Post and Parcels: The Mersin 10 Address Explained

Getting a package from home is one of the first practical puzzles for an international student in North Cyprus, because the address you give your family will end in the name of a Turkish city. This page explains why that works, how the official post and the private couriers from Turkey operate, and where packages end up when customs takes an interest. Note that most official sources linked below are in Turkish.

The Mersin 10 address, explained

Every address for North Cyprus ends with two lines: "Mersin 10" and "Turkey." International postal systems do not list North Cyprus as a country, so mail routes through Turkey — the Postal Department describes the link as running "through the Turkish postal service's European Side Mail Processing Centre" in Istanbul — before being forwarded across.

"Mersin 10" is the routing key that makes this happen — Mersin is the Turkish coastal province historically used as the postal gateway, and "10" designates North Cyprus. The Postal Department's director confirmed (Yenidüzen, 11.07.2018) that "Mersin 10 Turkey" remains the valid official postal address for the whole territory. Tell whoever is sending to you to write:

Your Name
Street name, building/door number
Neighbourhood (mahalle)
District 99XXX
Mersin 10
Turkey

The "country" field on any web form is Turkey. Do not write "Cyprus" or "Northern Cyprus" as the country — mail addressed to Cyprus routes to the Republic of Cyprus in the south, a separate postal territory.

The 99xxx postal codes

The numeric codes beginning with 99 have been in use since 2013. They complement the Mersin 10 address rather than replacing it; their main practical use is satisfying online checkout forms that demand a postal code. The full list, by district and village, is in the Postal Department's official PDF: TRNC International Postal Codes.

District-centre codes: Nicosia (Lefkoşa) 99010, Famagusta (Gazimağusa) 99450, Kyrenia (Girne) 99300, Güzelyurt 99700, İskele 99850, Lefke 99770. The major universities have their own dedicated codes — NEU 99138, CIU 99258, EMU 99628, GAU 99428, METU NCC 99738, EUL 99728. If you live on campus, use your university's code instead of the city's; off campus, look up your neighbourhood in the official list.

The Postal Department: routes, services, tracking

The TRNC Postal Department (posta.gov.ct.tr) runs domestic mail, international air and surface mail, an express service (APS), small packets, parcels and money orders. Per its official pages:

• Airmail moves via Ercan airport on contracted airlines through the Adana, Ankara and Istanbul post offices, with the worldwide link running through Turkish PTT's Istanbul processing centre.
• Surface mail travels by ferry from the port of Famagusta.
• APS (express) targets next-day delivery within North Cyprus (second day at the latest for remote areas); it is not accepted for military-unit addresses.

Tracking within North Cyprus is at the official gonderitakip.gov.ct.tr — enter the 13-character alphanumeric barcode from your receipt.

The official sources publish no delivery-time promise for inbound international mail; figures like "5-10 days" circulating online are not official. If you need a time estimate, use the couriers' own published claims below.

Branches and opening hours

The official list covers 36 branches across the six districts (Nicosia, Famagusta, Kyrenia, Güzelyurt, İskele, Lefke) plus the head office; the full address and phone table is at Branches and Addresses. The points most useful to students:

• Head office — Sarayönü Sokak, Mahkemeler Önü No:2, Nicosia; switchboard 0392 228 5982 / 228 6982
• Campus post offices — NEU (0392 223 6163), EMU (0392 365 1135), METU NCC (0392 661 1977), EUL (0392 727 7400)

Counter hours: Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Friday 08.15-15.00; Thursday 08.15-12.15 and 13.00-17.00. Parcel acceptance closes slightly earlier. The pattern to remember: post offices close mid-afternoon most days, and Thursday is the one long day — the only chance to go after class runs late. Numbers and hours change; verify against the Department's page.

Packages held by customs: the parcel post offices

Shipments subject to customs are not delivered to your door or handed over at a regular counter. The recipient collects them in person from a dedicated parcel post office:

• Bakanlıklar Bölgesi Parcel Post Office — Nicosia (former Vehicle Registration building); dutiable shipments 0392 227 5558, non-dutiable 0392 227 1261
• Famagusta Parcel Post Office
• Kyrenia Parcel Post Office — Kyrenia Tourism Harbour, former X-RAY building
• Güzelyurt Parcel Post Office

Parcel pick-up hours are limited and vary by branch (the EMU campus post office, for instance, releases parcels only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 13.00-15.00); check the official list: Branches Handling Parcel Delivery.

