Same thing happened to me as happened to the original poster (just 3 days ago in fact - and I hope the con artists do internet research and read this story because I had the last laugh).

On my last night in Istanbul I'm going back to my hotel at around 1am when a guy engages me in conversation from his car just outside my hotel (next to the Haya Sofia). Anyway, I talk away to the guy for about 10 minutes and he invites me for a drink in an Irish bar down the road (I'd passed the bar before so knew the one he was talking about). I told him I was too tired but he somehow convinced me to to with him for one beer as he wanted to talk with these Australian girls he'd met there earlier and didn't want to go down on his own as they wouldn't trust him (being a single Turkish guy who was visiting Istanbul on his own). He told me to jump in his car, but I told him I'd rather walk down. So he parked his car and walked down with me. As we got there it was closed and he waived down a taxi and said hop in as these girls he'd met had gone to another bar that wasn't far. He opened the door for me and foolishly I got into the taxi. At that point my guard was up although there was nothing this guy said or did which suggested he was anything other than friendly, but of course I don't like the fact i'm now somehow in a cab with a guy I don't know.

We then end up in Taxim and enter into this club which goes down a stairway. As soon as I get down the stairs it's apparent this is a really seedy joint although it's not immediately apparent it's a whorehouse as the girls are not topless. We sit down in a booth at the back of the club. Immediately a couple of beers are placed in front of me and this guy who's sitting on the other side of the booth. At this point I can pretty much see what's coming but before I can do anything about it, a prostitute sits down next to me and one next to this guy. She touches my leg and asks "do you want to F*** me?" I say "NO". Stand up, look the guy in the eye and say "I'm leaving". He says we'll get the cheque and he'll leave with me. I say "No, I'm leaving now!" and pull out a 50 lira bill (GBP 25) from my pocket to cover the drinks. He suddenly changes his demeanor, grabs me by the hand and says "you're not leaving, you want to leave it's 3000 liras, sit down! F***ing English" (I'm Irish so the rage levels are now through the roof!). I turn to the whore who's blocking my exit and say "are you going to let me out?". The slut says "No". At this point the waiter appears with the cheque and one of the heavies appears alongside him.

Cue the action music! I throw the 50 lira bill I have in my hand to one side which distracts them briefly and smack the heavy with a right hand that takes him out (he was standing in front of the whore, blocking my escape route). I then jump over the whore to escape from the booth (hopefully landing one foot on the head of the guy I decked, although i have no idea recollection where my foot landed), fly through the dancefloor (which has about 7 or 8 whores strutting around in stilletos). Crash into one of them full force with my head and she must have went flying like a rag doll as I just went straight through her without breaking stride. Charged past the two guys at the bottom of the stairwell who were probably too surprised to have reacted properly as I can only imagine that the guys who run the door on these places don't usually end up looking like muppets when a 5'7" guy has already smacked one of their own and taken out one of their tarts with a headbutt.

Anyway, I had a clear path from the bottom of the stairwell to the door (which fortunately was open) and flew up the stairs 4 or 5 steps at a time. Sprinted down the street where a taxi was sitting at the first corner. I shouted at him to start his feckin engine as I was running towards him and although he didn't speak English he knew exactly what I meant. As I was getting back to my hotel I saw "Ahmed's" car reverse out and pull off (I made my taxi driver wait until this guy had dissapeared as I didn't want him to see me).

I certainly don't advise anyone to react like me if they find themselves in this situation but it was an instinctive reaction rather than something I rationalised. As I got away it turned out to be the correct call for me. Had they caught me (and they would certainly have come looking for me, given that "Urkal" has a broken jaw, "Fatima" had her neck snapped in two by a Glasgow kiss, and "Ahmed's" car is sitting halfway across the city).

It was a dangerous situation to find myself in but thankfully I live to fight another day and I refuse to let it spoil an otherwise excellent trip to Istanbul.