you won't be able to find Pakistani, or subcontinental, masalas outside of Istanbul, they're nor imported into supermarkets. So unless you know how to cook from the very basics, making tasty Pakistani dishes might be a tough one and you should see what works without the masalas.
You will grow tired of Turkish cuisine, its very delicious and interesting but eventually becomes repetitive a bit if you plan on living there, because you're not used to it and you will miss spicy food like Tikka, a lot.
2. General Culture
This entirely depends on your outlook in life. If you want to raise your family and for that reason, or just generally, are looking for a more religious environment, and are annoyed by 'non religious practices', then Turkey might not be the best place if this is an important consideration. You will find religious groups as well as non religious groups ofcourse, but I am talking about the norms and what's allowed in general society.
Hope it helps.
Turkey is a very great, calm country to live in so if you do move here, you will enjoy it.
On the other end, I have to ask why not consider the upscale societies and residencies being built in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Quetta and Peshawar? By Bahria Town, DHA among other big companies. The amount of money one will pump into a foreign country to settle into a mid to upper end life, they can pump that for an upscale life in Pakistan which has way more of life luxury to offer.
But up to oneself. Hope if helps.
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