beware of touts and people offering you free bread and photographs with their donkey/sheeps/dogs. They first lay the bait to tell you it’s all free, take it, drink it, use it - and then after that they hound you all over for money. And the next tag team takes over. i was in turkey with friends, had this bad experience in the tourist sites and beaches. There was however this group of old men who offered us free red tea, no demand of money whatsoever, they just wanted to chat with tourists - to them, every one is from China. 
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I believe local elections are around the corner. Maybe it’s not the best time?
Depends on what you are optimizing for. A bit of political instability goes a long way in reducing tourist numbers and ticket prices.
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These are the same warnings I read before my trip to Marrakech. It’s a pity because there were so many interesting people going about their daily business that would have made memorable photos. I didn’t want to be hounded for money, though, so most of my photos were just scenery.
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Been there many times over 25 years including Adana, Izmir, Bodrum, Goreme, Edirne, Istanbul, etc. Love flying business class on Turkish Airways. No safety concerns at all in country. I would avoid Gallipoli – too many Aussie backpackers. LOL.
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Used to live in Istanbul until 4 years ago. Don’t believe the media, it’s safe.
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As I said the airport got shot up the week I was supposed to pass through it . Probabiy a coincidence or due to peak ISIS. I know the same has happened in France and Belgium.
What year? There was some problems after the 2015 elections. The HDP (Kurdish party) won enough seats to enter parliament and the AKP lost majority. Erdogan’s response was to blow up kurds during a festival in Ankara and halas the ceasefire ended. However; it became same agin after the auto-coup. I miss Turkey, but I found it too much living under a dictatorship.
- My family were pretty much booked to transfer there that week.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/06/turkey-airport-attack-isis/
Speaking of, I’m going to Istanbul this month.
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Let us know how things are.
I’m almost done with my stay in Istanbul and it’s been amazing.
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It seems Istanbul has 2 international airports. Which one did you fly into?
There are vacation/holidays in Syria now. This week I heard a man from the UK talking about how great his was.
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I think one them is closed for renovation.
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The one in Asia
I’m planning to go in February. The prices are really cheap at that time.
I heard there is a black market of designer goods that have quality that fools the original stores in Istanbul.
Anyone ever been to a bath house there?
To add, a senior-ish Taiwanese friend of mine and his wife recently rented a car for 3 weeks and drove all around the western side of Turkey. They said they felt extremely safe and they are Taiwanese. They did not adventure nor recommend going to the east of Turkey.
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I’m pumped for the food. Been looking at videos and they’re so cheap. We got some great deals for hotels because it’s not tourist season.
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