Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism: What It Does
Museums, old finds, licences for hotels, holiday homes and guides, film permits and complaints: which desk of the ministry handles what.
Table of Contents
Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı) runs the state museums and archaeological sites, guards old buildings and finds, licenses hotels, holiday homes, travel agencies and guides, gives filming permits to crews from abroad and promotes the country. Its head office is in Ankara. Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has been the minister since July 2018.
In short · checked 05.11.2026
One ministry for the past and for the holiday. This is what it does for a visitor or a resident.
- Museums: more than 300 museums and archaeological sites come under the ministry.
- Licences: hotels, homes rented to tourists, travel agencies, tourist guides and film crews from abroad all need its papers.
- Complaints: call Alo 176 from a Turkish line, or write to [email protected].
- Old finds: anyone who finds an old object must report it within three days.
- Visitors: 52,775,055 foreign visitors entered Türkiye in 2025, in the ministry’s border count.
Ministry pages · checked 05.11.2026
Take a number
This is a queue-number machine (sıramatik), like the ones at Turkish service counters. Press a key on it, or a button. It prints a ticket: which desk of the ministry handles your case, what that desk does, how to reach it, and one sentence in Turkish to copy.
SIRA NO 040
ComplainA complaint about a stay
- Desk
- Alo 176, the ministry’s contact centre (Alo 176 İletişim Merkezi)
- Handles
- Requests and complaints from the public. Complaints about a travel agency also have their own application at the tourism businesses directorate.
- How
- Phone 176 from a Turkish line, or e-mail [email protected].
Holiday homeIs this holiday home licensed?
- Desk
- Investment and Businesses Directorate General (Yatırım ve İşletmeler Genel Müdürlüğü), with the provincial culture and tourism directorates
- Handles
- The permit to rent a home to tourists (Turizm Amaçlı Konut Kiralama İzin Belgesi). The ministry’s site lists the homes that hold one.
- How
- Owners apply only through e-Devlet, the state’s online services portal. A foreign owner adds a passport copy with a foreign identity number or tax number, the title deed and, for a shared home, the co-owners’ written consent.
MuseumsMuseum and site tickets
- Desk
- Cultural Assets and Museums Directorate General (Kültür Varlıkları ve Müzeler Genel Müdürlüğü); tickets and cards through the ministry’s business office DÖSİMM
- Handles
- More than 300 museums and archaeological sites. The one-year museum card (Müzekart) is for citizens of Türkiye, Blue Card holders and citizens of Northern Cyprus.
- Visitors
- Ticket prices and the Museum Pass for visitors from abroad: museum ticket planner.
Old findI found something old
- Desk
- The nearest museum directorate (müze müdürlüğü); in a village, the headman (muhtar); elsewhere, the governor’s office of the district
- Rule
- Report the find within three days. A reward is paid for movable finds reported in time.
- If not
- Not reporting in time can bring six months to three years in prison.
GuideIs my guide licensed?
- Desk
- Investment and Businesses Directorate General, tourist guiding
- Handles
- The guide’s licence (ruhsatname) under the tourist guiding law of 2012. Guides apply for it and follow it on e-Devlet.
- Counts
- The guides’ union TUREB publishes the number of licensed guides.
FilmingFilming in Türkiye
- Desk
- Cinema Directorate General (Sinema Genel Müdürlüğü)
- Rule
- Producers from abroad apply online at filmingpermit.ktb.gov.tr, for films, series, documentaries, clips and adverts. Each shoot needs at least one fixer (mihmandar) who is a citizen of Türkiye, and the script goes in Turkish too.
- How
- +90 312 470 66 26 · [email protected]
HotelOpening a hotel
- Desk
- Investment and Businesses Directorate General, certification department
- Rule
- Since 1 September 2019 every tourism certificate application goes through e-Devlet. The first application for an investment or operation certificate costs 15,000 TL, paid once. Stars come from a separate classification.
- How
- +90 312 470 71 21
What the ministry is and what the law asks of it
The ministry in its present form was set up on 10 July 2018 by the first presidential decree, the one that organised the new presidential system of government. Its job has two halves: keep the country’s heritage alive, and make tourism a productive part of the economy.
