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Would You Visit Istanbul? Am I Crazy for Considering it? (1 Viewer)

Security Message: Turkey Travel Warning

June 27, 2016

The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens of increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey and to avoid travel to southeastern Turkey.  This replaces the Travel Warning dated March 29, 2016.
 
Foreign and U.S. tourists have been explicitly targeted by international and indigenous terrorist organizations. As stated in the Worldwide Caution dated March 3, 2016, throughout Europe extremists have targeted large sporting events, theatres, open markets, aviation services, transportation systems, and public venues where people congregate as well as religious sites and high-profile events. U.S. citizens are reminded to review personal security plans and remain vigilant at all times.  U.S. Government personnel in Turkey remain subject to travel restrictions in the southeastern provinces of Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Sirnak, Diyarbakir, Van, Siirt, Mus, Mardin, Batman, Bingol, Tunceli, Hakkari, Bitlis, and Elazig.  U.S. citizens should avoid areas in close proximity to the Syrian border.
 
The Department of State extended its March 29, 2016 ordered departure of family members of U.S. Government personnel posted to the U.S. Consulate in Adana and family members of U.S. Government civilians in Izmir province through July 26, 2016.  The Department of State terminated its March 29, 2016 ordered departure declaration for Mugla province. The U.S. Consulate in Adana remains open and will continue to provide all routine consular services.
 
For your safety:

Avoid travel to southeastern Turkey, particularly near the Syrian border. 

Stay away from large crowds, including at popular tourist destinations.

Exercise heightened vigilance and caution when visiting public access areas, especially those heavily frequented by tourists. 

Stay away from political gatherings and rallies.

Follow the instructions of local authorities in an emergency.

Stay at hotels with identifiable security measures in place.

Monitor local media.
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A stunningly beautiful City and awesome people.  It's been nearly 20 years since I visited (travelling from Israel actually) and I'd love to go back. 

 
For some reason the attacks make me want to visit that much more. Not flippantly, but it's such a diverse and deep culture in Istanbul. Terrible how extremism has pervaded life there. 

 
I connected through IST last Thursday..  Terrible to hear this, glad that I never had to go through arrivals.  I will say the security at IST was a stringent as I've ever been a part of.  We had to go through security after arriving at our gate, even though it was a connection, and then had to go through another round of security before we boarded.  At that security checkpoint, which was run by a private company, there was the most scruitiny put on travelers.  They were asking about what is in your bag, where you were coming from, where you are going, how many days..  For whatever reason I was marked (my GF was not) and had to go through another line where then thoroughly inspected my bag.  

It was a massive pain in the butt, but it did make me feel safer and was definitely glad to be off the ground when I was.   Probably will avoid IST for the foreseeable future, which sucks because I love Turkish Airlines and there are a ton of connection options through there.  

Pretty petty compared to the families/friends who lost loved ones today. 

 
EYLive said:
I'm having lunch in a Turkish cafe right now, the staff look pretty upset. :(
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Please tell everyone you meet that we care for them. And that humanity will triumph over evil.

I wish we had more than words of consolation and condolence for one of the worlds truly great cities and and even greater culture and historical contributor.

 
McGarnicle said:
Humans really do a horrible job of assessing risk. You're more likely to be killed or paralyzed on the car ride to the airport here in the US than to be a victim of random violence in Istanbul.

Also comparing Syria to Istanbul -- dude, no.
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Yeah I'm gonna go ahead and walk this back. No Istanbul for me thanks.

 
McGarnicle said:
Yeah I'm gonna go ahead and walk this back. No Istanbul for me thanks.
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I'd still go.

At age 43 my odds of dying this year are 0.002629.  My odds of being one of the 28 killed in this attack based on 12 million visitors a year to Istanbul is 0.000233.

My odds of dying by staying home are 11x my odds of dying in an Istanbul attack. 

 
Yeah, no before, and still no.  Big world.  Lots of amazing places I haven't been.  Doesn't need to be this one.

 
cstu said:
I'd still go.

