I'm visiting Istanbul and I've already bought my plane ticket JFK-IST. I'm adding a side trip to Bucharest and I'm looking for advice about how close I can cut it in IST.

My return from the side trip to Bucharest into IST on Tarom is scheduled to arrive into IST airport at 9:50 a.m. on a Friday. My return flight to JFK from IST is on Delta and is scheduled to leave that same day at 12:15 p.m., so 2 1/2 hours later.

My question is, is that enough time in between flights? Would I have to go through customs and immigration in IST before getting on my return flight? I might have to pick up checked bags and then re-check them. How tight are things at that airport?

thanks for any advice.