Couriers from Turkey

For packages from Turkey — which is how most goods reach North Cyprus, including online orders from Turkish retailers — three companies confirm a TRNC service on their own official pages (listed alphabetically; delivery times are the companies' own claims, not this site's measurements):

• Aras Kargo — Routes via Mersin per its official page; quoted delivery is 3-4 business days for origins within 600 km, 4-5 beyond. The sender files an ETGB customs declaration via Turkish e-Devlet or completes a TRNC proforma invoice at the branch. Door delivery happens only if the recipient authorises the customs process and pays any duty. Mobile phones require IMEI registration; no delivery to military addresses; food supplements, tobacco and cold-chain goods are among the prohibited items. Per-invoice weight and value caps apply (current figures on the official page). araskargo.com.tr — TRNC
• DHL eCommerce (formerly MNG Kargo) — Quotes 2-3 business days Turkey-TRNC and next-business-day within North Cyprus; single-piece limit 100 kg; an invoice or proforma is mandatory. Electronics, cosmetics and medicines are pulled to the Nicosia customs warehouse for processing; alcohol, mobile phones and flammables are not carried. Operates hubs in Kyrenia, Güzelyurt, Nicosia and Famagusta. dhlecommerce.com.tr — North Cyprus
• Yurtiçi Kargo — Quotes an average of "1-6 business days from dispatch in Turkey"; delivery to the address or pick-up from the Nicosia agency. Commercial shipments, or any shipment dutiable under TRNC law, must be collected by the recipient from Nicosia customs. Nicosia agency: Atatürk Cad. Şehit Özker Muhittin Sok. Buzcu Oğlu Apt. No:2; 0392 228 69 26 / 228 44 37. yurticikargo.com — TRNC

Prices sit in each company's own calculator and change; we do not publish amounts here.

International couriers: no direct delivery to North Cyprus

DHL, UPS and FedEx do not deliver directly to North Cyprus — this is a consequence of North Cyprus not being recognised as a separate "country" in these global courier networks. The route actually used works like this: a shipment addressed with the "Mersin 10, Turkey" format plus your North Cyprus city arrives at an Istanbul or Ankara hub, is forwarded to Ercan airport, and a local partner company completes the final delivery (for DHL, the local partner is ASE Cyprus/ASE Express; UPS and FedEx use their own local agents). If you are expecting a shipment from outside Turkey, this is the reliable route — confirm with the courier, before paying, that a specific shipment will actually reach North Cyprus this way. Even through the local partner, a parcel that owes duty is never brought to your door in any circumstance — you collect it in person after paying duty (see below).

Customs: duties and exemptions

Whether a package owes duty is decided shipment by shipment by the TRNC Customs Department, not by the courier. The Customs Duties (Personal Exemptions) Regulation currently in force covers people entering the country, not mail:

• Traveller allowance (Schedule I): tobacco (400 cigarettes or 500 g), spirits and wine (150 cl each), perfume (100 ml) carried with you, plus other non-commercial goods up to a total value ceiling set in euros; the excess attracts a flat-rate duty. See the regulation for current figures.
• Settling in (Schedule IV): household goods, clothing and professional tools "to the extent a household requires" carry no monetary cap. The goods must be imported within 6 months of your arrival, have been in your ownership for at least 6 months before import, and be declared to the customs officer as an itemised list.

Postal and courier shipments fall outside this regulation, and there is no duty-free threshold for them — the threshold is effectively zero. Every parcel is taxed regardless of its declared value: customs duty plus VAT (5% or 10%) plus a small wharf/stamp fee. The process: your parcel arrives at the Nicosia customs warehouse or a courier's bonded warehouse, you are notified (often by SMS), you go in person with ID, an officer opens it in front of you and assesses it against the invoice/value, and you pay the duty, warehouse fee and stamp before taking it. The one practical exception is a single personal book shipment, which an officer may allow through duty-free or at a token charge at their own discretion — this is not a right you can claim. Receiving several identical items to the same name in a short period can also get a shipment reclassified as "commercial," which brings in a customs broker and a formal declaration. Prohibited items include medicine, psychiatric substances, sports supplements, tobacco, alcohol and live plants, all of which are confiscated. Dutiable packages, once cleared, are collected from the parcel post offices listed above or from Nicosia customs — never delivered to your door, whichever carrier brought them.

Just arrived? The First Week Checklist covers SIM cards, banking and the other setup steps alongside your first post-office visit.