No more on arrival Turkey visa by April 2014

By 10th April 2014, on arrival visa to Turkey (visa stickers issued at border points) would no longer be issued. But do not worry, you will not need to queue in Turkish Embassies. There is now a better option which seems to be easier and more convenient. Instead of on arrival visa, visitors to Turkey will have to buyTurkish e-visa online before arriving to Turkey.

Turkey’s Culture & Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik has announced this change in London in November:

Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Omer Celik stated on Monday that stamp visa or banderole visa system would be lifted on April 10, 2014 so that the use of e-visa would be more widespread.
Celik attended the meeting of G20 Tourism Ministers in British capital London on Monday. Speaking at the meeting, Minister Celik stated that there was a ten percent of increase in the number of tourists who visited Turkey this year when compared to last year. He added, there was a 22 percent rise in tourism revenue compared to last year, and these rises were closely related with the visa applications.
Celik noted, “In the past decade, we have lifted visa procedures with more than 30 countries, made visa agreements with more than 50 countries within the opinion of that visa exemption opens the way for tourism. Only assessing Turkey’s tourism statistics shows us how correct was our visa policy and how much success we made. With the policies that we follow and the close attention that our country receives, the number of tourists who visited Turkey in the year of 2002 was under 13 million and in the ten year period, so in 2012, that increased to 35.7 million people.”
Source : Turkish visa applications to change

With e-visa, applicants now can obtain their visa electronically after entering required information and making payment by credit card instead of waiting in a queue upon arrival to Turkey. To apply e-visa to enter Turkey, visit Turkey e-visa web site.