MDing in Turkey????

[reg11756]

MD'ing in Turkey?

Going to Turkey in August to watch my son play volleyball for the USA team. Staying the first week in Izmir on Aegean coast. Any knowledge about md rules there? Best way to get my machine/s there and back safely?

 

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[wrecker]

As far as I know metal detectors are illegal in Turkey (even though they produce Nokta detectors there). Turkey is full of historic places and if you're caught with any kind of relic in the airport (even a pottery shard or the like) you go to a turkish jail. I took my Excalibur to Turkey last year and 3 years ago, detected beach and shallow water only- no problem at all (wouldn't dare trying to detect in land). Hotel manager and other hotel staff saw me detecting, said "Oh- a metal detector- OK". In the airport I had no problems either, I take the electronics unit as hand luggage; battery in check in luggage; long handle scoop and the straight shaft of my detector in a padded bag together with a neoprene suit as oversize baggage (they think it's golf equipment and don't care much). As I said- I didn't have any problems. But it's not exactly comfortable knowing you might have your equipment confiscated and be put in jail. I may travel to Turkey again this October (for the sixth time) and I might take my detecor again (for the third time). Turkey is a wonderfull and very tourist friendly country and there is plenty to do and places to visit. Detecting is illegal, don't know how strict police are if you stay on your hotel beach. Sorry I can't give you a clear yes or no answer, just my personal experience. Enjoy your trip and vacation!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

As far as I know metal detectors are illegal in Turkey (even though they produce Nokta detectors there). Turkey is full of historic places and if you're caught with any kind of relic in the airport (even a pottery shard or the like) you go to a turkish jail. I took my Excalibur to Turkey last year and 3 years ago, detected beach and shallow water only- no problem at all (wouldn't dare trying to detect in land). Hotel manager and other hotel staff saw me detecting, said "Oh- a metal detector- OK". In the airport I had no problems either, I take the electronics unit as hand luggage; battery in check in luggage; long handle scoop and the straight shaft of my detector in a padded bag together with a neoprene suit as oversize baggage (they think it's golf equipment and don't care much). As I said- I didn't have any problems. But it's not exactly comfortable knowing you might have your equipment confiscated and be put in jail. I may travel to Turkey again this October (for the sixth time) and I might take my detecor again (for the third time). Turkey is a wonderfull and very tourist friendly country and there is plenty to do and places to visit. Detecting is illegal, don't know how strict police are if you stay on your hotel beach. Sorry I can't give you a clear yes or no answer, just my personal experience. Enjoy your trip and vacation!

Now this is very strange wrecker: On the one hand, you say it is very illegal, and you can be "put in jail", blah blah blah. Yet you did it without problems, even while the hotel manager was watching you, and couldn't have cared less.

So, this may seem a little strange to ask, but then why is it so "wrong", how did you get away with it, without being put in jail, etc... ?

 

[wrecker]

When I went there with my detectors I didn't know they are illegal. Only found out this year. But as I said- nobody seemed to care much. Probably it's like with Marijuana- in most countries and states it's illegal. If you go to an open air concert or festival or bike week or whatever lots of people will smoke a joint or two there. Police know that and they could easily put 20% of the audience (and half the musicians) in jail. Smoking weed is against the law but police normally wouldn't stress their rights too much.
In parts of Spain (like Andalusia) detecting is illegal but I know lots of detectorists who detect the beaches there without problem. Police pass by and see them in the water but don't bother. They once asked me about my water hunting, I showed them my Pesetas and pull tabs and they wished me a nice day. Probably it's the same in Turkey. They could take your detector and put you in jail but tourism is an important part of the economy and as long as you don't start detecting around historic places they leave the tourist alone.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

When I went there with my detectors I didn't know they are illegal. Only found out this year. But as I said- nobody seemed to care much. Probably it's like with Marijuana- in most countries and states it's illegal. If you go to an open air concert or festival or bike week or whatever lots of people will smoke a joint or two there. Police know that and they could easily put 20% of the audience (and half the musicians) in jail. Smoking weed is against the law but police normally wouldn't stress their rights too much.
In parts of Spain (like Andalusia) detecting is illegal but I know lots of detectorists who detect the beaches there without problem. Police pass by and see them in the water but don't bother. They once asked me about my water hunting, I showed them my Pesetas and pull tabs and they wished me a nice day. Probably it's the same in Turkey. They could take your detector and put you in jail but tourism is an important part of the economy and as long as you don't start detecting around historic places they leave the tourist alone.

