Doing Business in Turkey

In the first of a series of exclusive articles for IDP on the Turkish market, Sirin Myles explores the importance of understanding cultural nuances in order to build sustainable relationships for long-term success.

I always thought that there was a “universal” approach to etiquettes and techniques to managing a successful business meeting. I was born and brought up in Turkey and I moved to the UK, 17 years ago. After I worked for several years at UK Higher Education Institutions and travelled around the world undertaking negotiations and doing business, it was then I started to appreciate the importance of culture. 

This universal approach that I thought existed, assumed that if you were diplomatic, considerate, respectful and if you smiled, these would give you the winning recipe for a successful business negotiation. Whilst I still believe there is a definite value to these, understanding the culture will add a strong ingredient for a winning recipe for successful business meetings. I am not an anthropologist, but what I will share here will be based on my work and life experience.

Turkey is geographically based at such a crossroads, being the only country where within 10 minutes by crossing a bridge that you could move between Asia and Europe, where East meets West or West meets East! Centuries worth of history, a melting pot of many civilisations and a mosaic of many different cultures. It is a vast country with many regional traditions, cuisines, etiquettes and even diverse weather.

Photo: courtesy of Google Maps

As a university, you may want to recruit students from Turkey and you may also want to develop meaningful mutual collaborations with Turkish partners. Typical key target cities by UK institutions and which are also most saturated in order of priority are Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir where residents are familiar with seeing and living with international people who live, study or work there. Bursa, Izmit, Adana, Antalya and Samsun are emerging cities with increase in their wealth and demands for international education. In the East wealth is also growing and demand is increasing but is not typically visited due to safety concerns.  Though wherever you go in Turkey, you can be sure that you will receive great hospitality, after all the deep routed culture dictates that “even if your enemy visits you at your home, treat them with utmost respect and great hospitality” (a Turkish proverb). You are guaranteed to receive a welcome and definitely a Turkish tea or coffee. If you are not being offered any refreshments, this will be extremely rare, remember the proverb, and you must seriously consider that your host may not want to do business with you. It will not be an illogical approach to focus your efforts where you are offered a very warm welcome and extended time among staff at different levels within your target organisations.

Turkish organisations are typically very hierarchical where colleagues will address each other as Sir/Madam and in formal meetings even “Sayin Ayse Hanim” the direct translation is Respectable Madam Ayse.  Usually, the person who is most senior will sit at the top of the table or at the most focal point and chairs will face him/her. At government organisations’ meetings, you could even notice the tone of the address will change depending on who is being addressed. For example, you may notice that the person speaking will have a lower tone from his/her normal speaking tone when addressing the meeting. At such government or ministerial meetings, the exchange with the most senior representative could be short greetings and at this short encounter, you must iterate strongly what the intended business will bring and how it would benefit Turkey and your Turkish partner.

The following five key tips could help you to achieve success in your meetings in Turkey. I strongly believe that proverbs offer an insight into the depth of a culture, therefore I encourage you to pay particular attention to the Turkish proverbs in their direct translation which I have listed in inverted commas within this section:

