Right now inflation is at an all time high and there are so many Russians it blows the mind

Yep, the influx of money driving up prices might be a reason to avoid Turkey right now, especially the touristic spots…

Turkey has a runaway inflation problem, and is also experiencing massive currency devaluation (the two are linked, I guess)

So in the end for a foreigner the prices could be relatively stable… and Istanbul was never cheap, for instance.

Food - it really depends on what you do. Do you eat a lot outside? Cheap street food gets boring fast - how many tajines can you eat in morocco before u crave something else? How many tacos in mexico? Unsurprisingly, the same will be true if you live eating kebabs.

If you do cook for yourself… a quick online search reveals that chicken breast is around 4 euros per kg, common veggies are less than .5 euros per kg, fruit not much expensive than that.

Healthcare: turkey is a medical tourism destination (esp dental, hair transplant, cosmetic surgery). There will be 1st world level services, at 1st world level prices.

More in general: I would not live in the central highlands, but large cities on the coast (with some expat presence) should be fine. Istanbul is one of my favorite cities, I googled it recently and remember you could book on airbnb cute aparments for 1 month for 600 eur or so (that would be near Kadıköy, on the Anatolian side, one of my favourite parts of the city)

private rooms in hostels arent a great deal, usually (a room in an airbnb is often better value), but can be a solution.

Coliving places also could be another one. But there are colivings that are basically airbnbs, and coliving that are basically upscale hostels. If you want some social interaction, you might be better served by the latter.

Also, coworking&coliving sometimes have private spaces you can use for your calls. Hard to determine what could work for you without having more information, though.

Also, consider booking a coworking place for a week or so and be there as much as you can… the goal being meeting a few ppl and making connections, then use them as an entry point into the DN/expat social scene.

Also, if you might be looking for short term partners, that’s another solution :P

Under 85k€ per year, freelancer and permission to work in the EU?

In Italy your taxes would roughly halve, cost of living would be lower and if you move to central/south Italy winters will be much less of an issue (or tbh, a place like Genova or Trieste could also work).

I am more productive, but only for the first month or so.

No fix, though, not at all