Have any of you recent Turkey travelers used a cell phone while you were there? I just read that the government blocks cell phones unless the sim card is registered. I have a United-Mobile sim that says it works in Turkey (and most other European countries, and many Asian countries) but that seems to be contradicted by what I just read. Anyone have any recent experience?

Anyone?

I have been to Turkey several times over the past few years and never had a problem with my cell phone.

There is a misunderstanding about the scope of the government requirement. The text of the regulation is available in English on the Ministry of Transportation website (http://www.tk.gov.tr/eng/duzenmaineng2.html). It states clearly that "Devices of international roaming subscribers ... are out of the scope of this Regulation."

You're only supposed to register your phone if you get a local SIM. Then all the documentation you need is your passport.

I used my cell phone in Turkey just 2 months ago with no problems at all.

Thanks for the info. Hopefully my united-mobil sim cards will work. Now that you explain it, I think it's the same in some other countries - in Italy before I had the united-mobile sim I used to buy an Italian sim card and they'd require your passport and fill out some forms, I guess it's the same thing. I just never heard it referred to as "blocking" your sim card.

You can use your cell phone with no problem unless you buy local sim card