Getting a SIM card in Turkey for short to medium term stays in Turkey is straightforward. In this article, I describe my experience with prices in February 2020 using Turkcell.

I bought my SIM card in Fatih. I’m actually not sure if what I got was a good deal. Turkcell offers all types of short-term deals for tourists as well. I visited three stores in Fatih and they all gave me approximately the same rate (some trying to squeeze +/- 10 lira) without the option for any smaller plans.

These rates are for foreigners. You’ll see advertisements for cellphone data at amazing prices, but these require a Turkish bank account.

Plans

My plan was 20 GB data for 120 lira (around 20 USD at the time of writing). However, it should be noted that the 20 GB is for one month only.

Although the SIM card lasts for multiple months, you do need to top up in future months. The top-up is at a rate rate that I don’t remember, but it’s much cheaper than the initial upfront cost.

I didn’t really keep track of the SMS and call time in the plan, though that’s included. It’s 2020, use WhatsApp :)

Long-term stays

It should be noted that the SIM card situation for long-term stays (more than 120 days) gets much more expensive. You have to pay a foreigner registration fee that’s more than 200 USD. I won’t go much into it here, but you can read about it on this page.

Purchasing

Bring your passport. It took about ten to fifteen minutes for the guy to finish registering everything.