If you want to use your mobile phone in Türkiye, you are obliged to officially register your phone (or any device which has a call feature) within 120 days. You can do this in person at a tax office or online. The steps to registering your phone are as follows:
- Find out your phone’s IMEI number by dialling *#06#
- Do the payment either at a tax office or online at turkiye.gov.tr using a Turkish credit card, or you can pay at a recognized bank that is authorized to take payments for this procedure.
- Purchase a Turkish sim card unless you already have one.
- Connect your sim card with your IMEI number. You can do this on: https://giris.turkiye.gov.tr/Giris/ by typing “IMEI Kaydet”in the search bar and clicking “Bilgi Teknolojileri ve Iletisim Kurumu/ Imei Kaydet”. It will direct you to a form to register your mobile phone. You can use the same website to check the progress of your application or call the BTK (information technologies and communications) hotline at 120 for updates.
The second option is to purchase a phone and a sim card in Türkiye.