- Heritage: research, protect, keep alive and present the country’s national, historical, cultural and tourist values.
- Monuments: protect historic and cultural property.
- Tourism: develop and market every place in the country that suits tourism.
- Investment: steer investment in culture and tourism, acquire land for it and, where needed, expropriate it, and plan and build.
- Promotion: promote Türkiye’s culture and tourism abroad by every means.
- Grants: give cash support to projects of private theatres and of associations and foundations whose main aim is culture, art, tourism or promotion.
- Partners: guide the public bodies in these fields and work with local councils, civil society and companies.
The ministry’s list of its ministers starts with Talat Halman, who took office on 13 July 1971. Six names from that list:
| Took office | Minister |
|---|---|
| 13.07.1971 | Talat Halman, the first name on the list |
| 17.03.2003 | Erkan Mumcu |
| 31.08.2007 | Ertuğrul Günay, five years in office |
| 25.01.2013 | Ömer Çelik |
| 19.07.2017 | Numan Kurtulmuş |
| 10.07.2018 | Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, in office now |
Who runs it the minister and his deputies
The minister
Mehmet Nuri Ersoy
- Born
- İstanbul, 1968
- School
- The German High School (Alman Lisesi), then business studies in English at İstanbul University
- Before
- Started in tourism in 1985 as a guide, while still at school. Founded a tour and hotel company in 1991 and moved into hotels in 2000.
- Minister
- Since July 2018, in the first cabinet of the presidential system, after 33 years in tourism. He handed over every post he held in his company when he took office.
- Deputies
- Dr. Coşkun Yılmaz, Gökhan Yazgı, Nadir Alpaslan and Dr. Serdar Çam
How it is organised twenty desks in Ankara, offices in every province
Twenty units work at the head office in Ankara. Most of them run the house: law, staff, money, inspection, IT and press. The desks a member of the public meets are these eight.
Cultural Assets and Museums
The museums and sites, excavations and surveys, the boards that protect historic places, restoration laboratories, and the fight against trafficking of antiquities.
Investment and Businesses
Licences for hotels, holiday homes and travel agencies, tourist guides, tourism statistics, and the Atatürk Cultural Centres in Ankara and İstanbul.
Promotion
Türkiye’s image abroad, and the tourism information offices.
Cinema
Filming permits for producers from abroad, and money for film projects.
Libraries and Publications
Public and children’s libraries in the provinces, manuscript libraries and the Beyazıt State Library.
Fine Arts
State art galleries, the Presidential and State Symphony Orchestras, state choirs, folk dance and modern dance companies.
Living Heritage and Events
Folk culture, traditional crafts and their courses, festivals and cultural events.
Copyright
Copyright, with an office for copyright and cinema in İstanbul.
Outside Ankara
- In each province: a provincial culture and tourism directorate (İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü), the first stop for local permits and questions.
- Also local: culture centres, public libraries, state galleries, music and dance ensembles and tourism information offices.
- Abroad: culture and tourism counsellors and attachés at Türkiye’s missions.
Twelve more bodies are linked to the ministry. They include the General Directorate of Foundations (Vakıflar Genel Müdürlüğü), the State Theatres, the State Opera and Ballet, the Manuscripts Authority, the Atatürk High Institution of Culture, Language and History, the area authorities of Gallipoli, Cappadocia and Uludağ, the broadcasting regulator RTÜK, the aid agency TİKA, the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities, and the Yunus Emre Institute.
Museums and sites who pays what, and where the card stops
More than 300 museums and archaeological sites belong to the ministry, from Ephesus to Göbekli Tepe. The entry fees pay for their upkeep, repairs, cleaning and displays.
The museum card
Müzekart, for residents
- Who: citizens of Türkiye, Blue Card holders (former citizens) and citizens of Northern Cyprus.
- How long: one year from the day of purchase; it cannot be extended, only bought again.
- Digital card: valid at more than 350 museums and sites, the National Palaces and Gallipoli included. Its first use is at the museum where it was bought; then it moves into the phone app Türkiye’nin Müzeleri.
