Turkey has everything you could wish for in a holiday destination, from a sunny climate to fascinating history, beautiful scenery and plenty of affordable holiday accommodation. A Turkey villa holiday, or staying in a self-catering apartment gives you the freedom to explore this enchanting country, and knowing the national customs and habits before you go will enhance your experience.
- Remember a crisp ten pound note upon arriving at the airport, all UK visitors must pay for a tourist visa.
- Everyone is expected to barter or negotiate the price of goods in shops and at market stalls, particularly souvenirs such as carpets, craft items, traditional clothing and household knick-knacks.
- No holiday in Turkey is complete without a visit to a Turkish Bath or Hammam, and this is an invigorating cleansing and social experience enjoyed by Turks on a regular basis. It involves steam baths and all over exfoliation, usually followed by an oily massage.
- The tap water is unlikely to be as purified as drinking water at home, so it is safest to drink bottled water during your stay in a Turkish holiday villa or apartment.
- If you are visiting one of the many beautiful mosques, you will need to be correctly dressed and women must have their head and legs covered (scarves are usually provided). Shoes are taken off before entering, and you will not be allowed in during a service.
- It is customary to tip people, whether it is the waiter who served you lunch, the taxi driver delivering you to your holiday villa in turkey, or the guide showing you around town.
When you work overseas, you are subject to the laws and customs of your host country. While being a British national allows you to gain consular support and access to advice and help from the UK government, you can and will be prosecuted according to local law.
Of course, most people working abroad keep their nose clean but everyone is subject to human frailty. The difference being that if you are accustomed to UK legal conventions you can be in for a big shock if you break the law abroad.
Briton Mark Arnold has been sentenced to 15 years in Dubai for the murder of his ex girlfriend. His protestations of innocence and the fact that no body has ever been recovered and another witness claims to have spoken to the victim after her supposed murder have cut no ice with the local judiciary. The legal charity Reprieve believe that the conviction is unsound and that Arnold’s confession was extracted under duress.
While we are in no position to comment on the specifics of this particular case, it is true that legal customs vary wildly. Should you find yourself in a scrape with the local law, your first port of call should be with the local UK embassy – a list of which can be http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/find-an-embassy/. Even better, before you travel, acquaint yourself with the laws and customs of the place you are intending to work. A little research ahead of time can help you avoid serious personal repercussions.
With 2.4 millions visa applications each year you expect a few to slip through the net but not 15% like is been claimed these seem to be mainly short term visas.
Officials have been under strain to issue visas to meet targets, and this is where the slip up has been made. Its claimed its a lot faster and easier to accept a visa application than it is to reject one, so to meet targets officials have been accepting visas with less scrutiny than they should have been given.
Rejected visas are subjected to a higher check for accuracy where as there is no similar check for visas that are accepted.
The British Embassy in Tehran has found the new points based system was excellent when tested as it was much simpler clearer and easier to use, compared to the current system which see’s poor decision making and few visas refused.
Labour claiming they had immigration under control seems to be a bit far from the truth at the moment but we can always hope it will get better in the future with stricter polices put into place
Hopefully the new points system that is due to be implemented within the next few days should be more effective than the current method but only time will tell.
