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Many people ask
me if it's safe to visit
Turkey now with such unrest and military
activity in the eastern Mediterranean.
Here's what I tell them:
I think it's important to judge travel
safety rationally,
not emotionally.
I usually ask the question, "Would
you visit New York if there were war
in Havana?"
Most people laugh. Such a silly question!
But that's pretty much what we're
talking about here. If there is war
in Iraq, or Lebanon, or Israel...those
countries are not Turkey!
Even if there
were war in Turkey, would you be
going to the war zone,
or to Istanbul and the seaside resorts?
Any armed conflict in Turkey is likely
to be a thousand miles away from where
you are. A thousand miles. At least.
The true dangers of travel, domestic
or foreign, are such things as highway
accidents, earthquake, lightning strike, hurricane,
etc. You are more likely to be bitten
by a shark while swimming or to be
injured while skiing than you are to
suffer from a terrorist incident, and
far less from warfare that is a thousand
miles away.
These more mundane dangers should
carry much more weight when you make
your travel decisions.
(I had friends who would take different
flights to the same destination, thinking
that if one plane crashed, the other
parent would survive for the children.
I hastened to tell them that if they
really wanted to be safe they should
take the same plane, but different
taxis to the airport, because the
taxi ride was the really dangerous
part of the trip.)
Turkey received more than
20 million foreign visitors in 2005.
Those injured in terrorist incidents
may equal about 0.00005% of that
number. Far more will be injured
in freak accidents, or accidents
while driving or riding—and
this percentage, too, is still vanishingly
small. None. Zero! Were injured in
a war
Most visitors find that they have
concerns about political violence only before their
trip, and after they arrive
at their destination they experience
the normal
daily life of the place, and don't
even think of terrorism at all—unless
there's a headline.
You should make a
decision that you can be comfortable
with. If you believe that
fear will spoil
your trip, you should postpone it
until a time when you will feel comfortable
going.
As for me, I have traveled in Turkey
for nearly 40 years and the
worst thing I've encountered is a few
stomach bugs (and those a
long time ago). I wouldn't
hesitate to go to Turkey;
and I wouldn't consider myself in exceptional
danger.
Here are
some statistics indicating
that travelers are more liable to
be harmed in bus, train and airplane
accidents, earthquake, lightning
strike, skiing accidents, etc. than
by terrorists.
Here is the US
Department of State's Consular
Information Sheet on Turkey,
with every possible warning and caution.
Read the TTP
Safety Page, and make
travel decisions you can be comfortable
with.
—Tom
Brosnahan
Safe
Travel in Turkey
Travel
Details
TurkeyTravelPlanner.com
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