NordVPN may be the best VPN in Turkey. Turkey is not known for its Internet freedom so using a VPN is recommended for any privacy-cautious users.
Turkey has a record of blocking popular social media sites for periods of time, with the government trying to prevent certain information from being spread and accessed by its citizens. For example, the social media site Twitter was blocked in Turkey for two weeks during election season to prevent citizens from accessing leaked wiretapped recordings of senior officials. Furthermore, bandwidth throttling is a common practice in Turkey during times of domestic crises to prevent citizens from accessing social media sites.
Not only are certain websites blocked (some permanently, some only during certain times), but citizens are also monitored. There have been many cases where people have been prosecuted for their online activities (e.g. criticizing the government). People in certain fields of work are especially vulnerable (e.g. journalism).
To avoid censorship and surveillance, users in Turkey choose to use VPNs. The government of Turkey is not particularly happy about its citizens using VPNs and has started a crackdown of sorts. However, at the moment, VPNs are not illegal, even if some have been blocked.
Using a VPN in Turkey is strongly recommended, though finding the best VPN in Turkey may be a challenge.
How to choose the best VPN in Turkey?
Before we proceed to discuss what features the best VPN needs, it’s important to stress that using free VPNs is not recommended. It can seem very tempting to use a free Turkey VPN but they are free for a reason. Free VPNs either lack the necessary features or they collect and sell browsing data. The latter is very common because users’ data makes great revenue. So the best VPN in Turkey will be a premium one.
You need to consider the following if you want the best VPN in Turkey:
Security and traffic encryption
Security should be the top priority if you plan to use a VPN in a country with strict censorship and surveillance. To avoid data leaking and users’ traffic being readable, VPNs have to use military-grade encryption. AES-256 encryption is the encryption used by most VPNs. When correctly encrypted, the traffic will be unreadable to the Internet Service Provider and any other party who may otherwise be able to read it (e.g. a malicious party connected to the same network).
Large server networks and obfuscated servers
We recommend choosing a VPN with a wide network of servers. The more servers a VPN has, the less congestion there will be because users will be more evenly distributed. These VPNs also usually have more location options.
While VPNs are currently legal in Turkey, we recommend using a VPN that has obfuscated servers just in case. When you connect to a regular VPN server, the Internet Service Provider can see that a VPN is being used even if traffic is not readable. This is not an issue in countries where VPNs are legal, and while it should not cause issues in Turkey, it’s better to be cautious. Obfuscated servers conceal the fact that a VPN is being used. When you connect to an obfuscated server, the VPN will remove traces of itself from your data, concealing VPN usage.
Strict zero-logs policy
All good VPNs will have strict zero-logs policies. A zero-logs policy means that the VPN does not track users as they browse and keep logs of their online activities. This is very important because if a VPN keeps logs, that means it can share them with authorities or sell the data to advertisers.
All VPNs will claim to not collect data but it will not always be true. This is why VPNs need to be audited by independent parties. If an audit concludes that data is not collected, users can trust it.
Internet speed
One worry that many users have when contemplating using a VPN is how it will affect Internet speed. This is not an unfounded worry because VPNs do affect Internet speed. In cases where the ISP is throttling users’ Internet speed, connecting to a VPN would actually speed up the Internet. But in most cases, there will be a slowdown. However, to what extent depends on many factors, including the VPN itself as well as the encryption protocol used. If you want the best VPN in Turkey, aim for a VPN that can retain at least 80% of the original speed.
Extra features
If you need features like an adblocker, protection against malware, a password manager, etc., many VPNs have them included in their subscriptions. It may be more convenient to use just one program to get all the features you need, especially if you pay for them.
NordVPN – the recommended VPN for Turkey
NordVPN is our recommended best VPN for Turkey for many reasons. The premium VPN has all the necessary features to keep you safe and private when online. It offers an excellent experience as it has a wide server choice, fast encryption protocols, and is easy to use. It’s also very affordable despite including so many features.
NordVPN uses a combination of AES-256 and ChaCha20 encryption to encrypt traffic. This is military-grade encryption, and once traffic is encrypted, it will become unreadable. To protect traffic and IP address from leaking if you get disconnected from the VPN while online, the VPN has a kill switch that will immediately disconnect you from the Internet.
NordVPN has an impressive network of servers. It has almost 6,000 servers in 60+ countries and hundreds of locations. Whichever server you connect to, the VPN will not track your browsing and keep logs of your online activities. The VPN has been audited several times as well, meaning its claims of no data collection are legitimate.
NordVPN is considered to be a fast VPN in Turkey because it can retain at least 80% of your original speed. This is why it’s one of the best VPN services in Turkey. It’s mostly because of the NordLynx encryption protocol. You can switch protocols in NordVPN settings but we recommend sticking to NordLynx because it’s why NordVPN is such a fast VPN in Turkey.
If you require extra features, NordVPN includes the following in its subscription plans: an adblocker, a password manager, protection against malware, a data breach scanner, and 1TB of cloud storage. You can choose which subscription plan to purchase depending on which additional features you need. There are excellent discounts available all year round, making NordVPN more than affordable.
If you want a free Turkey VPN, NordVPN does offer a free 7-day free trial. However, an Android device is necessary to initiate the trial. There’s also the option to use the 30-day money-back guarantee as a longer free trial as long as you request a refund within 30 days of your purchase.