By Justin Mays:
Turkey’s
interior minister, Suleyman Soylu said that the country has begun to print
biometric passports. At a meeting in Ankara at the General Directorate of Civil
Registration and Nationality on the 29th of August 2022, the minister showed
the prototype of the new Turkish passport.
“There
are 27 security features on the passport. The cover says ‘Türkiye,’ and there
is a tulip symbol. He said that it has different chips inside, both small and
large”. “There is a photo of the Hagia Sophia Mosque on the middle pages. There
are also photos of other landmarks of the country, such as the Çanakkale
Bridge, the Çamlıca Mosque, the İshak Pasha Palace, and the famous houses of
Amasya.”
Previously,
Turkey printed its passports in other European countries; however, due to high
demand and raw materials crisis, the country decided to print its passports
domestically. Turkey will be printing for other countries now. “We agree with
Hungary to print 250,000 Hungarian passports in a year. Turkey will also be
printing French passports,” said the minister.
Even
though there was a crisis of chips, 77 million identification cards have been
provided since 2018 to Turkish nationals. 6.7 million chipped identification
cards have been printed.
The new passports are modern and of good
quality, and in case of emergency, the ministry will be able to supply
passports in one day.
