Is it safe to travel to Istanbul, Turkey at this time? I am a bit worried about the current events, but still interested to see the wonderful culture.
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4Welcome to Travel.SE. "Safe" (like "secure") is a bit of a red flag here, as there are many different ways to define safety, and many different standards for it— and many people don't care so much about safety as "feeling safe," which is unquantifiable and subjective. Moreover, Turkey is a big place, and levels of "safety" will vary by locale (city vs country, region, etc.). Please take the site tour and review the help center center, then see if you can edit this post into something that can be more definitively answered.– chosterCommented Feb 25, 2016 at 15:59
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I was there last week and have not experience any threats. I would avoid public transportation just in case but, my friends use it everyday and they are fine. If you are going to the Touristic places, I would suggest you to stay away from large groups and try to stay in a smallest group possible as a precaution. Shopping malls are safe as it gets since there are security guards waiting and x-ray machines checking you and your belongings at the entrances. (This has been going on for years, 10+ years actually).
There is no reason to be afraid since, this could happen everywhere. (Eg. Paris, Stockholm etc.) Just be careful while you are travelling and try to be on the lookout for suspicious activities.
Take care of your belongings since small time robbers and scammers would want to take advantage of you. (Similar to Eastern Europe, Italy and Greece)
Enjoy Your Stay in Istanbul.
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I have to say, being told to avoid public transport and large groups at tourist sites, and having to go through a metal detector just to enter a shopping mall doesn't sound like a particularly safe place to me! Commented Mar 19, 2016 at 0:44
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@DavidRicherby As of yesterday, I wouldn't say Turkey is "safe" anymore. It is not as bad as Palestine, Somali, Sudan, Afghanistan... but it is definitely not safe. But metal detectors have been here for so long, since any weapons (including knives) are strictly prohibited and they are used for them. If you think extra security measures are bad then I wouldn't go to a US airport since they ask you to take off your shoes and require a full body scan, and upto that point there are no security precautions. But, yes, Turkey is no longer a safe place due to 5mil Syrians and the feud with ISIS. Commented Mar 20, 2016 at 14:18