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Safety issue?
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wwwordsmith



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 11
Location: Knoxville, TN

PostPosted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 11:28 pm    Post subject: Safety issue? Reply with quote

Anybody with current or recent experience in Turkey? Still relatively safe? There seems to have been an increase in Islamic extremism in recent years.
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coffeespoonman



Joined: 04 Feb 2005
Posts: 512
Location: At my computer...

PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 7:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Short answer - it's fine here. Been here for over five years, and if anything, it's safer these days.

Long answer - it's fine here. Actually, Islamists aren't that much of a problem; it's the Kurdish separatists. However, the PKK has announced that it's not going to target civilians anymore, and that SEEMS to be true. There was a bomb a couple of months ago in the central square of Istanbul, but it only targeted a military bus.
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bulgogiboy



Joined: 23 Feb 2005
Posts: 803

PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 9:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Islamists aren't that much of a problem...


Not true, I'm afraid. In Ankara I had several Turkish friends try to bore me to death by preaching Islam at me. Laughing

But on the whole, the previous poster is correct. I stayed in Ankara, a city of around 4 million, and it felt much safer than any of the considerably smaller cities in Scotland that I've been to. You have to take crime into account when judging the safety of a place. I found petty street violence to be practically non-existent, at least where I was. In Scotland you have completely unprovoked, alcohol-fuelled street attacks all the time.

I actually lived in a very dodgy street in Ankara, full of gangster bars (the kind of place you can get forced to pay 100 Lira for a drink, if they think you are fair game) with prostitutes standing right outside my door, but I never felt as threatened as I do when I am out in Dundee city centre at 1am!

Things do happen now and again though. There was one bomb exploded while I was there, in Ulus, it killed a few people and injured dozens. This was blamed on Kurdish separatists, but generally they are getting up to less and less in Turkey. If Hezbollah are the A-Team of terrorists, then the PKK cadres are somewhere around the organisational level of the chuckle brothers.

The biggest danger, by far, comes from the poor standard of driving, and jealous male relatives with [insert name of offensive weapon here], rather than bombs.
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coffeespoonman



Joined: 04 Feb 2005
Posts: 512
Location: At my computer...

PostPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And pieces of buildings falling off and dropping on people's heads, believe it or not... You never really think to look up, do you?
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Chaplin



Joined: 06 Oct 2010
Posts: 28

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 1:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd like to add here that I have seen and heard a definite increase in anti-American feeling over the last couple of years.
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coffeespoonman



Joined: 04 Feb 2005
Posts: 512
Location: At my computer...

PostPosted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 2:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think that's true in many places in the world... However, I'd be quick to add that Turks have a truly uncanny ability to separate the actions of a government from those of its citizens. I've never, in more than five years here, had anyone make a problem about my being an American, though I've had countless people spout about how terrible the American government is to my face.
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Englishteach



Joined: 01 Oct 2010
Posts: 33

PostPosted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 2:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=istanbul-jolted-by-bombings-2010-12-10


This happens too often and the incidents don't always make headlines. Just little blips on the news radar..

A suicide bomber killed a few people recently in Taksim, luckily he struck early and killed mostly police and himself.
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bulgogiboy



Joined: 23 Feb 2005
Posts: 803

PostPosted: Sat Dec 11, 2010 2:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I'd like to add here that I have seen and heard a definite increase in anti-American feeling over the last couple of years.


I'm sure I read of an international poll conducted in recent years which placed Turkey as the most anti-American country in the world. If it wasn't top, then it was certainly up near the top. It's also become quite trendy to be anti-Israel as well. Anti-Israeli feeling is one of the few sentiments which the Kemalists and the Islamists can actually share!

As another poster mentioned though, you aren't going to get (too much) hassle about your nationality. It's your conduct that will matter most. Generally if you treat people with respect you get respect back, and this applies in Turkey just as it does anywhere else.
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wwwordsmith



Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Posts: 11
Location: Knoxville, TN

PostPosted: Sun Dec 12, 2010 5:11 pm    Post subject: Thanks... Reply with quote

...to everyone for the feedback. Yes, as some of you have indicated, it isn't just about whether or not any given American has experienced trouble, though that is obviously important. It's also about violent episodes in the nation in general. I mean, if there are suicide bombings going on then innocent people are dying who aren't actually targeted. That's not a regular occurrence in Turkey but still, I don't take lightly the danger inherent in living in a place where it happens even occasionally.
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bulgogiboy



Joined: 23 Feb 2005
Posts: 803

PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 12:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Around 75 million people live in Turkey. Perhaps 1-2 dozen people will die every year from terrorist attacks, on average.

If anything's going to kill you in Turkey, it's going to be a car accident, not a suicide bomber. Comprehende??? Laughing
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billy orr



Joined: 15 Jul 2009
Posts: 229

PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 7:29 am    Post subject: Re: Thanks... Reply with quote

wwwordsmith wrote:
...I don't take lightly the danger inherent in living in a place where it happens even occasionally.


I take it that is why you are thinking of leaving the USA. However, you had better avoid the entire EU, Japan, China, in fact most of the world really. I think you need to get things into perspective, As Bulgo says traffic is a far greater hazard.
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coffeespoonman



Joined: 04 Feb 2005
Posts: 512
Location: At my computer...

PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 7:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_sweden_terror

Apparently Scandanavia isn't safe anymore either....

Seriously, while I understand wanting to keep yourself safe, terrorism is an overpublicized threat. If they reported traffic fatalities, or carbon monoxide poisionings, or drunk people who fall off roofs, or boating accidents, or... anything really, with the same level of sensationalism as they do terrorism, you'd stay away from those activities as well.

As far as cities go, Istanbul is about as safe as they come. Apart from the roads that is.

Allah korusun. Wink
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teachinggypsy



Joined: 07 Feb 2009
Posts: 13

PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I grew up in a town of 65,000 in the States and lived in a couple major cities as well as smaller towns. I feel safer walking the streets on a Saturday night in Istanbul than I did in any of those places. Don't get me wrong, people can be REALLY ANNOYING here. But I'd sooner put up with that annoyance than live with the very real fear of getting knifed for my wallet or beaten to death by a bunch of drunks.
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teachinggypsy



Joined: 07 Feb 2009
Posts: 13

PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 4:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can feel the rise in anti-Americanism here as well; it now takes the form of an undisguised sniff now when I tell them I am American rather than the more guarded contempt that I received previously! Very Happy
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bulgogiboy



Joined: 23 Feb 2005
Posts: 803

PostPosted: Wed Dec 15, 2010 10:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tell them you're an American-Armenian nationalist (for both camps). Tell them you're learning Kurdish and it's so much nicer sounding than Turkish. Also tell them that Baklava is Greek. Tell them you like headscarves on women. Tell them Ataturk wasn't all he was cracked up to be.

On second thoughts, don't... Very Happy
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