Turkey

The Republic of Turkey is located in Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia surrounded by the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Turkey is said to be the link between the Middle East and Europe. Turkey is slightly larger than Texas and covers an area of 780,580 sq. kilometers.  The total population is 80.69 million and is growing at a rate of 1.16% with 71.5% living in urban areas.  The capital of Ankara has a population of 3.9 million with other main cities including Istanbul (11.3 mil), Izmir (2.6 mil), Bursa (1.5 mil), and Adana (1.5 mil). The people are governed by a republican parliamentary democracy and are 99.8% Muslim (mostly Sunni). The official language is Turkish with the secondary language being Kurdish and the local currency is the Turkish Lira. Turkey is a member of the UN, NATO, an associate member of the European Community and holds a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2009-10 term. In 2005 it began talks about membership with the European Union.

Turkey’s economy has a balanced mix of modern industry, namely textiles and clothing, and traditional agriculture.  Continued economic reforms and the possibility of EU membership make Turkey a promising country for foreign investment.  Turkey’s main trade partners include Germany, Russia, UK, China, Italy, France, Spain, and the US. Its primary imports are machinery, chemicals, semi-finished goods, fuels, and transport equipment. Exports include apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, and transport equipment. Turkey’s GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) is $1.142 trillion and is growing at a real rate of 2.6% with an inflation rate of 8.9%. Turkey ranked 71 out of 185 countries in the World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking. 

 

Taking Your Brand to the Middle East Click the links below for articles with more information on Franchising in Turkey

Building Goodwill and U.S. Brand Awareness in the Middle East 

Expanding Your Brand in the Middle East: A Fresh Perspective (2012)

Franchising Industry Expected to Expand in Middle East  (2008)

Franchising Possibilities in Turkey (2007)

* CPI Score is published by Transparency International and relates to the perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between 100 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).  

**Ease of Doing Business Ranking is determined by the World Bank Group and is ranked out of a possible 185 countries. www.doingbusiness.org  

Most recent statistics have been taken from the CIA World Factbook unless noted otherwise. 

International Franchising Opportunities

After you have finished researching the international markets, learning international expansion strategies and best practices, and understanding the basics of international franchising law, IFA provides numerous opportunities for franchising internationally.