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Zizkov: Safe to be traveling through Istanbul today?

What does the resident Euro expert think?

I don't see why not. I know they had a bombing, but it wouldn't deter me if I had tickets.

Then again, I'm not big into panicking about terrorism. The west side of Turkey is pretty safe and one of the top tourist destinations for Europeans.

Everything comes with risk, but I still think the risk of going to Istanbul is still pretty low.
 
What does the resident Euro expert think?
It's likely the safest place in the world right now. Suicide bombers usually only strike one city then they leave and move on. Since no secondary devices were found and the police presence there, I'd go if I could.
 
I don't see why not. I know they had a bombing, but it wouldn't deter me if I had tickets.

Then again, I'm not big into panicking about terrorism. The west side of Turkey is pretty safe and one of the top tourist destinations for Europeans.

Everything comes with risk, but I still think the risk of going to Istanbul is still pretty low.
That said, the added security would probably be a pain in the ass. So it would suck trying to get around.
 
I don't see why not. I know they had a bombing, but it wouldn't deter me if I had tickets.

Then again, I'm not big into panicking about terrorism. The west side of Turkey is pretty safe and one of the top tourist destinations for Europeans.

Everything comes with risk, but I still think the risk of going to Istanbul is still pretty low.
It's likely the safest place in the world right now. Suicide bombers usually only strike one city then they leave and move on. Since no secondary devices were found and the police presence there, I'd go if I could.


I agree with both of you unless this unleashes a wave of attacks. Also, they have not attacked the airport yet which appears to be a prime target. I was planning to leave the airport tomorrow for a few hours, but will probably just hang in the terminal instead. My gf was planning to visit the attack site tomorrow morning! Good thing this happened today.
 
It's likely the safest place in the world right now. Suicide bombers usually only strike one city then they leave and move on. Since no secondary devices were found and the police presence there, I'd go if I could.

While I agree they only strike once, I dare say that no suicide bombers leave and move on....unless they are very bad at their job.
 
I don't see why not. I know they had a bombing, but it wouldn't deter me if I had tickets.

Then again, I'm not big into panicking about terrorism. The west side of Turkey is pretty safe and one of the top tourist destinations for Europeans.

Everything comes with risk, but I still think the risk of going to Istanbul is still pretty low.

Probably safer than Pierre's on a Friday night.
 
I don't see why not. I know they had a bombing, but it wouldn't deter me if I had tickets.

Then again, I'm not big into panicking about terrorism. The west side of Turkey is pretty safe and one of the top tourist destinations for Europeans.

Everything comes with risk, but I still think the risk of going to Istanbul is still pretty low.
My parents went to Turkey among other places without issues last year. Their trip to Israel was cancelled due to security concerns through the group they booked the trip with. They have tried and had several trips scheduled for Israel that have been cancelled. They are supposed to leave in two weeks. This is the closest they have made it.
 
So, the days of "Midnight Express" are over now?

This is a bit of an OT,but I saw Midnight Express shortly before I traveled to Turkey circa 1980.I was living in Germany and working for the Army teaching HS completion classes.I went to a teachers conference where they asked for volunteers to travel to Greece or Turkey,and thinking a trip to Greece would be a blast I said sign me up.When they contacted me with an offer to go to Turkey to teach a 3 week class I thought might as well.Wasn't sure what to expect,but ended up extending and staying 3 mos...

When we landed in Istanbul it was just like the scene in ME,everyone was loaded onto a van and then transported to a security check in by soldiers with machine guns.I ended up travelling thru a large part of the country and it was impossible to travel more than a block without seeing armed soldiers patrolling the streets or running into random roadblocks and being waved over while travelling on major highways...

The US detachments (Field Artillery) that I visited were located within Turkish Army posts,which made for some "interesting" confrontations between drunk GIs returning to their base and the Turkish guards who manned the front gate of the Turkish post.The GIs were there to guard the Nukes (that no one knew were there),and on numerous occasions I got high with guys right before they went on guard duty.

Looking back I did some crazy things that I definitely wouldn't repeat.Like flying on Turk Hava Yolari (They Hate You) Airlines and US Army choppers piloted by crazy Warrant Officers,getting high in downtown Istanbul and going out among the masses totally blitzed,riding on Turkish buses which were notorious for plunging off cliffs or being involved in head on collisions on corkscrew roads.But it was pretty much a once in a lifetime experience and a highlight of the 6 1/2 yrs that I lived and worked in Europe...
 
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This is a bit of an OT,but I saw Midnight Express shortly before I traveled to Turkey circa 1980.I was living in Germany and working for the Army teaching HS completion classes.I went to a teachers conference where they asked for volunteers to travel to Greece or Turkey,and thinking a trip to Greece would be a blast I said sign me up.When they contacted me with an offer to go to Turkey to teach a 3 week class I thought might as well.Wasn't sure what to expect,but ended up extending and staying 3 mos...

When we landed in Istanbul it was just like the scene in ME,everyone was loaded onto a van and then transported to a security check in by soldiers with machine guns.I ended up travelling thru a large part of the country and it was impossible to travel more than a block without seeing armed soldiers patrolling the streets or running into random roadblocks and being waved over while travelling on major highways...

The US detachments (Field Artillery) that I visited were located within Turkish Army posts,which made for some "interesting" confrontations between drunk GIs returning to their base and the Turkish guards who manned the front gate of the Turkish post.The GIs were there to guard the Nukes (that no one knew were there),and on numerous occasions I got high with guys right before they went on guard duty.

Looking back I did some crazy things that I definitely wouldn't repeat.Like flying on Turk Hava Yolari (They Hate You) Airlines and US Army choppers piloted by crazy Warrant Officers,getting high in downtown Istanbul and going out among the masses totally blitzed,riding on Turkish buses which were notorious for plunging off cliffs or being involved in head on collisions on corkscrew roads.But it was pretty much a once in a lifetime experience and a highlight of the 6 1/2 yrs that I lived and worked in Europe...

Good stuff.
 
I don't recommend trying to smuggle hash for sure.

Had an "interesting" adventure once trying to smuggle a small amount of hash by train from Amsterdam back home to Germany.Went to the bahnhoff expecting to board a normal sized train only to find out that the "train" we were taking had been shortened to 3 cars.

Not a lot of room to hide anything considering we knew that the German border guards (with dogs) would board the train a few clicks from the border and do a thorough search while the train crossed into Germany.Sure enough once we got to Germany and the guards exited,we discovered that they had found our stash.We made sure there was no way to connect it to us (or anyone),so there wasn't any risk of getting caught.But it was definitely a bummer to lose our investment,and ruined our plans to stop in Koln and party...
 
Had an "interesting" adventure once trying to smuggle a small amount of hash by train from Amsterdam back home to Germany.Went to the bahnhoff expecting to board a normal sized train only to find out that the "train" we were taking had been shortened to 3 cars.

Not a lot of room to hide anything considering we knew that the German border guards (with dogs) would board the train a few clicks from the border and do a thorough search while the train crossed into Germany.Sure enough once we got to Germany and the guards exited,we discovered that they had found our stash.We made sure there was no way to connect it to us (or anyone),so there wasn't any risk of getting caught.But it was definitely a bummer to lose our investment,and ruined our plans to stop in Koln and party...

I only traveled a few times before all the Schengen borders opens. We went to great lengths to hide things while leaving Amsterdam. In the end, we never got searched, but I was pretty worried as we approached the border. This was when things had calmed down a lot in the early 90s.
 
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