Communicating at the Post Office

Here are some words that will come in handy at the post office (postane):

To send: gOndermek

To mail: postalamak

Envelope: zaft

Registered: taahhutlu (tah-hoot-loo)

Stamp: pul, posta pulu

Postcard: posta karti

Letter: mektup

Often, if you merely be polite and hand the person what you need mailed, they will take care of it for you and give you a total. Packages will be sent airmail as a default, and so unless you wish to have something registered with insurance, you can get through it with very little Turkish if you need to.

Using the Post Office in Ankara and Turkey

The post office in Turkey is called the PTT and is signed in yellow and blue. In general, the post office follows regular business hours of 8:30-5:00 Monday-Friday. They are always closed on religious and national holidays. When using the post office, it is important to realize that Turks use the post office for paying bills and other administrative services. Often, the counter for sending mail is tucked off to the side and is the least busy! When you enter, ask someone to direct you to the correct counter. You will not need to get a number or wait in the massive lines because usually these are for other services. Generally, there is always a Kirtasiye (office supply store) near by where you can buy envelopes, although sometimes the post office has some in stock if you need larger ones for parcels.