>Travelling to Turkey

I live in Turkey.

The tourist places are perfectly safe, I would not worry. The ones you mentioned see millions of tourists every year and that is not stopping. If anything, you will get things a bit cheaper currently because they have to attract people somehow.

But trust me when I say that the tourist places you mentioned are not on the target list of the main conflict going on in Turkey, the PKK-TC (Turkish Government) one. Many of the more recent bombings have been 'guerilla' attacks by "revolutionary forces", or whatever you like to call them. This is a very difficult issue to discuss with people.

Bodrum/Dalaman/Antalya will not have a lot of refugees around. You will not be able to tell.

I can recommend the following website to give you an idea: http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/

I will monitor this thread to answer any questions you might have. I wouldn't worry to much. Turkey is an amazing country and people are very friendly. Drink lots of cay.

One last thing: Turkey has a split society between Turks and Kurds on the one hand, and between pro-Erdogan people and anti-Erdogan people on the other. You will hear vastly differing opinions about places in Turkey depending on who you are speaking to. I'm an expat in Istanbul myself and I've travelled all over the country.

>>1129270
Really good reply man.
What about the Izmir area? I've personally never really heard of it being a tourist spot (only speaking from the people who I know have mainly gone to Antalaya etc)

How is the Izmir area in general for tourists and with the safety and refugees problem. Although I'm a lot more confident in the safety now that you explained the situation in Turkey.

How does Izmir compare to the other tourist spots, and which one would you personally recommend? I'm only really looking into Izmir because I found a pretty sweet deal with a hotel with a water park together for a pretty good price.

>>1129281

Hi! Well Izmir used to be a prime spot for people to try and set over to the Greek islands. But in recent times with the deals the Turkish government has struck with the EU, the number has decreased immensely. I am sure there will still be Syrians in the city trying to set over or just working in Izmir now (there are now a lot of undocumented Syrians and Iraqis working low-paid jobs in Turkey), but you should not be worried about them. If you're staying in hotels with water parks, you won't come in contact with them. And even if you were to run into some, it's just people trying to get by.

Compared to the other spots you've mentioned, I think Izmir is the most cosmopolitan one. IIRC it has about 8 million people living there - that's a lot. There's a lot of people outside the tourist sector there, while the other places cater much more to the tourist market only. So if you'd like to get out into the city and see a bit of 'real' Turkish life on the Aegean coast, I'm sure Izmir is nice. Do as the locals do and take a ferry across the bay.

But I'm sure you'd have a good time anyway. Antalya has people coming back again and again, and the location of Bodrum is beautiful, too.

From all of these locations it's possible to make inland incursions which I'm sure your hotel would arrange. Izmir is very well located to visit ancient Greek and Roman ruins in Pergamon, Ephesos (including the House of the Virgin Mary, if you're interested in that). Also check out Kapadokya which is easily reached from any of your destinations. I don't know where you're from or whom you're travelling with, but a balloon ride there is a tourist classic and very romantic. Though it's a bit too touristy for me :-)

>>1129293
Not sure where I had the 8 million figure from, Wiki says it's about 3 million. I used to share an apartment with a girl from Izmir, her mother had a farm on the outskirts and brought home amazing food. I probably misunderstood the number, though I'm sure the greater region easily gets up to 5 million.

Don't listen to Radiohead and you should be fine OP.

>>1129269
I live in antalya brudi. there s no terror. it is all safe in western side of turkey. and it is forbidden for refugees to live in touristic areas such as antalya( I experienced this myself, when you call the police, they come and remove to refugees to another non touristic city). so it's all fine. don't forget to visit : Phaselis ancient city in Antalya.enjoy

>Hijacking this bitch

Im crossing Turkey to get to Georgia but i want to see some of Turkey first. I was thinking Istanbul-Ankara-Cappadocia and then Adiyaman for Mt Nemrut. After that i wanna go do Dogubeyazit and then north to Georgia.
Anyway, does anyone know a good route between Adiyaman and Dogubeyazit? Seems like i gotta cross through Diyarbakir region and more of southern Turkey and i heard its pretty unsafe.
Any thoughts or recommendations? Thank you.

