Strange law in Turkey

[DaveRo]

This was posted to a sailing forum. I'm reposting it here with Jan's permission.

Re earlier correspondence: most people responded that yes it is true that you should register your foreign mobile phone with customs on landing in Turkey and/or you should register it with the company (eg Vodafone) at which you buy your local SIM card, otherwise your foreign mobile phone will be disconnected a few weeks/months later (as mine was).

So on landing in Istanbul Ataturk I went to (1) customs, who denied that they are supposed to do any such registration and so refused to do it, and (2) Vodafone, who confirmed that they can do such registration but said that their relevant systems are "down" for they know not how long. In frustration I bought a cheap local mobile, which is naturally pre-registered.

One person reported that Vodafone Marmaris (in contrast to Vodafone Kusadasi or Vodafone Istanbul airport) did register a foreign mobile for him, and another reported that Turkcell (who also refused to register for me in Kusadasi) are generally readier to register elsewhere. So I shall try one or both when convenient.

Jan Ledóchowski