TURKEY

CURRENCY: Lira (TL).

EXCHANGE RATE: TL 145,352.50 = US$1.

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Turkish.

POPULATION: 51,000,000.

CAPITAL: Ankara.

INTERNATIONAL CODE: TELEPHONE 90.

CURRENCY CONTROLS: The Turkish Lira is not negotiable abroad, but can be freely imported and is limited to the equivalent of US$ 5,000 export.

GAMING INFORMATION: There are some 70 plus casinos operating in major hotels in Turkey.They are concentrated in Istanbul, Ankara, and the tourist resorts of the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.Other casinos operate as private clubs.Current casino gaming in Turkey is based upon 1983 regulations passed to develop the tourism economy.Like all developing countries tourist development and casinos bring hard currency to Turkey's economy.Casino gaming is limited to foreign nationals, except for Turkish citizens that make at least US$20,000 a year or that reside abroad.Foreigners may enter a casino only after displaying their passport.
The average Turkish casino has 20 to 80 slots which use Turkish currency or US$ tokens of 250, 500 or US$1, and 6 to 12 tables divided mainly between Blackjack and roulette with some stud poker and punto banco.Blackjack minimum bets are usually US$5 with maximums of US$500 in the majority of the casinos.Roulette "0" minimum bet is normally US$1 or US$2 with a single number max.of US$25, US$50, or US$100.Seasonal operations may have lower min.and max.Min.and max.with junket business are normally higher.
With the changes in government in 1996, new directives have been issued by the administration which want to limit casinos to tourist areas, eliminate any advertising, and keep Turkish nationals out of the casinos.However, the military has demanded that the government remain secular and not allow any particular religious influence to control the direction of Turkey's secular society.Thus, the status of casinos remains unresolved.Some may have closed, but most have remained operating.

Note: Turkey has been in the process of upgrading their telephone system with new area codes.Telephone area codes with asterisk (*) are old area codes.