Expats with money in the bank do not have the right to vote

The scandal grows over the fact that ‘Turks abroad cannot vote because their addresses have been taken to Turkey’, put on the agenda by SÖZCÜ.

Due to the incident, the agreement on automatic notification of bank accounts of Turks living abroad and their income abroad came to light. Turkish citizens who have money in the bank and earn income in Turkey cannot vote in the countries where they live.

CHANGE YOUR RESIDENCE ADDRESS

While the ‘Automatic Bank Account Notification’ agreement signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan affected 6 million Turks living abroad, some citizens were known to have changed their residence addresses saying: ‘If you don’t want them to be informed your accounts, show your address in Turkey’.

Those who have money in the bank in Turkey, have rental income or other income, bring their addresses to Turkey to avoid paying tax penalties in the countries in which they live. Since these people are registered as residents of Turkey, they do not have the right to vote abroad.

“NOW YOUR ADDRESS IS IN GERMANY, YOU CANNOT VOTE”

It was indicated that when citizens oppose decisions made before the elections and their residence addresses are corrected, their bank and account information is automatically sent abroad to the corresponding units of the countries.

In this context, tens of thousands of Turkish voters, who came to cast their ballots from April 27, were turned away from foreign representatives because they had been abroad for years. Citizens were told: “Your address is no longer in Germany, you cannot vote.”

CAN VOTE IN Türkiye

Tens of thousands of people whose addresses are shown in Turkey can only vote if they are in Turkey on May 14.

Despite living abroad, it is against European law to show an address in Turkey for tax or other purposes. This can create intentional tax evasion charges.

It anticipates that countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and France will have a similar legal structure to Turkey, and that individuals will be taxpayers in that country, depending on where they reside, 183 days a year. They may also risk losing their residence permits.