Turkey has granted citizenship to more than 9,000 people through real estate investments since mid 2016, according to the head of a foreign real estate association, the Ahval news website reported.
A total of 9,011 foreign nationals have acquired Turkish citizenship through real estate investments totaling $3.2 million since July 2016, the Artı Gerçek news site quoted Foreign Real Estate Promotion Association Chairman Faruk Akbal as saying.
In 2018, Turkey lowered the financial and investment criteria for foreigners to become Turkish citizens, in a bid to boost investment in the economy and prop up the lira, which had fallen some 30 percent in the year following a row with Washington, triggering sanctions.
The new regulations stipulate that foreigners can become citizens if they own property worth $250,000 for three years, down from a previous value of $1 million.
The average amount paid by foreign nationals for a piece of property in Turkey is 875,000 lira ($128,000), almost four times the figure for Turkish nationals, Akbal said.
In Spain and Portugal, Turkey’s rivals in real estate sales to foreigners, citizens on average pay 300,000 euros for property, while this figure is 420,000 euros for foreign nationals, he added.