Apart from the ongoing violations of Human Rights I would think Turkey is pretty safe (albeit on my red zone map).

Recently, a Swedish teenager was arrested and tortured by the police on unfounded charges of violence, so the torture by the police does not only happen to local residents.

Though, of course, those are the ones it happpens to most often, I read teenagers are still submitted to electrical torture on a regular basis...

I am no fan of the Turkish police, but do know for a fact that the Police and Armed forces were put on alert to never touch foreign tourists under any circumstances from the early 90's onwards. While I do not doubt that in the Southeast bad things have happened, I strongly doubt that the Swedish teenager was tortured by the Police. If this did indeed happen, that policeman would no longer be in the service and most probably in jail.

I ask the following question(s).....

Is it not possible that the teenager was involved in a very large drunken punchup in Marmaris earlier this year? Was he not extremely drunk and disorderly? and finally, did he not hit a police officer?

I will confirm first hand myself, as well that the Turks are very hospitable people and to me some of the most generous people that I have ever met. I made 2 very best friends for life that are Turks while I was going to college in Atlanta. I have not been to Turkey yet, but they have invited me on several occassions to accompany them to visit their family. I will take them up on their offer for sure. These are 2 people whose friendship I value. I believe that this is the way they are brought up in their country: to be respectful, generous, and hospitable by nature. So, as long as the terrorists are not planning on going to Turkey, you should be pretty secure in the touristy parts.

I also will add my two cents about what great people the Turks are, and their wonderful country. They however are no a stranger to terrorism, having gone through years of problems related to the Kurds. This is not a factor currently, BTW.

An objective view of twentieth century Turkey is available via this book, IMHO:

Turkey Unveiled - A History of Modern Turkey by Nicole Pope, Hugh Pope

ISBN: 1585670960

The Pope's are reporters. Hugh used to be the WSJ Istanbul bureau chief, and Nicole I believe worked for a French news agency.

[This message has been edited by Craig6z (edited 10-12-2001).]

Just travel.. I find it very insulting that you can generalise so much about anywhere outside the US being unsafe.. nowhere is truly safe.. accept that fact and welcome to the real world.

The Turkish police can be a rather intimidating lot. However, I cannot believe that they would "torture" foreign nationals. The worst thing I could possibly imagine was that they might lock the person up for a short while.

IST would make a good choice for a mileage run. I hesitate to recommend that though; spend several days - it's inexpensive enough and there's *so* much there to experience!

hfly: I was there a year or so ago for the soccer/football incident at Taksim. Turkish friends regretted that it came to violence; after they explained the level of provocation beforehand that the locals tried their best to ignore, the story made more sense.

Well, torture and torture... They hit him - whether that is torture is open for debate. No, the teenager was the person who was attacked but it seems the police got it wrong.

I find it just as unacceptable that native Turks are tortured by the police, actually!

I have lived in Turkey for many years, for tha matter my wife is Turkish, and as I stated before I am no friend of the Turkish police (I have had experiences with them, although they do not extend to torture, although shake downs for traffic offenses in the are not uncommon). I do not know anyone who has been tortured. On the other hand I do know several Turks who have been jailed for various offenses, many of which would not be valid in other countries, none of these people however have been tortured.

The best I can say is that these occurances have become less and less frequent over the years, and over the last 10 years or so have pretty much disappeared except in the southeast where the troubles were occurring. Most Turks find these actions unforgiveable, and over the last five years or so there have been several high profile cases of Police being prosecuted for these actions. This is progress.

Once again in response to the original question, Turkey is perfectly safe at the moment, and as a foreigner you will be treated much better than in many more "civilized" countries.

We were in Istanbul in late Sept. at the end of a cruise and felt perfectly safe.

If you stick to the tourist areas you will be fine - Turkey welcomes your dollars and will protect them

Q: Is travel to Turkey safe?
A: Depends who you are travelling with.

Remember...... your best friend is your worst enemy.