- Not covered: the Harem of Topkapı Palace, Hagia Irene, the Terrace Houses at Ephesus, the Dark Church at Göreme, the Serçe Limanı glass wreck hall in Bodrum, Sedir Island and the İstanbul Cinema Museum.
- Children: citizens of Türkiye aged 18 and under enter free.
Why some rooms cost extra
The Terrace Houses at Ephesus and the Dark Church at Göreme hold few people at a time. Heavy crowds would damage them, so each has its own ticket and stays outside the card. Prices for visitors from abroad and the Museum Pass are on our museum ticket planner.
Old finds and the law what to do with a coin in the field
Every year the ministry publishes the digs of the year: excavations by Turkish and foreign teams, underwater work, museum digs, rescue digs, surveys and radar studies. The lists for 2025 are out. For anyone else who turns up something old, the rules are strict.
- Report it: within three days, to the nearest museum directorate; in a village, to the headman; elsewhere, to the governor’s office.
- Reward: paid for movable finds reported in time, at the value museum experts set.
- Silence: not reporting in time, without a good reason, means six months to three years in prison.
- Treasure hunting: without a permit, three months to two years. A metal detector is no exception.
- Digging for finds: an unpermitted dig or drill, two to five years.
- Buying or selling: unreported historical objects, two to five years and a fine.
- Taking them abroad: five to twelve years and a fine.
- Damage: wrecking a protected historic building on purpose, two to five years and a fine.
The rule for finders
Found something old? Report it within three days.
To the nearest museum directorate, the village headman or the governor’s office. The Turkish words are in the queue machine above, under Old find.
Bringing pieces home 179 returns since 1980
The ministry keeps a public list of cultural property returned to Türkiye from abroad. On 5 November 2026 it had 179 entries. The first is six pieces from Aphrodisias, returned by the United States in 1980; the newest is a statue head handed back from France.
- 1924 to 1942, and 19877,308 clay tablets and a sphinx from Boğazköy, the Hittite capital Hattusa, return from Germany.
- 1993 and 1999363 pieces of the Lydian Hoard come back from the United States, then 1,661 coins of the Elmalı hoard.
- 2000Two panels of the Zeugma mosaic come back from the Menil Collection in the United States, and 3,634 objects seized at Heathrow airport from the United Kingdom.
- 2025 and 2026Bronze statues from the ancient city of Boubon near Burdur, a mosaic panel from Zeugma and İznik tiles from the United Kingdom and Spain.
Licences, permits and support hotels, homes, agencies, guides, film
Every tourism business in Türkiye works on a paper from this ministry. The queue machine above has one ticket for each; these are the figures and rules behind them.
Hotels and other places to stay
Since 1 September 2019 all certificate applications go through e-Devlet. The first application for a tourism investment, operation or partial operation certificate costs 15,000 TL, paid once. Stars and types come from a separate classification. The ministry also gives certificates for environment-friendly stays (“Green Star”), bicycle-friendly stays and simple lodgings, and keeps a public search of certified places.
Homes rented to tourists
The permit for renting a home to tourists is applied for only through e-Devlet. The owner needs the title deed; where the home is shared, the written consent of enough co-owners to make a majority of owners and shares; and, for a foreigner, a passport copy with a foreign identity or tax number. Timeshare owners can rent their weeks only with the consent of the other owners. Some applications are judged by the provincial directorate.
Travel agencies
Agencies are set up, changed and transferred through the investment and businesses directorate. It publishes the fines, the agencies by speciality and a search of agencies, and takes complaints about an agency through its own application page.
Tourist guides
Guiding is a licensed profession under the tourist guiding law, in force since 22 June 2012, and its regulation of 26 December 2014. Guides apply for the licence (ruhsatname) and follow it on e-Devlet. The guides’ union TUREB publishes the numbers.
Filming permits
Producers, directors and companies from abroad need a permit for every kind of film, from documentaries and series to clips and adverts. They apply online, hire at least one fixer who is a citizen of Türkiye, and send the script and synopsis in Turkish, at the start and after the shoot. Crews from Türkiye apply to the provincial directorate instead.
