At home or abroad, there is no guarantee that you are completely safe. Out of the blue, you may find yourself in an emergency situation. Fortunately, we have some helplines to reach out for help in such cases. If you know the right number you should dial, you are lucky; but what if you are away from home, in a country that is completely strange to you? Don’t even want to imagine? Then wait no more and learn the vital phone numbers of the country you’re planning to travel.
KAZA GELİYORUM DEMEZ.
You may have heard the saying ‘’Kaza geliyorum demez.’’ in Turkish. It means ‘’Accidents come without warning.’’ If you are a foreigner in Turkey and don’t know the emergency numbers, this article is here to help you.
The first thing you should know is that all these three-digit numbers are free of charge and 112 serves for all emergency calls. When you dial 112 (Emergency), you are redirected to appropriate services such as 155 (Police), 110 (Fire). Furthermore, this line provides service in foreign languages such as English, Russian, German, and Arabic. The only thing you should do is to request service in one of these languages. You will be immediately redirected to the relevant department. However, it is still vital to know other helplines’ numbers as well. Here is a list of the main emergency phone numbers in Turkey.
- 112 (Emergency) - Acil Servis
- 110 (Fire) - İtfaiye
- 155 (Police) - Polis İmdat
- 156 (Gendarme) - Jandarma
- 117 (Forest Fires) - Orman Yangını
- 183 (Missing child/women) - Kayıp çocuk/kadın yardım hattı
- 154 (Traffic Helpline)
- 114- Hazard Waste
Helplines for Foreigners
As said before, all these services are free of charge and will rush to help you. However, emergencies are not the only situations one needs help for. Sometimes, we -especially we are a foreigner in a country- seek answers to our questions about residence permit, visa issues, lost ID or passport and etc.
In such cases, there are some helplines that serve only foreigners. Let’s take a look at them.
157- YIMER (Foreigners Communication Center)
You may have already heard of YIMER, if you searched the helplines for foreigners in Turkey on Google. This line provides all foreigners with support for the issues such as international protection, temporary protection, visa procedures, resident permit, lost ID card, migrant smuggling, and many others. It serves for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You have the opportunity to get help in 6 different languages. You better write it down! 😊
ALO 199
This line is also for foreigners living in Turkey and serves in 6 languages (English, German, French, Russian, Arabic, Persian) just as YIMER does. You can dial 199 when you want to get information about driver’s licence, e-Passport applications, lost ID and etc. It serves for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as well.
It’s a blessing that you can find someone that speaks your language when you’re in trouble. Nevertheless, you should always be prepared for the worst scenario. What if you couldn’t make yourself understood by anyone. In this case, it is quite necessary for you to know the basic vocabulary and phrases used for emergency situations. Don’t worry, we have already prepared a list of them for you. :)
Lifesavers
Imdat! (Help!)
At home or abroad, there is no guarantee that you are completely safe. Out of the blue, you may find yourself in an emergency situation. Fortunately, we have some helplines to reach out for help in such cases. If you know the right number you should dial, you are lucky; but what if you are away from home, in a country that is completely strange to you? Don’t even want to imagine? Then wait no more and learn the vital phone numbers of the country you’re planning to travel to.
This is the ultimate lifesaver for you. When you scream it out loud, whoever hears you will rush to help you. We don’t call it a lifesaver for anything.
Yardım edin. (Help me!)
If your situation is not that serious, you may use ‘’Yardım edin’’ which means ‘’Help me’’ as well.
Yangın var! (There is a fire!)
Fire also means ‘’ateş’’ in Turkish, so please be careful not to confuse these two words in case of a fire.
Kayboldum! (I got lost!)
Don’t worry, Turkish people are always ready to help.
Kaza geçirdim! (I have had an accident)
Far be it from you!
BONUS:
Soyuldum. (I got robed!)
Let’s admit, it may happen to you wherever you go…
Whether you speak Turkish or not, whether you know these emergency numbers or not, you can be sure that you will get every kind of help from Turkish people. Don’t hesitate to ask for help, even though they don’t know your language, they will do their best to help your situation.
