My wife is stressing out over the possibility of fallout in Turkey due to the war with Iran. Is there any real reason for concern? If the situation changes, how soon will we be notified?
Posted by
Singapore
1160 posts
Türkiye is a big country - where exactly are you travelling? I was is Istanbul recently, and my daughter is at university there, and I don't have any concerns. It's a very friendly country, and I felt welcome.
The level of government travel advice is unchanged since the war began - it advises not to travel near the border with Syria or Iran.
I'm assuming also that you wont need to fly across the Middle East to get there like we do, so no concerns in terms of flight problems either.
"How soon will we be notified"
Obviously keep an eye on government travel warnings, but also monitor the news.
You will feel much more relaxed when you get there!
Posted by
Oregon 🌲
516 posts
Are you meeting up with a tour? Who do think would notify you?
Posted by
West Coast
440 posts
Are you both registered with the State Dept yet? You can set the calendar for alerts to whatever you want. When I traveled to Chile and Argentina in January, I received alerts before departure (for protests, to of course avoid the area) as well as one "alert" during (another protest). Now it's even more important, because it's how "they" know where you are.
Do you use WhatsApp? It's very common overseas and so handy for communication.
I have also always kept a few hundred US $ in cash in a money belt.
At least for me, thinking proactively offers some level of reassurance. Most of all, the grim reality is that awful things can happen even in your familiar home town- not sure that's reassuring, exactly, but for me is a travel "plus"!
Posted by
Irving
3552 posts
When I begin planning a trip, I check https://travel.state.gov/content/travel.html to learn how safe it is. Select International Travel > type in tur in the Select a Destination field then click on Turkey; select Go. Turkey is as safe to travel to as the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain...
DO enroll in STEP: https://mytravel.state.gov/s/step. This way you'll receive alerts when there are changes.
Posted by
3 posts
My violin teacher is from Turkey and her parents live in the western part of the country. She said they aren't worried - it's a big country and the only travel warnings are at the eastern end, near the Syrian border. I'm booked for a trip in 3 weeks, and I'm going. Do sign up for the STEP program from the Dept of State to keep up with the latest