Turkey to print own e-passports by August

ANKARA

Turkey will be printing its own passports with chips (also called e-passports) from August, while also changing the name of the country to “Türkiye” from “Turkey” on the cover, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has announced.

The indigenous passports will consist of pages printed with photos of the country’s landmarks.

“We have concluded the pilot production and the design work of our new passports. We are now in the last stage before mass production,” Soylu said in an introductory meeting in the capital Ankara.

“As of August, we will be printing our own passports,” he added.

Among the landmarks that will be displayed on every page of the new passports will be the Maiden Tower, the ancient city of Ephesus, Sümela Monastery, the Hagia Sophia Mosque, the Mevlana Museum, the Öamlıca Mosque, Diyarmakır’s city walls, the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge and the parliament complex.

Following a new decision, the “Republic of Turkey” expression will be changed to “Republic of Türkiye” on the cover of the passports.

The meeting was held after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s press conference held after this week’s cabinet meeting.

“Turkey has set up the infrastructure for its own passport production, which has been hardened due to the global chip crisis,” Erdoğan said on May 10.

Turkey is obtaining “passport with chip” from a European company like 18 other countries.

“However, due to the chip shortage globally, this company has been facing difficulties to supply the passport demands,” Soylu said while highlighting the work done to print Turkey’s own passports.