Turkiye Starts Printing Biometric Passports

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.