An old Chinese proverb states: “Heaven forbid you from living in the time of changes”. Because whatever changes are – for good or for bad – they always bring unrest and discomfort for a while. And if these changes concern the foreigners in Turkey, it makes them even more ominous, since we know that we are just the guests here and can’t claim our rights.
When the laws change, they effect many institutions and authorities, and while each of them learns its role in new order, the time passes, and people have to make up with the discomfort and chaos it brings into their lives. Like, in January a friend of mine was in a rush collecting necessary papers for her marriage with a Turkish citizen. It was a turn of obligatory blood test, but according to new order, the clinics which usually made this test, couldn’t provide them any more, but still nobody knew where people have to turn. For over a week there were no marriages with the foreigners, since people couldn’t submit to the blood tests.
But still it’s nothing comparing to the panic about new visa-free entry agreement between Turkey and Russia. One would think – what’s that to you, if you are already married and live in Turkey? But since the beginning I’ve been expecting some trap in it. Why would Turkey refuse an annual income of some million dollars if there still wasn’t a problem for the tourists but waiting in extra line at the airport to exchange their money for a stamp in their passport? What Turkey actually did is used this new law as an opportunity to change its internal laws concern Russians in Turkey. The notorious law hasn’t even come into force, but sparked mass panic among Russians. According to new order, already published on the site of Turkish Embassy in Moscow, if you want to stay in Turkey longer than 1 month, you can get a residence permit, which will be given just in Turkish Embassy or Consulates in Russia, whoever you are – either a property owner or a wife of a Turkish citizen. First of all, this one-month stay is a problem for people who own apartments here and planned to spend at least two-month holiday as they used to do, and second, imagine a panic of women who are married here and get the news about leaving their husbands and going to Moscow for a couple of months to wait for residence permit.
Feeling the waves of panic I started to search for the information on the forums but the result of my research was just more panic. That’s why I decided to learn everything from authorities or from a person, close to authorities. The President of Alanya Russian Association Anjelika Anzhela, who spoke to Chief of Police recently, said: “Never mind this new law until April 17. Everybody writes and says different things but they still don’t know the new order themselves. So, no panic until everything settles down. After April 17 we will organize a meeting with Police and other authorities where local Russians will be able to ask all the questions.”
What is for sure already and is really good news – it’s that the fees for residence permit for Russians will be changed and now it’s like 25$ per year!
So, life’s going on, whatever tomorrow brings. We got used to changes, so we’ll survive again!
Take care.