I've been to Turkey three times now (Istanbul and Ankara) and there is generally nothing to worry about. The travel advisory for travel near the Iraq border is due to civil unrest with Turkish Kurds (Kurds live in Iran, Iraq, Turkey) and their resistance to Turkish authority - they wish to be autonomous. This advisory has been in effect for years.

While in Ankara, I stayed at the Merit Altinel (not bad). There is a FABULOUS restaurant that serves Kebaps (a well known dish) which I forget the name of, but apparently its THE place to be for the business crowd. Any hotel should be able to direct you there.

My other favourite restaurant is the Kale Washington, which is at the top of the hill on Castle Ankara. You get a nice view of Ankara up there in the evening.

For a but of Turkish history, there's Ataturk's Mausoleum which contains a bit of WWI history from the "Ottoman" perspective and forward. This is atop another hill surrounded by lights and gardens (just up from the Merit Altinel hotel).

Some Turks speak English, but most of them speak German as a second language. It's not as exciting as Istanbul, but Ankara does have a "calm" nature which is comforting.

Good luck!