Can you buy prescription medication over the counter at pharmacies in Antalya, Turkey?

A Russian-speaking pharmacy employee is not necessary: you can show the pharmacist a photo of the medication you need.

Psychiatric medications that require a psychiatrist's prescription in Russia can be special-ordered and purchased without a prescription at Turkish pharmacies — you order them and pick them up a day or two later. This worked at a pharmacy in the Kinyalti tourist zone and at a pharmacy inside the Mark Antalya shopping mall.

One commenter noted that antibiotics can sometimes still be bought without a prescription at Antalya pharmacies if you persuade the pharmacist, even though controls on antibiotics are stricter than for other medications.

You don't even need a Turkish doctor's prescription — a prescription from your home country isn't required either; just walk into a pharmacy and name the exact medication you need.

One traveler managed to buy 7 packages of a prescription blood pressure medication (no longer imported into Russia) without showing any prescription at all.

Across the street from one of the popular local landmarks there's a large well-stocked pharmacy with a Russian-speaking staff member named Alena who helps customers buy and arrange medications to send back home.

To send a small quantity of medication from Turkey back home, travelers often arrange with other people making the same trip to carry the medicine for them.