The Interior Ministry of Turkey has announced that 981 foreign investors have been granted citizenship via the new Investment Citizenship Program. As you may recall, Turkey amended its Citizenship regulations in September 2018 (Regulation on the Implementation of Turkish Citizenship Law) to reduce the monetary threshold to qualify to file a citizenship application. That reduction meant that real estate investments as low as $250,000 USD could qualify for the program. That reduction appears to have increased interest in the program, and now 981 cases have been approved.
The nationality breakdown is as follows: Iranians are the most common nationality approved at 253 investors. Iraqis are second at 143. Nationals from Yemen and Afghanistan are the next most common.
This information is often coupled with the data from non-government agencies that as of January 2019, foreigners spent more than $3 billion USD to buy real estate in Turkey. Regardless of the exact number, this is a significant increase from 2018. However, many foreign nationals who purchase Turkish real estate do not then apply for Turkish citizenship. Istanbul leads the country in the most popular location for these foreign nationals, followed by the coastal city of Antalya.
