A Lawsuit Filed in apex court by nationalist party, seeks to strip Turkish citizenship Granted to Foreign Property Buyers under Citizenship by investment program in Turkey. This could effect about 500,000 foreigners mainly Syrians, along with Russians, Iranians and Afghan nationals who became citizens through the exceptional citizenship since 2017, reported by Nordic Monitor.
Turkish law 1062 prohibits syrian nationals buying immovable properties in Turkey and therefore this legal restrictions that make it legally impossible to grant citizenship to Syrian foreigners through property acquisition. The lawsuit calls for cancellation of citizenship grants to Syrians who violated the law.
In case of other foreigners, the lawsuit alleges that purchasing real estate worth half a million dollars cannot be considered an “investment” that contributes to the Turkish economy.
Citizenship for money creates the perception that Turkish citizenship is sold for money/foreign exchange, thereby decreasing the reputation and value of Turkish citizenship and passport. Further due to the unprecedented number of people who acquire citizenship in this way, both in the past and today, it has caused the disruption of public order and security and caused economic, social and cultural problems to reach insurmountable dimensions, claimed the court case.
In 2022, the Union bar association filed a petition to reverse the presidential decree giving foreigners citizenship by purchasing properties. The case is still pending.
President Erdogan opened the Turkish exceptional citizenship by investment for foreign property buyers in 2017 for $1m investment. In 2019, the minimum threshold was reduced to $250,000 to make the program more attractive and lift the real estate market in Turkey. In 2022, legislation was amended increase to $400,000 to buy immovable properties for citizenship. Property buyers are given one year residence permit for their investment and fast tracked to citizenship.
Original court case documents in Turkish language is available in the Nordic monitor website.
