Send parcel to Turkey

Who ships from Italy to Turkey?

The flows are very varied. There are those who have set up a textile or leather business in Istanbul and regularly send samples, prototypes and machinery spare parts from Italy. There are Italian furniture and food companies working with Turkish distributors who send marketing material, displays and price lists. There is the Turkish community in Italy, present mainly in Milan, Rome and Turin, sending gifts and personal items to relatives back home. And then there are the Italians who have bought a house on the Aegean coast, between Bodrum, Çeşme and Fethiye, who every year send boxes ahead with linen and equipment before leaving for the holidays.

Türkiye and the Customs Union: what does it mean for my parcel?

Turkey is not part of the European Union, but since 1995 a customs union has simplified trade for many categories of industrial products. This does not eliminate customs: every shipment from Italy still goes through customs checks and requires correct documentation. For gifts and personal use of modest value, transit is generally quick. For business goods, a commercial invoice with detailed description, customs code and declared value is required. Some categories such as cosmetics and finished textile products may require additional documents. After booking on europacco.com you receive the waybill and instructions on how to prepare the shipment correctly.

How do you write a Turkish address?

Turkish has used the Latin alphabet since 1928, so no transliteration is needed. Be careful, however, with letters that carry diacritical marks (ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş, ü): they should be kept, even though couriers can read them without if necessary. The format is: name, street with house number, neighbourhood ("mahallesi" abbreviated as "Mah."), district, five-digit postcode and city. Example: "Mehmet Yıldız, İstiklal Cad. No:128, Beyoğlu Mah., 34433 Beyoğlu/İstanbul". Main postcodes: Istanbul 34000-34999, Ankara 06000-06999, Izmir 35000-35999, Antalya 07000-07999, Bursa 16000-16999. In Istanbul the district is essential: the city has 39 districts spread across two continents.

European Istanbul or Asian Istanbul: does it make a difference?

Yes, and a big one. Istanbul is the only metropolis in the world divided between two continents, separated by the Bosphorus. The European side includes districts such as Beyoğlu, Şişli, Beşiktaş and Fatih. The Asian side includes Kadıköy, Üsküdar, Ataşehir and Maltepe. Logistically the two areas function almost like separate cities: traffic on the Bosphorus bridges is among the worst in the world, and couriers organise their delivery rounds by side. Indicating the correct district on the label can speed up delivery by as much as a day. If the recipient is unsure, they can check on their residence document ("ikametgah").

How long does delivery to Turkey take?

With Europacco a shipment from Italy to Turkey takes 4 to 8 business days. The major cities in the western part, Istanbul, Izmir and Bursa, are the fastest. Ankara and the Aegean coast follow closely. For Antalya and the Mediterranean coast, times are slightly longer. The inland regions of central and eastern Anatolia, beyond Konya and Kayseri, are the slowest: Turkey is almost three times the size of Italy, and the logistics network thins out the further you get from industrial areas. The times indicated do not include any customs holds, which depend on the type of goods and the documentation provided.

Ramadan and Kurban Bayramı: is it worth planning around?

Yes, especially for business goods. During Ramadan, delivery times can shift to the afternoon because many couriers and recipients change their daily routines. The two major religious holidays, Ramazan Bayramı (end of Ramadan) and Kurban Bayramı (Feast of the Sacrifice), bring 3 to 4 days of almost total closures across the country, with offices, warehouses and customs at a standstill. The dates change every year following the Islamic lunar calendar, so it is worth checking them before planning an important shipment. For gifts meant to arrive in time for Bayram, it is better to ship with at least two weeks' lead time.