It is becoming a more frequent occurrence to see people retiring to property in Turkey, according to Atlas International European sales manager James Dearsley.

He has suggested that people's attitudes to the country as somewhere to live have changed in recent years.

As tourism in the country has picked up, increasing numbers of Britons have apparently considered the nation's beauty and thought: "This is a fantastic place and not at all what we thought Turkey would be like."

Mr Dearsley added that Turkey has taken over as "the dominant overseas property market" in the last 12 months.

Earlier this month, overseas mortgage specialist Conti reported that mortgage applications for Turkish properties increased by 65 per cent in the first five months of the year. This was compared to the last five months of 2008.

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Written by Paul Governor