Expect at least 3500 to 4400 TL for a decent apartment in a nice neighborhood. Someone says Istanbul is cheap... I find it very expensive. To have a comparable life style, Europe is much much cheaper. Try buy a car, put fuel in iti..go out for dinner in a decent place..they will rip you off. If you want to live in some peripheral areas.. it becomes cheaper but your quality of life goes down vertically and you will really feel you are not in Europe.Beside driving is vastly ....impossible.