>>1129269
I'd avoid Turkey if i were you 2bh OP. there's already a Georgia/Armenia thread up.. go check the caucuses out and get a taste of real culture.

>>1129363
>Butthurt t*rk spotted
The problem with you turks is that you don't recognize the different kurdish political and armed organizations such as TAK,YPG,KCK. you label them all as PKK, which even if it's the main organization has a different nature than the others I just talked about.
I've never heard of Pkk bombing civilians; It's well known that most of the civilians killed by Pkk were village guards. A bomb exploting next to a military convoy and killing 2 children it's a collateral damage, I don't think Turkish government is interested in many civilian casualties either in their military operations in several south eastern towns. (I'm not the previous poster nor I'm k*rd)

OP, turkey is perfectly safe in Istanbul and in Ankara and most of the cities however in the south east the violence it's real; the probability you see yourself involved on it is low but there is a risk.
About the refugees, I've never had any problem with them.

File: 2015-12-06 12.07.58.jpg (3MB, 4160x2340px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 4160x2340px

>>1129363
>bitch is probably a smelly donkey-fucker kurd
It doesn't help your posts' legitimacy to open them up with an insult like that. Especially when I have stated that I am neither Turk nor Kurd.

>>1129316
Not a very helpful post either.

>>1129323
Hi! I've been in Dogubeyazit recently. It's perfectly safe, but a bit of a dump to be honest. :-) Though I was there in last winter and we had minus 15 degrees, so maybe that played a part. The Ishak Pasha Palace is wonderful and the scenery you get in those parts is just incredible. I have added a photo to give you an idea. It's the view from the Ishak Pasha Palace over the city of Dogubeyazit.

Regarding the question of routes, I think you will not have a problem getting there, but you might have to change buses somewhere. Fortunately the people who work at the Otogar (bus station in Turkish, very helpful word) are very friendly and determined to get you to your location, so you'll never be stranded. You could even just show up at the Adiyaman otogar and let those people work it out for you..

The route from Adiyaman to Dogubeyazit is safe, even if it goes through Diyarbakir. Just stay away from protests and apply usual 'street smarts'. The really dangerous parts of Turkey/Kurdistan will usually lie outside of where you'd like to go - Yüksekova etc.

Adiyaman - Dogubeyazit and north from there aren't the most typical routes so you will have to change buses sometimes. But all buses are of a very high quality and you get free drinks (and sometimes snacks), so don't worry. Do you also want to see Lake Van? It's marvellous. I have never seen a more pristine blue (granted, it was in winter, with the white landscape as a contrast).

>>1129307
This is true. They are very concerned to keep refugees out the tourists' eyes

>>1129365
And you are who to tell him to "avoid Turkey"? Not sure what "real culture" is either.
>caucuses

>>1129476
Depends on *where* you intend to wear that. Post a picture of the look you're going for and I'll tell you. If you're a dude however, don't wear that stuff in Turkey.

>>1129488
Bit much skin

>>1129489
Maybe not in red?

Well, I'm a guy. I know that girls get hassled here A LOT. Then again, colleagues and friends do wear nylons/pantyhose (usually black ones) all the time and they don't have much trouble. But you will have people ogling you and from what I can tell most girls quickly realise they should "dress down" to just reduce the amount of hassle they go through. I think I'd skip on that first skin-heavy style altogether unless you're in a part of Istanbul/a private gathering where you know it's safe and you're not running into random people. But if you tried wearing this in Urfa, or Trabzon, or any Turkish city outside the expat communities, you're just making yourself into a target. For cat-calling, hassle, you'll be an obvious tourist, women will (I'm sorry to say this) look down upon you. I just wouldn't recommend this. Again, I'm not sure of the exact clothing terms here, but your 2nd pic is probably OK. Maybe stick to black?

Sorry if this disappoints you. But Turkey is still a very conservative country. If you get a kick out of people looking at you though, feel free to wear 1) and take a walk down Istiklal Cd. in Istanbul.

