Communication Services

 Telephone : The telephone infrastructure is an organized, efficiently working direct dialing system. Turkey's systems are the 6th in Europe and 12th in the world. All residential areas in whole Turkey are linked to this system. The main service provider is the Turk Telekom half privatized telecommunication company. The telephone numbers do have 7 digits in Turkey. Every town/city has its own 3 digits "Area Code". Please click for the area codes in Turkey.

Calling Turkey :
Country Code of Turkey is 90. A call to Turkey would have the following dialing format : Your Access Code for international dial + 90 + area code (City-town code) + telephone number. Example: incase you need to dial 664 78 98 in European side of Istanbul you dial ; Your Int Access code + 90 + 212 + 664 78 98

Calling International From Turkey : 

The International Access code in Turkey is 00. To call your home town dial:  00 + your country code + your area code + telephone number . You also can call with operator assistance. By dialing 115 you can reach to Turk Telekom's international operator. Register the call details to operator. The operator will provide the connection for you.

Calling Intercity In Turkey :

The Intercity Access code in turkey is 0. To call some one in another city dial 0 + the area code + telephone number. You also can call with operator assistance. The 3 digit number 131 will take you to Turk Telekom's operator. Register the desired telephone number and other details. Operator will place the call for you and will connect you to the requested number.

Calling in the city :

Just dial the 7 digit number. The only exception is in Istanbul. The Asian side (216) and the European side (212) do have different area codes and in case you call from the European to the Asişan side of Istanbul (or visa versa) you should dial the area code also . 

Free Numbers :

00-800- Home Country Direct Calls can be made from any private or public telephone.

Calling From Your Hotel : 

As the telephone charge would be more expensive from normal , it is not much advised to call from hotels. we advice you to inform about the minute tariff before calling. Specially in deluxe five stars properties these tariffs may be above expectation. Most of the hotels do have direct call system. After a special access number  (you could learn this from your reception, concierge or info kit in your room) you should dial the country code, area code and number. Incase there is no direct dial , the operator of the hotel would assist you for telephone calls.

Public Pay Phones : 

Public telephones are conveniently located throughout the country. They do work with telephone cards of 30,60 and 100 counter. For a short international call one 30 counter card might be enough. You could buy these cards in yellow signed PTT (post) buroes, grocers or street sellers near the telephone and in some hotels from the concierge. 

Calling : Lift the telephone, select the requested language using the put-ons on the screen. Some telephones may be locked for that moment, if you read on the screen "only for emergency calls" , than you could not make a call from that telephone, just look for another one. Place the card into the slot to the direction arrow mentioned on the card. When a beeping sound is heard, dial the number. During the conversation if you hear a beep, that is to remind you that your credits are about to run out. You will see the number of remaining units flashing and the message "Change Card" on the display. When you see this message press the "Card change" button and insert the new card. The charge will vary according the length of the call and the distance to the called number. During weekdays from 18:00 to 06:00 and on weekends calls are comparatively cheaper than the normal times as one can speak longer with the same amount of phone credit.

Cellular Phones : 

In Turkey there are four GSM operators, Turkcell (12 millions), Telsim (5 millions), Aria (1 million) and Aycell (500 thousand) do share the market. You could use your own cellular by selecting a local net work (Telsim or Turkcell) or could rent a cellular phone. Please contact our assistance department for renting a cellular phone.    

Emergency & Service Numbers :

These numbers are valid anywhere in Turkey and put you immediately in contact with the Turkish emergency services. Calling these services are offered free of charge, 24 hours a day 365 days a year. If you use a card operated public phone, you can directly dial the emergency number without inserting the card. 

Public and Social Services Numbers
Traffic	154	Psychological Depression	182
Tourism	170	Women & Social Services	183
Security	174	Health	184
Consumer	175	Water Breakdown	185
Labor Exchange	180	Electricity Breakdown	186
Environment	181	Gas Breakdown	187
Tax Information	189	Funeral Services	188

 

Some Useful Special Numbers
International Operator	115
Dial 115 and let the operator place the international call for you.
Toll Operator	131
To place national calls between different areas via the operator, dial 131.
Directory Assistance	118
In order to get phone number, call 118, and let the operator help you.
Paging Operator	133
If you wish to send a message to someone who owns a pager, you can directly dial the pager and send your short notation message, or, you can call 133 and let the operator help you.

Postal service : Turkey’s postal services are comparatively organized and efficient. All post offices bear the distinctive yellow PTT sign (Post, Telephone, Telegrams) and are open between 9:00 AM to 12:00 and 1:30 to 5:00 PM.in weekdays. Larger and central offices are open from 08:00-24:00.Letters, Post cards and open enveloped post cards do have different tariffs. You could post your cards and letters from the Post offices with machinery stamps or Euse regular stamps and send them via the reception of your hotel or post office mail boxes. 

e-Mail

The usage of electronic mail and internet is increasing rapidly in Turkey. The usage of internet is around 10 millions (1/6 of the population) . You could use the line in your room for your laptop connection, or use a computers which has internet access in your hotel. Five and fours stars properties do have a business center or computers with internet access, just ask assistance from the reception of your hotel. Another possibility is the Internet cafes where you would pay a hourly fee to use internet. As soon you have an internet accessed computer you could also send mails through Yahoo mail service.   

Fax

Fax messages can be sent from major post offices, or from the hotel.

Cable TV, Satellite

Most hotels do use satellite systems to view these channels , also the cable TV of the Turk telekom and  Digiturk cable are two main cable systems that are widely used in city centers . There are also some coded pay TV systems like Stardigital Cine5 and Digiturk.