Arabs are willing to buy residences in Turkey if the residence permit permissions given to foreigners are extended, according to the chairman of the Real Estate Investors’ Association of Arab Countries and Turkic States, Abdullah Çiftçi. Turkey has not attracted the expected number of foreigners over the nine-month period since the reciprocity law entered into force, Çiftçi said.

According to him, many Arabs want to buy residences in Turkey, but are dissuaded by the limited residence permits. “The residence permit given to foreigners lasts only three months in Turkey, but Arabs want to have longer residence permit periods. They want to settle and work here,” Çiftçi said, Hurriyet Daily News report.