Turkey eSIM After the BTK Block · What Still Works (2026)

If you land in Istanbul and open the Airalo app, nothing loads. Same for Holafly, Saily, Nomad and about 33 other eSIM stores. Turkey’s telecom regulator blocked them in 2025, and most guides still tell you to “buy before you fly” as if that were the whole answer.

It is not. There is one international eSIM you can still buy from inside Turkey, there are domestic eSIMs that give you the Turkish number a data-only plan never will, and there is a 120-day device rule that catches people who stay. This page covers all three, written from Istanbul for people staying weeks or months.

The 60-second version

• BTK blocked access from Turkish networks to about 37 international eSIM storefronts between July and September 2025. The block is on their websites, apps and activation servers, not on eSIM technology.
• A profile from a blocked provider that you installed and activated at home keeps working for its full validity. You cannot top it up from inside Turkey.
• Simbye’s store is not blocked. You can buy, install and top up from inside Turkey.
• Domestic eSIMs from Turkcell, Vodafone Türkiye and Türk Telekom are sold in stores with a passport and give you a Turkish number. They also start the 120-day IMEI clock on a foreign phone.
• If you are staying long enough to open a bank account, you need a +90 number. No travel eSIM gives you one.

What BTK actually did

On 10 July 2025 BTK issued decision E-98966759-450.08-36681 blocking eight eSIM sellers: Airalo, Saily, Holafly, Nomad, Instabridge, Mobimatter, Alosim and BNESIM. A second decision on 17 July added ten more, and a third on 15 September 2025 added fourteen, bringing the total to roughly 37. The decision numbers are documented by the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD), which tracks Turkish access blocks. BTK has not published a consolidated list or its reasoning.

The background, per Turkish tech press, is that these sellers are not licensed Turkish operators and do not store subscriber data in Turkey. The mechanism is a domain and app block on Turkish ISPs and mobile networks. Your phone’s radio does not care. A profile already on the phone connects to Turkcell, Vodafone or Türk Telekom as a roaming subscriber of the provider’s partner carrier and works normally.

Two blocked providers now say so on their own product pages. Nomad’s Turkey page tells buyers its website and app are not accessible in Turkey and to buy enough data before arrival. Yesim’s page says access to its app and website may be limited in Turkey.

Blocked or working: provider status, September 2026

Provider	Buy from inside Turkey?	Top up from inside Turkey?	Turkish network
Simbye	Yes	Yes	Turkcell, Vodafone, Türk Telekom (roaming profile)
Airalo	No, blocked	No	Türk Telekom
Holafly	No, blocked (app sometimes loads)	No	Turkcell, Türk Telekom
Saily	No, blocked	No	Not disclosed
Nomad	No, blocked	No	Türk Telekom
Yesim	Limited, by its own statement	Unreliable	Not disclosed
Ubigi, Roamless, GigSky	Reported blocked in field tests	No	Roamless: Turkcell
Turkcell, Vodafone, Türk Telekom domestic eSIM	Yes, in store with passport	Yes	Own network

Simbye’s status is confirmed by Simbye in writing (September 2026) and matches the independent status table at esim-urlaub.de. Every other row is from the BTK decisions, provider product pages, or field tests cited in the sources below. BTK has added providers three times without notice; if a provider is not on this table, do not assume it works.

Pick your route by length of stay

You are staying	Use this	Why
Under 14 days	Simbye, bought whenever you like, or any blocked provider installed before departure	Cheapest per GB, no store visit, no number needed
14 to 120 days	Simbye for data plus a domestic prepaid line for a Turkish number	You will need the number for banking, deliveries and e-Devlet within the first two weeks
Over 120 days	Domestic line as your main line, and decide on the IMEI question early	The 120-day device clock starts the day a Turkish SIM goes in a foreign phone. See the BTK guide

Route 1: Simbye, the eSIM you can buy after landing

This is the route for most readers of this guide, because it removes the two problems the block created: you can buy after you land, and you can top up when you run low.

What you get. Turkey 10 GB for 30 days at $9.99, or $8.49 with NOMADISTAN15. Larger plans up to 50 GB and unlimited on the same page. Hotspot allowed. 5G where the network provides it. No throttling on the 10 GB plan. Top-ups from inside Turkey.

Network. A roaming profile across Turkcell, Vodafone and Türk Telekom. The phone registers on whichever is strongest where you are and switches on its own. Your status bar shows which one you are on.

What you do not get. A Turkish number. Simbye’s plans with a number attach a French +33 line, which works for foreign verification codes and calls abroad but not for Turkish banks, which only send codes to +90 numbers. See the Turkish-number section below.

How to buy and install.

1. Open the Simbye Turkey eSIM page (affiliate link, code applied). Pick the plan. Check out.
2. The QR code arrives by email within minutes. On iPhone: Settings, Mobile Data, Add eSIM, scan. On Android: Settings, Network, SIMs, Add eSIM.
3. Turn on data roaming for the Simbye line. Keep your home SIM on for calls and SMS, with its data off.
4. The 30 days start when the profile first connects to a Turkish network, so buying early costs no validity.

Why this is our pick. Not because it is the cheapest per gigabyte on every plan size. Because it is the only one on the table you can buy from a Turkish IP, and a guide for people who live here has to work for the reader who is already here.

