International Trade in Turkey

International trade degrees in Turkey teach how companies export, import and do business across borders: trade policy, customs, foreign-trade finance, international marketing and contracts. In Istanbul, Okan teaches International Trade in English for $5,000 a year and in Turkish for $4,500, while International Trade and Business programmes cost $8,000 at İstinye, $8,500 at Bahçeşehir and $12,000 at Bilgi (all English, 2026/27).

You can study the subject at three levels. Two-year associate degrees in foreign trade (dış ticaret) train export assistants and cost from $2,025 a year at Okan. Four-year bachelor's degrees add economics, management and law. Master's programmes, priced per programme, suit graduates who want to specialise or move into trade from another field.

The subject fits Turkey's economy: the country exports vehicles, machinery, textiles and food to Europe, the Middle East and the CIS, and a large share of those companies are based in and around Istanbul. Internships in export departments, trading houses and customs brokerages are therefore relatively easy to reach.

Bachelor's programmes start with economics, accounting and business basics. Trade-specific courses begin in the second year; programmes named International Trade and Business add more management and marketing, while pure International Trade programmes go deeper into customs and trade policy.

Associate programmes skip most of the theory and focus on documents, customs software, export incentives and foreign-trade correspondence, with a work placement in the second year.

Private universities admit international students on school records or, for master's degrees, bachelor's transcripts. National exams are optional.

• Associate and bachelor's. Secondary-school diploma and transcript; the equivalence document (denklik) is requested at registration where needed.
• Master's. Bachelor's diploma and transcript, CV, reference letter and letter of intent; some universities interview candidates.
• English. Okan and Bahçeşehir exempt bachelor's students with TOEFL iBT 72 or PTE 55 and do not accept IELTS; otherwise you take their exam or a preparatory year.
• Turkish. B2 Turkish for Turkish-taught programmes, proven with a recent TÖMER certificate or the university's own test.
• Associate degrees. Not every university admits international students to associate programmes; İstinye, for example, states that it does not.

1. Level. An associate degree is the quickest and cheapest route to an export-assistant job; a bachelor's is needed for most specialist and management roles.
2. Trade or trade-and-business. If you want customs and trade policy, look for “International Trade”; for a broader business degree with a trade focus, “International Trade and Business”.
3. Language and price. Okan's English track costs $500 a year more than its Turkish one; Bilgi's English programme costs $12,000.
4. Location. Okan is in Tuzla on the Asian side; İstinye, Bahçeşehir and Bilgi have campuses on the European side. Commuting time matters for internships.
5. Master's options on campus. Okan runs International Trade master's degrees in English and Turkish, which makes a five- to six-year plan at one university possible.

At 2026/27 rates a four-year bachelor's costs about $18,000 on Okan's Turkish track, $20,000 on its English track, $32,000 at İstinye, $34,000 at Bahçeşehir and $48,000 at Bilgi. A two-year associate degree at Okan comes to about $4,050.

Preparatory years add $3,000 (English) or $2,000 (Turkish) at Okan and $8,000 or $3,000 at İstinye (2026/27). İstinye deducts the preparatory fee from the programme total you have paid, according to its fee notes.

Okan requires a $1,000 deposit for programmes under $6,500; İstinye asks for at least half of the annual fee at final registration and the balance by 1 December 2026.

Typical first roles:

• export or import specialist and foreign-trade assistant;
• international sales and business development, often for CIS and Middle Eastern markets;
• purchasing and sourcing specialist;
• customs and trade-compliance coordinator;
• trade-finance operations at a bank, after a bachelor's or master's.

International students who want to work in Turkey after graduating need an employer-sponsored work permit. Graduates returning home can use knowledge of Turkish suppliers and buyers as a concrete advantage with employers trading with Turkey.

1. Choose the level: associate, bachelor's or master's, and the language track.
2. Six to nine months ahead: prepare school or university documents and an accepted language certificate.
3. Apply online: Okan lets you list up to three programmes in one application.
4. After the offer: pay the deposit, get the acceptance letter, apply for the visa, then register and apply for the residence permit in Istanbul.