Istanbul

You can buy groceries online, by registering with Migros (which is the equivalent of say Carrefour). There are many times of Migros, denoted by the letter "M".

Single M = very small grocery store.
MM = slightly larger - has multiple things other than just groceries
MMM = larger variant, of a large supermarket.
MMMM = Comparable to a Carrefour
MMMM = Like a full-blown Wal-Mart or CarreFour super store.

The other grocery stores are BIM and SOK. They are ALL over the place. You cannot miss out.

For apartment hunting, search for Sahibinden. Please be careful when the Google Translation is converting prices, sometimes it will convert TL (Turkish Lira) prices to $, so something that may be for 3,000TL (or about $500), will show up as $3000, so don't be surprised.

Best is to ask the University of neighborhoods around the university (your international student office will provide this information to you in the welcome kit).

thank you very much for your detailed reply i will get in touch with the international office for more informations

thank you