I usually do not carry my passport unless I am driving with my U.S. driver’s license as the police on a traffic stop want to know when last you entered Turkey to see if you have exceeded the 90 days per entry you are allowed to drive with your foreign license for a maximum of 180 days a year or get yourself a Turkish driver’s license and good luck getting one if you do not speak Turkish .
Anyway, this African guy took me to where I could notarize a document and notaries require your passport not your driver ‘s license as we do in the USA . When we were done he decided to escort me to the Tram station to catch my ride back home and suddenly from nowhere some Uniform men approached him in front and was demanding his Passport or kimilik the Turkish resident card . He told them he left his passport at the hotel but the officers kept escorting him towards a waiting big bus with other foreigners inside the bus .
As the officers turned their attention to me, I started to look for my Turkish resident card to show them and this guy started telling me to show them my US passport so I asked the officers to wait that I have a passport and he asked what country are we from and I said the USA so they paused . I pulled out my US passport and handed it over to him . His eyes lighted up and he started saying that was the first he had handled a U.S. passport then checked the picture in the data page compared to my face and next thing he was saying he tried to apply twice to visit the USA and was denied visa . I told him maybe his name is in some USA database as a ‘mean’ policeman deporting foreigners that he should go and apply next year when Donald Trump takes over as he will need foreign police to help in his mass deportation program as state and city police will not get involved in helping him do that .
While he was there chuckling the african guy quietly walked away as they forgot about him . I was surprised how good the English of that officer was , he handed back my passport and told me to enjoy Istanbul and I left . I started walking and looking for the african guy because he was in possession of the documents I went to notarize . I guess he was watching me from his lookout position then later joined me after I cleared the danger zone .
I asked him why he was speaking in a loud voice to show my passport instead of my Turkish identity card that is when he said the officers will assume we are both Americans and will believe he actually left his own U.S. passport in the hotel as he claimed as no sane Turkish Policemen will believe an American will remain in Turkey illegally when he or she can enter Turkey at will without a. Visa . I guess his strategy worked this time as he said he had been in Turkey illegally for 3 years . I advised him to return to his own country as he may not be lucky next time as entering that bus without having an identity may land him in South Sudan being black man .
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