>>1129489
Addendum: I think you'll quickly realise you'll want to blend in. I spent weeks in a Kurdish town in the south-east, very conservative - even though many young girls don't wear the headscarf anymore, they don't show a lot of skin. When I got back to Istanbul my eyes stuck to every naked ankle I saw - lol. Just dress conservatively.

Also, I think you should realise that Turkey is very much a man's world. In the more conservative places, a woman's place is in the household. If you're a woman out on your own, you will stick out. As I'm a guy, I cannot comment too much on what women experience other what I hear from colleagues/friends.

>>1129472
Hey, thanks for the great answer! I do want to go to Van, but wouldnt the route Adiyaman-Van cross through Diyarbakir City? Anyway, to go Van would be great cause getting to Dogubeyazit from there looks easy on map.What about Mt Ararat/Agri Dagi? Do you know what the best way to see it is?
And also, how widely is english spoken in these regions of Turkey? Do you reckon i have to learn some basic turkish?
Again thanks.

>>1129269
Why not go the extra mile and visit Iran instead?

File: 2015-12-06 10.06.15.jpg (2MB, 4160x2340px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 4160x2340px

>>1129495
Yes, I think from Adiyaman to Van you will go through Diyarbakir. Maybe you'll even have to change there. But you have nothing to worry about. Kurdish people are very proud of their cities and they're a hospitable bunch.

Getting from Van to Dogubeyazit is very easy, that's how I did it. Amazing bus ride and at times the road follows the Iranian-Turkish border mountain ridge. So you can imagine "Wow, it's Iran behind this...". And you'll see ancient Armenian churches all over the cliffs if you stare hard enough. Then when you get closer to Dogubeyazit, the two Ararat mountains come into view and it's just majestic. I've attached a photo.

English is not very widely spoken in these areas, not even among students, unfortunately. Unless you are looking for a deep conversation, it's not a problem. Turkish, as you'll know, uses the Latin script so you can just read it to people. Maybe learn "ne kadar" to ask "How much?" and "Bir tane" which you'll hear a lot when people ask for "One" or "One piece" of something in a shop. If you like a girl a lot, tell her "Birtanem" - "you're my only one"/"you're the One".

The best way to see Ararat depends on what you want to do. I'm not sure they allow people to climb it currently. But in the summer, there are many tourists visiting Ararat in Dogubeyazit. I am sure you could find someone to take you on a tour. Sorry I can't help you more with it. I was happy enough just looking at it (I had seen it from the other side in Armenia a couple months prior) and then visiting Ishak Pasha Palace which is the second biggest palace complex in Turkey (after Topkapi in Istanbul).

>>1129502
Iran is very different from Turkey

>>1129512
>do Turkish women wear any heavy makeup
There's people who won't wear any makeup, there's people who will put on some, there's people who will go all-out. It's not easy to generalise. It depends on the class/culture the person comes from. There is a certain kind of people in Turkey who will dye their hair and wear very obvious make-up because they think it makes them seem European - usually the (upper) middle class women do that. Feel free to dress up and walk through Nisantasi/Tesvikiye in Istanbul, it's where the $$$ hangs out and probably the most European part of Istanbul.

Under the hijab you can't see earrings, I guess.

I think generally you can wear whatever you like in Istanbul though you should be prepared to be cat-called. If you don't have any particularly out-of-the-way travel plans within Istanbul, you will be fine, people are used to tourists. Same goes for Izmir, Antalya and resort towns.

Depending on where you are planning to go outside Istanbul, I would just advise you to dress "boring". Jeans and some flat shoes? Anything that's not too suggestive and doesn't highlight any, uh, curves, your butt, etc.

>>1129523
I am very sad about this attack, though it was not about Radiohead, but about the people drinking alcohol/partying during Ramadan. This happened in a record store in Tophane, which is one of the cooler parts of town on the European side. Istanbul is a city where very, very poor people live next door to very, very rich and cosmopolitan people. This makes Istanbul an incredibly interesting city to explore, but unfortunately it also leads to things like that. Of course these attacks are implicity supported by the Erdogan administration, who have always to an extent demonised non-Muslims and foreigners. The record store in question is owned by a Korean man, and nationalist Turks have never taken too kindly to Asians.

