Living in Turkey (Istanbul)

Dear All,
Hope everyone is at their best reading this post.
My Name is Ali and I have recently been considering leaving UAE and may be settle down in a different country among which I am considering Turkey as one of the countries to look into.
As someone who is completely unaware of the country and its ups and downs you can guess that I have a lot of questions. Would appreciate if someone could help me with the following;

1. Cost of Living (Average on monthly base)
2. Work opportunities for expats.
3. Preferred areas to move into that can help in the start.
4. Are there any networking get together where I can meet new people that are residing in Turkey to gain more knowledge about the country.
5. Current state of the economy and how long does it take on average basis with the job hunt and such.
6. Is it necessary to know the Turkish language for daily necessities or is it enough to be able to communicate in English and Arabic.
7. If I come on visit visa is it an easy transition to have a permanent visa.

For now, the above are the things that I can think of that I will appreciate some info on. About me personally, I am an outgoing person, like taking part in activities, networking and to learn new things that can benefit and add to my knowledge.

Thank you and will be looking forward to hear from you.

Regards,
Ali.