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Stressing a bit as I have a 2 night stop in Turkey on the way to SA coming up in just over 2 weeks. Hotel booked is about 400 meters from the bombing site. It makes me nervous, but then again, there have been just as many attacks in other western european cities.
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Originally Posted by Worcester
(Post 26005316)
I live in Istanbul as an Ex Pat, it is a minor concern but after attacks in Paris and other major cities I don't feel the risk here is greater than any other major city. The Turkish police are efficient for the most part.
More afraid of Turkish domus and taxi drivers... No matter how relatively efficient the Turkish police may be, Turkey is in a hotspot situation/location given the domestic and regional/crossroad dynamics. Would I still visit Istanbul as a tourist this month or next month? Yes, if the weather weren't so lousy; but I would also expect a lot of people get turned off going this year in case a Paris or Bombay style attack hits Istanbul. |
Originally Posted by GUWonder
(Post 26006637)
I would also expect a lot of people get turned off going this year in case a Paris or Bombay style attack hits Istanbul.
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Originally Posted by Worcester
(Post 26005316)
I live in Istanbul as an Ex Pat, it is a minor concern but after attacks in Paris and other major cities I don't feel the risk here is greater than any other major city. The Turkish police are efficient for the most part.
More afraid of Turkish domus and taxi drivers... Airside bomb attack at SAW, and what we saw was official denial of security issues. |
Originally Posted by arlflyer
(Post 26006691)
I understand that you're speaking for "people" rather than yourself, and it's a true statement because "people" aren't necessarily rational, but I'm just curious - aside from outright conflict zones, is there a contemporary example of "lightning striking twice" of this sort? I'm struggling to think of one. Personally I'm the sort of "contrarian" that a previous poster mentioned - once the magnifying glass and spotlight have been placed, I feel safer actually.
But there are situations where one attack may mark the beginning of a series of related attacks that happen in a tighter time FRA, and more directly related way than that. Some would say that Turkey has managed to rather extensively stir more than one nest of hornets within the past twelve months, and thus "lightning striking twice" may be way more likely now than during some prior periods. |
Very true - agreed that they haven't made many friends lately. I also suppose that my caveat of Turkey not being in a "conflict zone" may also be subject to debate. It will certainly be interesting to see how things play out for the country in the coming years.
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The whole Middle East is a huge mess again unfortunately, you can never predict what crisis may suddenly erupt in any country there, which is tricky in making travel plans several months out.
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Originally Posted by Worcester
(Post 26005316)
I live in Istanbul as an Ex Pat, it is a minor concern but after attacks in Paris and other major cities I don't feel the risk here is greater than any other major city. The Turkish police are efficient for the most part.
More afraid of Turkish domus and taxi drivers... That said, based on what we know today, I don't think anyone needs to cancel a trip to IST. The odds are still very, very low that you'd be a victim. The major risk is to your peace of mind.
Originally Posted by MileageAddict
(Post 26005754)
I have award tickets booked to Istanbul for late May with onward travel to Greece. I've been to Istanbul before so it's not like I absolutely have to go there.
I'm traveling with my girlfriend who is a not nearly as seasoned a traveler as me and if I change my itinerary, it would be more for her benefit/peace of mind. I'm going to think about it for a week or two before I do anything.
Originally Posted by GUWonder
(Post 26006929)
I know people who were in a WTC tower when a van/truck bomb was used and when 9/11 happened.
But there are situations where one attack may mark the beginning of a series of related attacks that happen in a tighter time FRA, and more directly related way than that. Some would say that Turkey has managed to rather extensively stir more than one nest of hornets within the past twelve months, and thus "lightning striking twice" may be way more likely now than during some prior periods. |
Originally Posted by teahan
(Post 26006803)
I just don't see evidence that Turkey is managing the security situation.
Airside bomb attack at SAW, and what we saw was official denial of security issues. I agree with the other posts, Turkey has a much more of a security problem than most other countries. They are for example doing much more for Syrian refugees than the whole of Europe and the US combined, they have started issuing work permits to refugees. That alone is probably doing more for our colective security than anything else. |
You're still more likely to get killed on the road there than from terrorism.
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Originally Posted by Palal
(Post 26017471)
You're still more likely to get killed on the road there than from terrorism.
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Originally Posted by arlflyer
(Post 26006691)
I understand that you're speaking for "people" rather than yourself, and it's a true statement because "people" aren't necessarily rational, but I'm just curious - aside from outright conflict zones, is there a contemporary example of "lightning striking twice" of this sort? I'm struggling to think of one. Personally I'm the sort of "contrarian" that a previous poster mentioned - once the magnifying glass and spotlight have been placed, I feel safer actually.
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Originally Posted by Andy33
(Post 26022410)
One obvious example of "lightning striking twice" (or a lot more than twice) was the Europa Hotel, Belfast, during the IRA activities of the 1970s to 1990s. 28 separate bomb attacks.
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Yep. Can relate as well. Award travel coming up during the first week of May. Hoping things chill out....would be a pain to change my entire trip since Istanbul is in the middle of my tour.....
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Los Angeles Times:
Turkey, travel and terrorists: Five things to know Turkey, a growing travel destination in recent years, has been a repeat terrorist target in recent months. Before you book that Turkish trip – or cancel it -- consider these five points. The U.S. State Department is increasingly nervous. On Feb. 4, the agency warned Americans against travel to southeastern Turkey because of “an increased threat of terrorist attacks,” perhaps from an international terror organization, perhaps from an indigenous one. But not all the trouble is confined to the southeastern area near the Syrian border. On Jan. 12 in Istanbul, a killer in his 20s with Islamic State ties detonated a bomb-rigged vest, killing 10 German tourists and himself at one of the city’s busiest tourist spots, the Sultanahmet District. <snip> Turkish officials have said that the bomber had entered the country as a Syrian refugee. His attack followed multiple terrorist killings last year, including an Oct. 10 bombing in Ankara that killed more than 100. On Jan. 14, just two days after the Istanbul bombing, came a car-bomb-and-gunfire attack on a police headquarters in Turkey’s southeastern Diyarbakir Province, killing another five people or more. Government officials blamed that attack on Kurdish separatist terrorists, whose history of clashes with Turkish government troops is long and bloody. <snip> Despite a slowdown at the end of the year, American travel to Turkey was up in 2015. <snip> The Russians are backing away. <snip> Turkey now has enough Syrian refugees to fully populate the cities of San Francisco and San Diego. <snip> It’s more than 500 miles from Istanbul to the Syrian border. <snip> |
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