I admit that this is a very sorry development.

>>1129269 (OP)
turkey is a big country. 3 million refugees in turkey and the population is 80 million. 3/80 changes to see a refugee.

but, refugees can't live in the touristic places like antalya. i mean they can live but goverment doesn't give free stuff in antalya and that's why they don't live there.

about safety: kurdish areas are not safe. i can say that. but these areas also shitshole so you don't go there anyway as a tourist.

yes, there are terrorist attacks in turkey like europe, paris, brussels. but i don't think that means turkey is not safe and must stay away.

>>1129524
The kurdish areas are not a "shitshole". They are much poorer than the Aegean coast, of course, but I've had marvellous experiences in Turkish Kurdistan.

>>1129525
the attackers were not nationalist. they are not even Turk. tophane people originally from siirt (the city from east turkey). that means they are arabic.

they support erdogan, they are uneducated muslim idiot. that's it.

>>1129517
You seem to know a lot about turkey, what are you doing there? How long have you been living in Turkey?

>>1129538
I am studying in Istanbul and working in my academic field at various locations in the country, so I get around a bit. I'm very interested in the different cultures you can meet in this country. And the food!

>>1129541
Oh and I've been in Istanbul for a couple years now.

>>1129541
In which field? I've been studying in Istanbul this last 2 semesters and I barely know the city.. I'm currently thinking in applying for this Türkiye bursları for foreigners and stay in Boğaziçi if possible.. You're studying there so what am I going to tell you!

>>1129547
I am in archaeology, at the Dept of History of Bogazici. I wish you best of luck to get in, it's a fantastic unversity. I think Istanbul is impossible to know! There are always new things popping up and it's impossible to keep track. And then it's so huge you'll never see all of it.

>>1129559
You said that Turkey will be:
>rightfully nuked by Russia
If you expect a serious response to something like that you are spending too much time on 4Chan. But thanks for not spoon-feeding me.

>>1129554
How's the history department? Since I'm I'd be applying for history MA this is quite interesting to me
I had the luck to be able to enter into the library a couple times in order to get documents for my undergraduate thesis and it was really amazing.

>>1129573
I'm not a Turkologist. I've recently read a good book called "The Fall of the Turkish Model", written by Cihan Tugal, published by Verso. It answered a lot of questions to me about Turkey's role in the region and the question of the role of Islam within the Erdogan administration. Perhaps that's a book for you? Sorry I can't answer your questions.

>>1129563
Hi! The history apartment is fantastic and you will have great teachers there. Take classes with Mr Ersoy, he's the best. Haha. Are you talking about the library in the North Campus? I thought that one was kinda meh - have you been to the South Campus yet? Check it out, it's a wonderful place. As you probably know it used to be an American university and so it has that nice vintage college feel - together with fantastic views over the Bosphorus, a couple museums, etc, etc. All the best for your application. Where did you do your undergrad?

>>1129269
Your last wish?
lel, you'll get bombed there.

File: butt.jpg (266KB, 1400x933px) Image search: [Google]

266KB, 1400x933px

>>1129559
these are the facts. enjoy your butthurt

>>1129585
I don't know, I went to the library near the metro station..Maybe it was the American, it looked kinda vintage indeed.
I did my undergrad in Spain but I got an Erasmus scholarship to Istanbul at Yeditepe University (bad University, even if they used to have people like F.Ahmad in the history department,however gave me the opportunity to know about a part of the history totally unknown in western Europe).
Sadly my visa is finishing and gotta return home next week; I'll do some research about it since my grades are not so good and I think modern history related studies are done in a boğaziçi associated Atatürk Institute ir something like that.
Thanks for your tips man hope you enjoy THE city and good luck with your studies

