Istanbul?

balletshoes

I'm used to staff in Turkey in front of their restaurants/shops/cafes promoting their place of work (some see this as pestering). They can be persistent, but thats their job. As others have said, "no thanks" and walk away briskly will work.

However, it saddens me that there is far more "pushiness" from salespeople inside establishments now, especially in areas which rely on tourism. It can feel intimidating and it puts people off going in because they know they won't feel free to browse etc.

Less tourists = more pushy resort workers. Getting a sale is the important thing, and it doesn't seem to sink in that their customers want to feel welcome and relaxed, and if they are treated with respect they'll come back. If they feel intimidated or pressured, they won't come back.

Its a real shame, and its doing its part to kill tourism even more - we've seen on this thread posters who have been once, and won't go back, because they feel they have been pestered to an unbearable degree.

PompeyPete

Assuming that it's only [mainly lone] female travellers who might have been put off by some of the content in this thread, anyone who has Istanbul on their bucket list might be interested in...

http://wikitravel.org/en/Istanbul

It's one of the world's great destinations.

Chlorine7

PompeyPete wrote: »

Although it's a few years old this link is worth a read for females travelling to Istanbul...

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g293974-i368-k3922013-Proper_Dress_for_Women-Istanbul.html

I bet not many female visitors read either of these links before visiting...

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/details/WomenTravelers/index.html

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/details/WomenTravelers/women_wear.html

Obviously reading cautionary stuff doesn't prepare you for the reality you might face. But it gives you a v.good idea so you can prepare yourself. Usually, in my experience, the people who have the most problems are the ones who've done little preparation.

I'm not too sure if this is aimed at me or women in general (as well as your failure to prepare comment) but are you victim blaming?

I was very respectably dressed, I was only required to wear the head scarf in the mosque. My body was otherwise fully covered. I always do my research before leaving for another country. I did read those links before going.

I had comments simply because I am a woman and I stood out as not Turkish. Trying to convince me your restaurant and bar is worth visiting is fine with me. Happens in every single country.

Following me asking for photos, if I have a Turkish male friend, growling mmmmm at me and staring is NOT fine with me. I was wearing a T-shirt and jeans everyday. Only one evening did I wear a maxi dress.

So I am not sure how this is my/any woman's fault simply because of her gender. I do agree you should dress appropriately for the country you are visiting but it is still not an excuse for men to speak to you in any way they please.

Let me also be clear that while these things did occur, I did not feel threatened (just very uncomfortable) and I do not want anyone to use this as an excuse not to visit Turkey. It is simply part of my reason for not returning to Istanbul. Mostly I wouldn't return because I've now seen it,.

Blue264

PompeyPete wrote: »

Assuming that it's only [mainly lone] female travellers who might have been put off by some of the content in this thread, anyone who has Istanbul on their bucket list might be interested in...

http://wikitravel.org/en/Istanbul

It's one of the world's great destinations.

Yes, it's one of the World's great destinations but I won't be rushing back either.

I had a great time there for a friend's wedding in Sariyer, but both me and my partner were pestered to such an extent by one particular guy, that we ended up not going into the Blue Mosque, even though our hotel was next door. The guy owned a carpet shop opposite the hotel and regularly followed guests as they left for the day.

It's not just women. I had to drag my partner away before he punched the guy. And before you jump to any conclusions about not preparing or being familiar with the culture, I was a travel booker for 10yrs dealing a lot with clients to Istanbul, and have been to a lot of places. My partner is Greek and looks local. He even speaks a reasonable amount of Turkish and many of the hand gestures are the same. He asked the guy to leave us be in Turkish, then again in English, then his flat hand went up (trouble) and he went into full on Greek swearing. Personally, I probably won't go back until Erdogan is gone.

PompeyPete

Blue264 wrote: »

And before you jump to any conclusions about not preparing or being familiar with the culture...

I'm not going to jump to any conclusions. My last paragraph in #40 states...

Obviously reading cautionary stuff doesn't prepare you for the reality you might face. But it gives you a v.good idea so you can prepare yourself. Usually, in my experience, the people who have the most problems are the ones who've done little preparation.

...and I'm not going to change it.

Even the best prepared can find themselves in an unpleasant situation. But those people who deal with it best are the ones who've put in a bit of effort to prepare for the culture shock and the possibility of receiving unwanted attention for whatever reasons.

In tourist spots, such as the Blue Mosque and Grand Bazaar areas in Sultanahmet, where unwanted attention is probably at its worst I wouldn't have thought that getting into a battle of hand gestures was a good idea, but I wasn't there....

http://wikitravel.org/en/Istanbul/Sultanahmet-Old_City

The section on Stay Safe states...

The focal point of the peninsula for travellers, Sultanahmet Square, is safe and policed during day and night, so by staying within the realms of common sense, you shouldn't encounter problems there. However, there are some issues to keep in mind for the rest of the old city:

The dilapidated, though picturesque, neighbourhoods around Süleymaniye, Zeyrek, the banks of Golden Horn west of Atatürk Boulevard (i.e., neighbourhoods of Balat, Fener, Ayvansaray), along the old city walls, and along the Marmara coast (especially Kumkapı west to Yedikule) are home to the impoverished recent immigrants to the city. While this doesn't automatically translate to unsafety, you may feel more comfortable if you avoid these places (especially narrow back alleys) during the evening and night. Around the main tourist sights, and the main streets leading to them, in these neighbourhoods, such as Süleymaniye Mosque or the taverns at Kumkapı, are perfectly safe, though.

Scams involving extremely overpriced drinks are common at nightclubs around Aksaray, which are best avoided completely. These are quite dangerous with the possible involvement of organized crime. See the "stay safe" section of main Istanbul article for more details on this.

Around Aksaray and Laleli, there are a number of illegal brothels which are not controlled by health authorities in any way. If you choose to engage in such activity, keep in mind that the (usually Eastern European and Central Asian) women you will encounter are more often than not involuntarily forced into prostitution to "pay off" the cost of their trip to Istanbul (where they were hoping to get decent jobs) and had their passports seized by their "boss". 24-hr national hotline phone # 157, with operators speaking in English, Russian, and Romanian in addition to Turkish is where you can report such incidents to bring the victims to safety.

In Eminönü's crowded underground passages (and in the rest of Eminönü, in general), be extremely wary of pickpockets, especially when climbing up and down the stairs.

Istanbul Police Department has a "tourism police" office with multilingual staff in Sultanahmet, just across the street from Hagia Sophia, where you can report passport loss or any other problems.

maman

I've been going to Turkey for 20+ years and due to leave again next Tuesday for another 3 week holiday.:j


Not Istanbul this time but a south coast resort. I really don't anticipate any problems with locals other than perhaps extra touting outside restaurants because of low tourist numbers. I will be asking my Turkish friends how they're getting on with Erdogan.


Fortunately I've never experienced what's being described in Turkey but will report back any findings.


P.S. I have been spat upon by women (I was wearing sleeveless t shirt) and groped by a man as he was 'helping' me into a cover up to enter the mosque but that was Egypt. I have been back though as I wouldn't judge a country by a few idiots and there was lots more left to see.:)