Since we have been living in Turkey, we have found the Turkish people to be incredibly friendly, trustworthy, hardworking and honest, in spite of what some 'experts' have told us. Unfortunately, Turkey, like any other country, has its own rotten eggs. We’ll let you know who they are in this area, so you can avoid them.  Unfortunately, because we and many other ex-pats have come across so many of these thoroughly unpleasant people and publicly named them, it has now got to the stage where they are involving the Jandarma because the publicity is now starting to hurt them.  As a consequence, I have been informed that I cannot publicly name Suleyman Cimen and Dogan Bilgec unless I have a direct relationship with them and a personal problem.  I must stress that the Jandarma have been thoroughly decent and sympathetic about the whole thing.  If you want any information about anybody you suspect is less than honest, please ask me by email and I'll let you know what I know about them, if anything.  An email to me, requesting information about a potential rotten egg could save you a lot of the stress that we have had to cope with.  

I received an email from a couple 2 days ago who read our story in House Beautiful magazine and as a result, they have set up a website in England to expose dodgy estate agents in Turkey and Europe.  They are now asking for any horror stories relating to property purchase abroad, with the sole intention of putting these vile opportunists out of business.  If you have a sad story to tell or know somebody who does and want to do something about it, go to  www.emlaks-from-hell.co.uk  Don't get mad, get even!!

Something else to remember, is that many ex-pats do the most unbelievably stupid things, things that they would never dream of doing in the UK.  BEFORE you act...THINK, or get advice from people like us, or better still, go to a recommended English speaking lawyer!  Do not be tempted with offers to go into a business partnership or lend money, no matter how sad the hard luck story is.

EZLaptops.com - Internet Pyramid Seller
These creeps and their predecessors 3laptops.com have been running this scam for years and are raking in thousands.  YOU WILL NOT get a laptop and when they are closed down, they open up with 2 weeks under another name.  You can read all about them on the internet.

Suleyman Torun - Varan Kargo Manavgat
We have now started legal action to recover the money this so-called 'friend' borrowed from me last year.  Naturally, the biggest prat was me for loaning him the money in the first place.  At least I can offer good advice from personal experience.  DO NOT lend money to Turks, under any circumstances.  We were, quite literally, 'buttered up' for the big one.  We met his family in Antalya, went out for dinner, went scrumping etc, then came the whammy.  "Grant, please I need your help.  I am buying some land and I must put down the deposit today.  I have the money in the bank and I can pay you back in a few days."  Don't forget, this guy was a businessman and we saw his home and how high his standard of living was.  This was February 2006!!!!  Be warned.  He did a six month spell in prison in 2008 but was released, still protesting his innocence on something else unrelated to me and subsequently lost his franchise with Varan.  The latest is that our friend Huseyin, the Jandarma commandant from Gundogdu, phoned me in November and told me that Torun had been caught defrauding dozens of people on their credit cards and was now in prison again, so I don't suppose I will ever get my money back, even though the government adds interest on a daily basis.  I haven't given up on it yet, as the debt will be with him for ever.

Meliha Kaplan - My apartment in Side
You can read about this sorry tale by clicking here Meliha Kaplan