File: 2015-09-04 17.49.13.jpg (3MB, 4160x2340px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 4160x2340px

>>1129642
I think people like you are what makes me visit /trv/ less and less. Please stay in your containment board.
>your cunt
I assume you mean "your country"? I have stated repeatedly I'm not Turkish, but then again, you probably didn't read the thread.
>non-roaches
You refer to all Turks as roaches, yes? I feel sorry for u
>>1129655
Yeah, you went to the North Campus. :-) The Ataturk institute is fully part of Bogazici I think, it just has a special name... for reasons :-) Good luck amigo

Here's another photo of the South Campus for u

>>1129756
In Istanbul girls dress as in any European County so you won't find d any problem.. Of course there are neighborhoods like Fatih in Istanbul or cities like konya which are very conservative but as long as you dress "normal" nobody will ever say anything to you

Where is the best kebab / Adana in Istanbul?

>>1129756
Of course, yes, this is not a problem. I don't think you'll stumble into the "most unsafe place" in Turkey anyway. Don't worry too much and have fun. You'll notice in what situations you'll have to dress down. I'm sure it'll still be OK in 2017.
>>1129856
It's the Turkish "elite" university. Previous PM Davutoglu graduated here. The brand recognition of this university within Turkey is insane - even the last goat herder in Eastern Anatolia goes "oooh, bogazici" when you tell people. Lol. It's a cute place though and very interesting to see Turkish upper classes - very different from what people usually think about Turks.
>>1129939
Hi, I can't say for sure, but maybe have a look at
http://culinarybackstreets.com/category/cities-category/istanbul/
All of the places recommended here are really good. When you're in Turkey, I'd personally recommend you to try "balkaymak" - a clotted cream (kaymak) with honey (bal) poured over it. Dunk some white bread into it and you have the breakfast of gods. Also, go to Urfa in the South and have the best kebap you can. From what I could tell many people from Antep/Urfa in Istanbul complain about how places in Istanbul have the wrong spices, yadda yadda. And it's true to an extent, it tastes very different from what you can get in Southern Turkey.

just bumping. if anyone has questions about turkey i'd be glad to answer them :)

>>1131002
Where would you reccomend to go for someone to get an authentic view of Turkey, away from istanbul and the coast?

>>1129525
>and nationalist Turks have never taken too kindly to Asians.
That's incorrect. If anything, nationalist would be more kindly towards Koreans and the Japanese, because they consider them to be of the same root as Turkic people. Chinese are the ones nationalists don't like, but that's about Xinjiang and just pure nationalist romance about "good old days"

>>1129269
Last year they were literally lynching Korean tourists in the streets of Istanbul mistaking them for Chinese http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-nationalists-protesting-china-attack-korean-tourists-in-istanbul.aspx?pageID=238&nID=84972&NewsCatID=338

Another Korean tourist was lynched and killed a few months afterwards. Why the fuck would anybody go to Turkey. If there's lynchings, terrorist car bombs and a full blown war next door you should avoid that 3rd world shithole.

Just don't do it man, you're not missing much considering the risk.

>>1129269
Any Turks around to suggest nice places around Istanbul? I've read it's a blast this time of the year.

>>1133069
lğl. hey, on the bright side, this means there will be a 3-4 month period of no bombing

>>1132120
Wait, what? I didn't know I shared roots with Turks.

File: 397408.jpg (145KB, 1080x1080px) Image search: [Google]

145KB, 1080x1080px

>>1129269
Hey turkfags. I'm a guy who will be travelling to Georgia/Armenia next month, going through Turkey. Now i'm a collector of militaria, do you guys if there will be trouble going through customs with stuff like a helmet or a body vest through Turkey? I tried looking for legislation but couldn't find anything.

>>1129270
What years did you study at Bogazici? Had a friend who studied there, what's the student life of a foreigner girl in Bogazici? Does one ride the cock carousel a lot?

I will be going to marmaris near the start of August, can anyone tell me how are the girls there? Im hoping to shag at least 1 girl when I'm there, I'm also intrested in seeing the roman ruins