At age 43 my odds of dying this year are 0.002629.  My odds of being one of the 28 killed in this attack based on 12 million visitors a year to Istanbul is 0.000233.

My odds of dying by staying home are 11x my odds of dying in an Istanbul attack. 
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You are comparing the odds of something occurring in an entire year to the odds of one specific incident.  Wouldn't a better comparison be all of the people who have died from attacks in Istanbul in the last year?  I would probably include those who have been injured too since I don't think my legs will get blown off sitting at home.

 
Synthesizer said:
You are comparing the odds of something occurring in an entire year to the odds of one specific incident.  Wouldn't a better comparison be all of the people who have died from attacks in Istanbul in the last year?  I would probably include those who have been injured too since I don't think my legs will get blown off sitting at home.
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And whatever odds you came up with you'd have to add on to your odds of doing nothing. It's not either or. 

 
I actually looked at taking a job in Turkey once. I didn't but it had nothing to do with terrorism or culture. Turkey is actually pretty low on my places I want to visit though.

 
Synthesizer said:
You are comparing the odds of something occurring in an entire year to the odds of one specific incident.  Wouldn't a better comparison be all of the people who have died from attacks in Istanbul in the last year?  I would probably include those who have been injured too since I don't think my legs will get blown off sitting at home.
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Yeah, that's MOP levels of math from cstu. Not to mention that the annual figure is most likely influenced heavily by things like heart attack and stroke, which should be folded into his other figure.

Obviously the increase in chance of death is very minimal, but there's almost certainly an increase.

 
GroveDiesel said:
Yeah, that's MOP levels of math from cstu. Not to mention that the annual figure is most likely influenced heavily by things like heart attack and stroke, which should be folded into his other figure.

Obviously the increase in chance of death is very minimal, but there's almost certainly an increase.
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The calculations showed a 9% increased chance of death (from a very low probability) based on this being the only attack in Istanbul this year.  

 
One of the worst aspects of this is that it will kill travel to Turkey, which will create unemployment, which is sure to create more radicals. 

 
cstu said:
Didnt you work in Mexico?
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Mostly, but one takes work where one can find it. I've worked in a lot of countries, Mexico is just where I work the most.

The reason I didn't work in Turkey has to do with the price of olive trees.

 
Sandeman said:
A world-class city on par with Rome, Paris, London. I got married in Istanbul to a Turk and have Turkish friends and family. I've been to Istanbul several times and always look forward to going back. Great people, great food, great nightlife, great scenery.

That said, we are keeping a close eye on things. We plan to go to Antalya next summer for two weeks but haven't committed yet, in part due to things being a little messy right now (before the Russia stuff).
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Sandeman said:
Even my wife, who desperately wants to see her family next summer, is ok with seeing how things play out. Speaks volumes really.

Turkey has been tearing at the seams, now maybe falling apart, with respect to domestic and foreign policy for a few years. A shame. The culture really is a world treasure.

That said, I'd feel about equally concerned whether I visited Paris or Istanbul.
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We had tickets to travel to Turkey for several months, leaving June 10 and returning June 28. We would have been in the airport catching a flight to San Francisco about 8 hours before this took place. Family of four, including a 5 and 3 year old. There just was no let up in terrorism, small and large, so we decided not to go and changed the tickets for another trip later in the year. 

For me, it's not really about the odds of us getting killed. We know they're small although still unacceptable. It's also about the odds of something happening that would disrupt our trip, force us to change plans on the fly, keep us looking over our shoulder the whole time, prevent us from going to places we want to see, prevent us from returning home on time to get back to our jobs, get the kids back into their daycares and preschools. Plus my mom was freaking out about the whole thing. Just not worth it, as much as I love it and the family i have there. 

We are watching the loss of one of the world's great cultures.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Mrs. Eephus just got off the phone.  One of our good friends is on a flight from Rome to Istanbul today. 

Great timing Wanda.  Hope everything turns out OK.

 
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