Money for foreign films
The support can reach 30 percent of what a foreign production spends in Türkiye, as accepted by the ministry. A Turkish co-producer or service company applies; it must have made at least two feature films, or one season of a series, in the past five years. The project must score at least 50 of 100 points in a test of cultural content, local crew and local spending.
Who comes the 2025 border count
The ministry counts everyone who enters Türkiye through a border gate. In 2025, 52,775,055 foreign visitors came, a little more than the 52,629,283 of 2024. With 11,166,206 citizens who live abroad, the total was 63,941,261. July was the busiest month, with 8,416,629 arrivals.
| Country of the visitors | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Russia | 6,903,981 | 6,710,198 |
| Germany | 6,745,190 | 6,620,612 |
| United Kingdom | 4,270,036 | 4,433,782 |
| Iran | 3,050,195 | 3,277,852 |
| Bulgaria | 2,808,357 | 2,918,581 |
| Poland | 1,914,958 | 1,866,986 |
| United States | 1,584,725 | 1,442,191 |
| Georgia | 1,327,884 | 1,466,188 |
| Netherlands | 1,275,577 | 1,303,262 |
| Romania | 1,174,607 | 1,173,358 |
How to reach it addresses and lines
- Head office
- İsmet İnönü Bulvarı No:32, 06100 Emek, Ankara
- Switchboard
- +90 312 470 80 00
- Requests and complaints
- Alo 176 (phone 176 from a Turkish line) · [email protected]
- Filming permits
- +90 312 470 66 26 · [email protected]
- Tourism certificates
- +90 312 470 71 21
- In the provinces
- Each provincial culture and tourism directorate has its own address and number on the ministry’s site.
Sources and dates
Every figure and rule here comes from the ministry’s own pages, checked on the date shown. Laws, fees and lists change; the ministry’s pages carry the current version.
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism, founding and duties (Kuruluş ve Görevler) — Presidential Decree No. 1 of 10.07.2018, checked 05.11.2026
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the minister (Bakanımız) — checked 05.11.2026
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism, list of ministers — checked 05.11.2026
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism, units and linked bodies (Birimlerimiz) — checked 05.11.2026
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism, offices outside Ankara (Taşra Teşkilatı) — checked 05.11.2026
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism, contact (İletişim) — checked 05.11.2026
- DÖSİMM, questions on museums and the Müzekart (S.S.S.) — checked 05.11.2026
- Cultural Assets and Museums Directorate General, “I found a cultural object, what should I do?” — Law 2863, article 4; checked 05.11.2026
- Cultural Assets and Museums Directorate General, rewards for finders — checked 05.11.2026
- Cultural Assets and Museums Directorate General, treasure hunting with a detector — Law 2863, article 74; checked 05.11.2026
- Cultural Assets and Museums Directorate General, penalties concerning historical objects — checked 05.11.2026
- Cultural Assets and Museums Directorate General, excavations and surveys of 2025 — checked 05.11.2026
- Cultural Assets and Museums Directorate General, objects returned from abroad (Yurt Dışından İadesi Sağlanan Eserler) — 179 entries, checked 05.11.2026
- Investment and Businesses Directorate General, tourism facilities (Turizm Tesisleri) — Law 2634; checked 05.11.2026
- Investment and Businesses Directorate General, applications to rent homes to tourists — checked 05.11.2026
- Investment and Businesses Directorate General, travel agencies (Seyahat Acentaları) — checked 05.11.2026
- Investment and Businesses Directorate General, tourist guiding (Turist Rehberliği) — Law 6326; checked 05.11.2026
- Cinema Directorate General, filming permit for foreign productions — checked 05.11.2026
- Cinema Directorate General, support for foreign film productions (Yabancı Film Yapım Desteği) — checked 05.11.2026
- Investment and Businesses Directorate General, tourism statistics: border statistics, yearly bulletin 2025 — checked 05.11.2026
The photographs are from Wikimedia Commons, each with its author, date, licence and file page. The queue machine is a drawing.