Phone blocking in Turkey fake or true?

This year, the flow of Russians to Turkey has increased by at least 50%. Many decided to spend the winter on the warm coast, or even stay for a longer period. The conditions of long-term residence in Turkey are noticeably different from the conditions of the usual tours for a couple of weeks. One of the unpleasant surprises can be the blocking of a phone imported from another country – this practice really exists. We have studied this topic and tell you more: what to expect and what to do.

Why are smartphones blocked in Turkey? How and which smartphones are blocked? Is it possible to avoid blocking?

Why are smartphones blocked in Turkey?

This is a kind of fight against gray imports. The cost of smartphones here is quite high, so it is logical to want to buy a similar model in another country and import it bypassing customs. Unfortunately, those who come to stay in Turkey for a long time also fall under this scenario, and it does not matter that their smartphones are personal, not new, imported by force, and not for selfish reasons.

How and which smartphones are blocked?

Each smartphone has an original number – IMEI. All IMEIs of smartphones officially imported into the country (for sale) are in a single database.

Smartphones with any other IMEI are not blocked if they use a foreign operator’s SIM card. But with SIM cards of local operators, they can only work for 120 days. After that, the device itself is blocked by IMEI. It does not turn into a brick, but it stops working with local SIM cards. With foreign ones – maybe it can also work with Wi-Fi networks.

Is there any way to avoid blocking the smartphone?

As practice shows, there are two ways: more precisely, one legal way and one life hack.

Life hack: just install the SIM in another slot

We haven’t tested it, but they say it works. Although the blocking occurs by IMEI, and in theory should concern the device as such, when you install a local SIM card in another slot, it continues to work. Perhaps because the slots have their own IMEI numbers, and they are different.

Solution: register the device officially

Here you can read in detail how to do it right. But let’s face it, there is not much point in registering. All because this pleasure is not free, it costs about 2700 Turkish liras. In terms of rubles, this is almost 10,000 – the cost of a new budget apparatus.

As a rule, a local SIM card is bought for the sake of inexpensive Internet. In this case, we can advise you to take the most banal “dialer” in the Turkish store with the possibility of organizing an access point and use the SIM card with it.

Bottom line: what do we know about phone blocking in Turkey

Approximately the following.

The blocking applies only to local SIM cards, with a foreign smartphone it will work for an unlimited time. Usually, the phone stops working 120 days after you start using a local SIM card. But you can put it in another slot of the same device and use it for another 120 days. If you register a smartphone in Turkey, it will not be blocked. But it will cost about 10,000 rubles.

By the way, we have a rating of smartphones up to 10,000 rubles – in it you will surely find the best model for yourself. And if you need a regular push-button dialer, take a look at our guide, where we explain how such devices differ.