Route 2: a domestic eSIM from a Turkish operator

All three operators sell prepaid tourist lines to foreigners in official stores against a passport. Vodafone states on its tourist page that the line can be issued as an eSIM in its shops. Turkcell and Türk Telekom also issue eSIMs, but staff familiarity with doing it for a tourist line varies by store, so ask before you queue. Airport counters are convenient and 50 to 70% more expensive than a city-centre store for the same package.

What the official pages say as of this update:

• Vodafone Türkiye. The Welcome to Turkey pack is applied automatically when a foreigner activates a new line on the New Easy tariff: 20 GB, 750 minutes, 1,000 SMS, unlimited WhatsApp data, valid 28 days. You can pre-register on their tourist page with passport details and collect in store.
• Türk Telekom. Welcome packages at airport dealers and stores: Welcome 10 GB (7 days), 25 GB and 50 GB (28 days), 75 GB (15 days). Activated by SMS code to 5555. One-time, not auto-renewing. Usually the cheapest of the three.
• Turkcell. Hazır Kart prepaid bundles priced per 4-week cycle, roughly 700 TRY for 10 GB up to 1,800 TRY for 80 GB, with a tourist starter pack around 20 GB. Best 5G in central Istanbul and the strongest network in rural Anatolia. English-speaking staff at the Levent stores.

Prices move with the lira and with promotions. We could not verify a current Vodafone or Türk Telekom price from an official page at the time of writing, so confirm in store. Third-party guides in 2026 put a 20 to 25 GB tourist pack between 1,000 and 1,500 TRY at city stores.

What a domestic line gives you that no travel eSIM does: a +90 number for bank OTPs, e-Devlet, BiTaksi, Getir, Yemeksepeti, and every form that asks for a Turkish mobile. What it costs you: the 120-day IMEI clock starts the day it goes in a foreign phone.

Route 3: a blocked provider, installed before you fly

Still valid if you already have an Airalo, Holafly or Nomad account and want to use it. Buy the plan at home, install the profile on Wi-Fi, and activate it before boarding if the provider allows early activation. Check that the profile shows a network name under Settings before you leave for the airport.

Rules that follow from the block:

• Buy more data than you think you need. You cannot top up from inside Turkey. Running out on day 20 means buying something else anyway. That something else is Simbye or a domestic SIM.
• Screenshot the QR code and the ICCID. Support pages will be unreachable. If the profile fails on arrival, you need the raw details.
• Keep your home SIM active for SMS. You will want it for verification codes while you sort out a Turkish number.

The Turkish-number problem

This is the gap every eSIM comparison skips, because their readers are tourists and ours are not.

Turkish banks send one-time passwords to a +90 mobile only. So does e-Devlet for most logins, and so do the delivery apps. A data-only eSIM, however good, cannot receive them. Options:

1. A domestic prepaid line as a second eSIM. The standard answer. Twenty minutes in a Vodafone or Turkcell store with your passport. Keep it topped up so the number stays alive; prepaid lines with no credit for several months get recycled.
2. An eSIM bundled with a foreign number. Simbye and a few others sell a data eSIM with an attached European number, usually +33 or +44. Useful for foreign services that want SMS verification. Useless for Turkish banks.
3. Postpaid line after you have a residence permit. Better rates, needs the permit card and a Turkish tax number.

For what the bank requires, see how to open a Turkish bank account.

Cost comparison, 30 days

Approximate, from provider pages and 2026 guides. Verify at checkout.

Option	Data	Price	Turkish number	Buy inside Turkey
Simbye with NOMADISTAN15	10 GB	$8.49	No	Yes
Simbye with NOMADISTAN15	20 GB and up	See plan page	No	Yes
Nomad (Türk Telekom)	20 GB	~$21	No	No
Airalo (Türk Telekom)	20 GB	~$26	No	No
Saily	20 GB	~$24	No	No
Holafly	Unlimited, fair use	~$47	No	No
Türk Telekom Welcome	25 GB + minutes	1,000 TRY ($21)	Yes	In store
Vodafone Welcome to Turkey	20 GB + 750 min	1,300 to 1,500 TRY ($28 to $32)	Yes	In store
Turkcell tourist pack	20 GB + 200 min	1,300 TRY ($28)	Yes	In store

For a month where you need a bank account, pair Simbye for data with the cheapest domestic pack for the number. For a two-week visit with no banking, Simbye alone.

VPNs

The block is at the domain level, so a VPN that works in Turkey does route around it. The catch is that Turkey has also blocked 27 or more commercial VPN services, and the list grows. Cloudflare WARP and obfuscated modes on the big providers work for some people on some networks. A connectivity plan that depends on one is a bad plan. Treat it as a way to recover a failed install, not as a way to shop.

Day-one checklist

• Data eSIM sorted: either Simbye bought on arrival (affiliate link) or a blocked provider installed before departure.
• QR code, ICCID and provider email saved offline.
• Home SIM still active for SMS.
• Passport in hand for the operator store if you need a Turkish number.
• Decide before you buy a domestic line whether this phone will still be in Turkey on day 121. If yes, read the IMEI registration section first.

Disclosure

Simbye links on this page are affiliate links. Using them, or the code NOMADISTAN15, supports this site at no cost to you. Simbye did not write or review this page, and the block status of every other provider comes from BTK decisions, provider pages and field tests cited in the sources. If a provider’s status changes, email hello@nomadistanbul.com and we will update the table with the date.