Istanbul?

labp04

Nowhere is 100% safe including anywhere in the UK

Teahfc

Lived through IRA bad times, never prevented me from travelling to London / other cities, don't let the terrorists rule your life, and go if all ok with Government travel advice. World becoming far too small with groups of terrorists controlling where we can and cannot go.

holidaysforme

I'm afraid I'd lose the money and not go. I think things are

particularly precarious in Turkey at the moment, and I just wouldn't

be able to relax and enjoy myself.

callum9999

holidaysforme wrote: »

I'm afraid I'd lose the money and not go. I think things are

particularly precarious in Turkey at the moment, and I just wouldn't

be able to relax and enjoy myself.

If you're scared then obviously you shouldn't go, but they're hardly "particularly precarious" right now.

It always amazes me that people get terrified by a small number of terrorist attacks, yet they'll completely ignore the statistics that show almost 2000 people are murdered "normally" in Turkey every year. If you fear for your life, surely it should be that second statistic causing you to not go?

balletshoes

If I'm honest, I'd think twice about a trip to Istanbul right now - but you have a couple of months to decide OP.

callum9999

balletshoes wrote: »

2000 people as a percentage of the Turkish population, what would that be? I notice there were over 500 homicides recorded in the UK in 2014 (just a quick google) - as a percentage of the UK population that would equate to more than in Turkey, would it not?

No, as the Turkish population isn't much higher than our own.

Regardless, my point was that if you're happy to take that risk, logically you should be happy to take a risk of a terrorist attack happening. Human emotions aren't logical though, so obviously if you're scared then you're scared and shouldn't force yourself to go - you aren't going to enjoy it.

That being said, you could still go somewhere near Istanbul instead of cancelling the whole thing. You can generally fly on to another city (Izmir for example) for not much more than £20 return, or Cyprus for £40-50.

PompeyPete

callum9999 wrote: »

That being said, you could still go somewhere near Istanbul instead of cancelling the whole thing. You can generally fly on to another city (Izmir for example) for not much more than £20 return, or Cyprus for £40-50.

Be careful, as there's two airports in Istanbul.

If your flight to and from UK is Ataturk [IST] Airport, then with only a total of 4 days available there'll be a lot of time wasted if you have to cross to and from the Asian side of Istanbul for flights from/to Sabiha Gökçen [SAW] Airport.

There'll also be quite a bit of hanging around airports, making the 4 day break not much more than seeing the inside of airports.

Grumpelstiltskin

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35850625

PompeyPete

Grumpelstiltskin wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35850625

Tragic. Could be a deal-breaker for the OP and many more.

This current thread off TA is worth a read...

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g293974-i368-k9360842-Current_situation_in_Istanbul-Istanbul.html

...especially reply #4, posted only a few minutes ago.

Chlorine7

Tragic. Could be a deal-breaker for the OP and many more.

It's the dealbreaker. I saw my friend last night and told her we would still go if no more bombs went off between now and then. Then this happened. I'm contacting the airline to see if they can do anything flight.