Istanbul Governorate to take action against store signs in Arabic
ISTANBUL
The Istanbul Governor’s Office has announced that it issued warnings to hundreds of workplaces in the province to comply with the laws and ensure a majority of their signboards are written in Turkish.
In a press statement on July 3, the office said it has started works to make sure store signboards will be in Turkish and Arabic.
It said signs in all 39 districts will be altered and that a “pilot scheme” will begin in the districts of Fatih, Zeytinburnu and Bayrampaşa, where migrant communities live mostly.
“Some 730 workplaces have been warned to correct the contents of the shop signs in reasonable time,” the statement stressed, adding that shop-owners who fail to abide by the regulation will face legal penalties.
According to the regulation set by the Turkish Standards Institute (TSE), shop signs in Turkey must include at least 75 percent Turkish content. The remaining 25 percent can include expressions in foreign languages, according to the TSE.
Some 98 shops in Zeytinburnu and 38 shops in Bayrampaşa where determined to “not conform to the standards,” according to the authorities.
“Inspection works will be carried out jointly with the governor’s office, provincial security directorate, the district governors’ offices, municipalities and provincial directorates of immigration authority of Istanbul,” the statement said.
The governor’s office said the instructions to shop-owners to install signboards in line with “Turkish standards” were given by the Interior Ministry.