1. Your relationships are going to be the most important as after all “it is not who you are, it is who you know” that will bring you the results you are after.Study your host and be prepared to invest in building the relationship with face to face, email and especially telephone call follow ups. Turkey is still a very verbal culture, phone calls and face to face meetings matter and avoid being “out of sight out of heart”. If following on from a visit, you are receiving a phone call, this is a very good sign and be prepared to dedicate the time to respond. Nowadays as well as phone calls Skype, Whatsapp and Viber are also being commonly used.
2. Characteristically, at the beginning of the meetings be prepared for lengthy pleasantries.  Turks would want to do business with people they like and trust. The energy at face to face meetings will be high and promises will be made and ideas will be shared by your Turkish host. Your host will have every good intention for working on the project that is being discussed however be prepared to support your Turkish host (potential partner) with the action points if you want to achieve the discussed outcome in a timely manner. After all “the work that moves too fast will be tangled by a snake” meaning if you rush, the quality of the work will be poor. They do not typically rush unless you have clear deadlines in need of prioritising. 
3. “A friend is known on a dark day (i.e. bad day)” (English equivalent will be a friend in need is a friend indeed).  Visiting Turkey and your potential partner, especially in this current climate, will show your host that you are genuinely committed to the relationship and to doing business with them. They will work extra hard to deliver for you. Of course, it goes without saying before visiting any country you should follow your own risk assessment process.
4. Shake hands, a strong hand shake is assumed to convey confidence and honesty. If you are not sure if a hand shake is appropriate, wait for your host to invite you to shake hands. Make eye contacts and give your card with one hand. Your host will not spend ages reading or looking at your business card. They will briefly scan it and put your card away and start making eye contact and talk.
5. Take your host a small but thoughtful corporate gift. A university gift usually is those that are prepared by your corporate affairs and hold your institutional logo. Turks normally like sweets and tea. Especially if this is your second meeting and indeed you have already given all your corporate gifts during previous visits, give your host tea or biscuits (chocolates do not travel well if you are travelling during heat), this is more personable. Turks would rather have a half an apple than a meaningless expensive gift “a half an apple will be a precious gift providing that is been full heartedly intended for the host”. 

If you have not done any preparation and you are just meeting for the first time, show that you are listening to your host carefully and ask questions. Show that you really want to learn more about them and show your enthusiasm and interest in what they are sharing and what they have achieved so far. Don’t forget your host will believe “what you plant is what you will harvest” so be prepared to invest in the relationship and the potential project.

IDP Says: A market full of opportunities

A short flight from the UK with relatively low operating costs for international recruiters, Turkey enjoys a unique strategic position straddling the continents of Asia and Europe, where Easts meets West.

Turkey has long been identified as one of the world’s emerging and dynamic economies. It was the “T” in both the MINT and CIVETS acronyms used to describe emerging economies, and also was one of the Goldman Sachs N-11 countries, along with the likes of Indonesia, Vietnam and South Korea, that were seen to have the potential to rival the G7 as we move further into the 21st century. 

According to the most recent UN figures in 2017, Turkey’s population is now just over 80 million. It is expected to top 84 million in 2023, and to peak at 93.5 million in 2050, at which point the population will be more than double what it was in 1980. Turkey has the largest youth population when compared with the EU, with half of its population under the age of 31 in 2015.

Turkey’s education system is renowned throughout the region for quality, both in terms of the independent & international schools that have proliferated in the last few decades to provide a steady pipeline of globally mobile undergraduates, and also the country’s university sector. A number of Turkish institutions (such as METU, Sabanci, Bilkent and Koç) have been placed in the top world 300 by global league tables with particular strengths in STEM fields. The latest data from the Turkish Council of Higher Education shows that approximately 800,000 students in total graduate from Turkish universities every year. 

Looking at the latest 2017 HESA data, whilst Business and Management related programmes remain popular, Turkish students can provide much needed diversity for UK institutions by going into a number of different disciplines including Law, Economics, Psychology, Architecture, Design, Politics and various Engineering streams.

Agents are an important resource for students in Turkey, previous British Council student decision-making surveys have found that around half of globally mobile Turkish students use or intend to use the services of an agent. 

Sirin Myles is CEO of SMyles Consultancy and Coaching, providing specialist independent  solutions to client institutions. Prior to this Sirin has worked at the British Council and the University of Southampton, more recently she was Director of the International Office at the University of Reading, a position she held for more than eight years. 

Martyn Edwards is Head of Marketing and Business Development for IDP, UK & US. Prior to joining IDP, Martyn has worked for the British Council and held senior international recruitment roles at The University of Nottingham and Loughborough University.

This article was originally published exclusively for IDP clients on the IDP Hub.

About IDP: IDP was originally established in 1969 as a nonprofit organisation. Today with a global network of over 90 offices in more than 30 countries we are the world’s leading student placement organisation. IDP is a proud co-owner of IELTS, the world’s most popular English test for higher education and global migration, which was launched in 1989. In 2015 our company was successfully listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).