Is it safe to travel to Turkey? UPDATED 22 June 2025.
Once again I’m seeing people on various social media platforms asking if it’s safe to travel to Turkey and Istanbul. Once again I am updating this post I originally published in 2016.
First I want to put things in perspective when it comes to the question is it safe to travel to Turkey.
On Friday 13 June, 2025, unprovoked, Israel fired rockets at Iran, killing military personnel, scientists and civilians, saying Iran was an existential threat, without giving any proof. Iran responded and the two countries are now considered to be at war. Turkey is not involved in this war. On Sunday 22 June 25 the US bombed three nuclear sites in Iran while still in talks with Iran and the consequences of this action are as yet unknown.
Last week Turkish Airlines and others suspended flights between Istanbul and Tehran, while other airlines have suspended them between Istanbul and Tel Aviv. Israel closed its airspace on Sunday 22 June and airspace in neighbouring countries may also be effected. Although flights from Istanbul to both countries only take a few hours, they are some distance apart by road. Tehran is 2432km from Istanbul while Tel Aviv is nearly 1800km away.
Iranians regularly cross the land border to go shopping in Van and fly to Istanbul on business. The Turkish authorities are yet to state whether the number of Iranians entering Turkey has increased but media reports suggest this is the case as more Iranians enter Turkey seeking a safe haven. It’s likely Israelis are doing the same too.
Sometimes there are marches and rallies in Istanbul and elsewhere in the country in response to Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza and more recently on Lebanon. If you do come across a rally, most official government websites advise you not to linger. It’s a good suggestion as emotions can run high and you don’t want to get caught up in anything. If police or army personnel tell you to move along, do as they say. On a more practical note, when marches do take place streets can be shut down and public transport rerouted, so if you have to get anywhere in a hurry (like Istanbul airport) best steer clear.
Right now, my neighbours and friends here on the Asian side of Istanbul and other parts of the city are going about their lives as normal. This means carrying our identity cards on our person all the time, as per Turkish law. This applies to tourists as well, even when you’re on the beach. You have to show the original, not a copy, otherwise you will be fined.
Security checks are the norm on intercity bus travel in Turkey, but I’m aware for people who don’t live here and have little or no experience of what Turkey is like, the news being spread on social media and elsewhere might make them think twice about whether to go through with holiday plans in the place I call home.
I think what I originally wrote in 2016 in response to a woman who admires my writing and contacted me via a DM on my Inside Out In Istanbul Facebook page still applies. She had a hotel reservation on the European side of Istanbul for the week after a bombing in 2016, and wanted my opinion on whether it was safe to travel to Turkey. She was a woman travelling solo but it wasn’t her first visit here, so she knew the layout of the city, how crowded the streets can be, and that comparing security in Turkey with that in other countries is pointless. After all, national security forces haven’t stop attacks elsewhere in the world.
How to decide if it’s safe to travel to Turkey
As a start, check what your government says about whether it’s safe to travel to Turkey. I don’t monitor Australia’s travel warnings for Turkey regularly, but when I looked to update this post, they seemed little different than they were a few years ago. They warn Australians to exercise a high degree of caution overall (sensible advice for many countries these days), to not travel within ten kilometres of the border with Syria (given how little is there, why would you?) and to reconsider your need to visit Hakkarı and Şırnak (neither of which have ever been tourist destinations to my knowledge).
Make sure you have travel insurance and be prepared (mentally and financially) to change your plans should the need arise. Additionally, register with your consulate so you can receive warnings about which places to avoid, and how to keep safe should something happen.
Some will say much the same as Australia and don’t explicitly say it is not safe to travel to Turkey.
This latter point is important in terms of the consequences if you do decide to cancel your holiday plans. At the moment, unless your travel insurance covers you for unexpected cancellations, you won’t get your money back if you decide not to come to Turkey. However if your government does change their warning and state that travel to Turkey is unsafe, then you would be entitled to a refund.
