I know I will be severely criticised for stating this but, Star Alliance or not, by any reasonable measure Turkish Airlines have a poor safety record.

Statistically it is the worst of any major European or continental American airline if you take into account fatal accidents, injuries and major failure related incidents. How many airlines do you know that put up a dedicated web page to reassure their UK passengers that they are safe to fly with?

However good or bad the service or air mile benefits, safety comes first. I've clocked up 100k+ miles a year for the last 15 years or more to all four corners of the globe, which means I've flown with some pretty dodgy airlines, but I wouldn't fly with Turkish unless there was absolutely no other way to get me there.