Wow, now .... gee .... so "it's illegal", but "no one cares"? I guess it might be like state of California administered beaches where ...... if you asked enough state archies, you'd find one to say "no you can't". Yet, .... truth be told ... you can detect till you're blue in the face on state of CA beaches, and no one cares.

Moral of the story? "Don't ask dumb questions" I guess, eh?

oh, and just curious: can you cite me the actual law that says "metal detecting in Turkey is illegal"? I've asked around, and no one seems to be able to produce or cite any such law, that really says such a thing. I mean, gee, I'm sure someone can site the country's cultural heritage laws, etc... and *say* those apply to md'ing. But SO TOO could someone probably cite ARPA , etc... and try to say "you can't detect in the USA". eh?

 

[wrecker]

It's probably best to ask the turkish Department of the Interior for first hand information. Their tel.no. in Turkey is 0090 - 312 425 7214.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Wrecker, I know this "rolls off the tongue" and sounds like the best way to decide/know such things. I mean, "who better to ask, than the entity themselves?". So for example, if someone looks up the laws for his town, yet doesn't know if he's found a complete enough listing, or finds something nebulous and vague which "might apply", and so forth. What's the best solution? To ask. Sounds logical enough, right? Afterall, you can't be "too safe", right? And the same applies to county, state, federal, and national levels too. Right? Who can argue with that afterall?

And even persons making state-by-state and/or national lists for reference sakes, have used the same tactic: To know what the laws are for the resource list they are writing up, they merely send out 50 inquires to all 50 states heads-of-state's-parks. Or a letter to each "interior dept" in each European country, and so forth. Then sit back, wait for the replies to come in, and compile the answers in their resource list. Great idea, right?

In fact, some people would even promote doing this from the git-go, since .... let's face it ... looking up laws and rules can be arduous, and perhaps it's not readily available on-line (for smaller cities, for instance), or too voluminous to read through looking for any mention of "metal detecting". So why not just nip-it-in-the-butt and just go ask "can I metal detect?" Sounds logical enough, right?

But here's where the pain starts: People have done just that all the time. I suppose you can see the folly of this approach on small town basis, where some city clerk tells you "no", when no such rule really says such a thing (because she thinks you'll harm earthworms, hurt sprinklers, etc...). So the poor dejected md'r leaves city hall, sad that he can't detect. But lo & behold, he passes the park, see another out there "breaking the law". So he tells the guy "don't you know you're not allowed to detect here?" To which the guy who's been detecting there for 35+ yrs. says "since when?". It becomes the case of "no one cared, till you asked" (barring if you were being a nuisance or leaving holes, etc...).

To which you no doubt will say that this doesn't hold true on the national scale. But oddly, yes it does. Read this account of Fisher Co, who forwarded a customer inquiry, to the consulate (or some such border interior dept person) in mexico. A customer had asked "can we metal detect in Mexico?" (they were getting ready to go to a tourist beach down there). So Fisher Co. did just what you recommend with such an inquiry. They asked (who better to ask, than Mexico themselves, right? ).

Here's a little bit more on that:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/treasure-hunting-legal-issues/54424-detecting-mexico.html

So yes, I agree, it sounds like the logical and safe thing to do. But oddly, you WILL get "no's" from some of those places. I mean, put yourself in the shoes of the bureaucrat who answers that phone call. What do YOU think the "safe" answer is going to be? Perhaps his image is of geeks with shovels raiding the pyramaids, sneaking gold bars out of the country. So he must "pass this question" to the ministry of archaeology dept, and so forth.

So too might a foreigner, who is getting ready to travel to the USA also get a "no" if he inquired ahead of time to the "dept. of interior" here in the USA. Why? Because perhaps whomever has fielded their question is couching it in terms of ARPA, or the mel fisher legal hassles, or lost & found laws, or whatever. Yet we all know you CAN detect here, barring certain places, and assuming you're using some common sense.

Thus, no, I do not think it's a wise idea to ask the interior dept "can I metal detect there?". Perhaps a compromise would be to ask them "where can I find a complete listing of the nation's laws". Then look it up yourself. Perhaps it's on-line, and they can link you.

Or heck, just ask the dealers there (there ARE md dealers in Turkey). If they are selling to people who (gasp) USE them, then .... apparently there must be some usage there.

 

[wrecker]

That's why I wrote in my first post that I can't give a clear "yes" or "no" as an answer, just provided my personal experience.