Turkish Culture

Meetings

• Meetings generally involve a fair amount of formality, although people may relax with business partners they know well.
• Arrive on time. However, accept that there may be times when you are kept waiting.
• Often, Turks will not hand out a business card unless they are confident that they want to establish a business relationship. Therefore, if you are not given one, take it as a good indication that they are not interested.
• Expect to be served Turkish tea or coffee during a meeting. Refreshments generally accompany all conversation.
• You may find that the discussion wanders to different topics for a while before people start mentioning the point at hand. Allow social conversation to precede any serious talk of business. It is considered rude to hurry people to get to the purpose of the meeting.
• If the meeting is one of the first between business associates, expect its purpose to be about getting acquainted. A decision is unlikely to be reached in initial conversations.
• When presenting your proposal, keep it clear, well-presented and concise. It is a good idea to complement information with visual examples (e.g., graphs, maps, diagrams), as Turks often communicate most effectively both visually and orally.
• Try to emphasise the benefits for both businesses and the partnership’s profitability. Sometimes the angle of the financial benefit for both parties is not always the winning sell. The potential prestige, influence and power it may bring can also be an incentive.
• Expect the decision-making process to be drawn out. It is likely that the person you will initially meet and negotiate with is one of the more subordinate members of the company. As you gain esteem in their eyes, you’ll find negotiations move on to the more senior members before the manager/head of the company makes a decision. Try to accept any delays in this process with patience.

Relationships

Many Turkish businesses are family-owned, and nepotism is common. Globalisation has introduced multinational company dynamics to the country. However, the business culture is still very personal. Your success will largely rest upon your ability to build effective relationships. The Turkish generally want to do business only with those they feel comfortable enough to trust. If you are too impersonal or guarded, they may view you with suspicion and be reluctant to follow through with you.

Consider that negotiations often aim for a long-term business relationship. Therefore, avoid applying time pressure, such as an expiring offer. You are expected to approach any deal as if it will be one of many that come from a fruitful relationship. It is best to emphasise a win-win scenario and maintain a positive attitude throughout.

Negotiating

Turks enjoy bargaining during deals and may be offended if you refuse to engage in it. There is a general expectation in Turkish business culture that the first person to quote a price will wind up on the lower end of the deal, and initial prices should never be accepted. Therefore, they may push for you to be the first to offer a figure and then reject it immediately.

Before entering into any negotiations, decide on your bottom-line figure. Turks can be tactical in posing extreme scenarios, offers or compromises to discern your response. Prices commonly move by up to 40% between initial offers and final decisions during the negotiating process, so make sure you are prepared with multiple offers that work over percentages of this figure. Have a target in mind before entering the meeting, and slowly work towards it by granting reasonable concessions. When doing so, phrase it as if you are doing them a favour by being lenient because you personally respect/like them.

They may tactically pretend to be uninterested in the deal altogether, so you feel the need to persuade them. You will significantly reduce their bargaining power if you show that you are genuinely prepared to cut your losses and walk away from the deal if it is a bad one. Consider that a Turkish person may feel that they have the upper hand if you are the one who travelled for a meeting. They know people don’t like to leave a journey empty-handed.

Avoid using the threat of tight deadlines or high-pressure tactics. The Turkish can reverse the pressure by conceding that they can’t meet your demands and threatening to cancel the deal altogether. It is also unwise to start with your best offer to pressure them.

Considerations

• People within a business may address each other by their literal rank within the company (e.g. "Mr Manager" – "Mudur Bey").
• Avoid scheduling meetings during Ramadan or the Turkish summer (July/August).
• Be aware that meetings will be paused if they interrupt prayer time. Therefore, it is usually best to make appointments in the morning before the midday prayer or after lunch.
• Once a solid relationship has been established, direct communication is preferable. Try to make phone calls when possible, as emails are often responded to slowly.
• Gift giving is not a traditional custom in Turkish business culture. To make forthcoming gestures of friendship, Turks tend to take business associates out for meals instead. It is impolite to decline a gesture to dine out.
• Turks tend not to boast of their achievements. Therefore, it can be easy to underestimate people. It is good to ask for a list of references to discern people’s backgrounds.
• The 2023 Corruption Perception Index ranked Türkiye 115th out of 180 countries, receiving a score of 34/100.¹ This metric suggests that the country’s public sector is fairly corrupt.