Should you happen to be in Turkey when a terrorist event, natural disaster or other incident occurs, many social media platforms like Facebook, Youtube and so on may run slowly or temporarily be blocked completely.
In summary, if you’re after a definitive answer whether it’s safe to travel to Turkey, I can’t give you one. I live here. My feeling safe might be your it’s too dangerous and my comfort levels set at too much risk-taking for you. Only you know how you feel. That said, that woman on Facebook, the one who was travelling solo and asked me what I thought? She got back to me and thanked me for my kindness. After considering all the possibilities she made up her mind and came as planned.
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Here are some practical tips to help you plan your trip to Istanbul and Turkey
For FLIGHTS I like to use Kiwi.com.
Don’t pay extra for an E-VISA. Here’s my post on everything to know before you take off.
However E-SIM are the way to go to stay connected with a local phone number and mobile data on the go. Airalo is easy to use and affordable.
I’m a big advocate of public transport, but know it’s not suitable for everyone all the time. When I need to be picked up from or get to Istanbul Airport or Sabiha Gokcen Airport, I use one of these GetYourGuide website AIRPORT TRANSFERS.
ACCOMMODATION: When I want to find a place to stay I use Booking.com.
CITY TOURS & DAY TRIPS: Let me guide you around Kadikoy with my audio walking tour Stepping back through Chalcedon or venture further afield with my bespoke guidebook Istanbul 50 Unsung Places. I know you’ll love visiting the lesser-known sites I’ve included. It’s based on using public transport as much as possible so you won’t be adding too much to your carbon footprint. Then read about what you’ve seen and experienced in my three essay collections and memoir about moving to Istanbul permanently.
Browse the GetYourGuide website or Viator to find even more ways to experience Istanbul and Turkey with food tours, visits to the old city, evening Bosphorus cruises and more!
However you travel, stay safe and have fun! Iyi yolculuklar.
Thank you so much for this updated post – I actually managed to explore Istanbul at the end of February this year, mere weeks before all this massive protest wave took place. Once my trip in Turkey ended I wanted to fly back sometimes at a later point. Still, the current events out there discouraged me to plan a trip there. I am also not a type of “so why worry?” person or even worse I would say I tend to take things too seriously. Anyway, be safe and healthy in Istanbul
I’m glad you found my post helpful. Here’s an update on the situation at the moment. First up, to be clear, I am not a journalist. I am an author and freelance travel writer living in a quiet part of the city and life is much as usual here.
To date the biggest protests have taken place in Sarachane (betweem Vezneciler and Kadinlar Pazaar) and on the Asian side of the city. Neither area is popular with tourists. Most tourists spend time in Sultanahmet and surrounding neighbourhoods, which are a long way from either of the areas I’ve mentioned.
Taksim Square has been blocked by police barricades and on some days the Taksim metro station was closed, although train services still ran through it on those occasions. There are police, water cannons and police transport vehicles at major intersections and in side streets along walking streets such as Istiklal on the European side of the city and Bahariye on the Asian side.
As of 25 March 2025, the opposition CHP have been arranging mass rallies twice a week one in an İstanbul district on Wednesdays and another in different provinces on the weekends. There is a nationwide petition being circulated calling for the released of Ekrem Imamoğlu and early elections, so you will see stands with people collecting signatures. There are also large-scale boycotts in place and at 8pm each night people will bang pots, blow whistles, honk car horns and play music in protest.
Small local protests still take place in different parts of the city, but Istanbul is huge so it is not possible to give an exact assessment of the situation at any given time.
If you do happen upon a protest the best thing to do is to continue on your way. Don’t stop or take photos. Few if any of the protestors are violent, however the police response can be far less measured. Likely what you are seeing in the media is people reacting to police actions rather than anything else.
Hi I am an Indian living here in Turkey and I am constantly asked the same question. My answer always is, there is no place in the world one can feel completely safe today so Turkey is as safe or unsafe as London, Paris, Mumbai or New York. But living here myself I often question my own safety in a country where the political situation is so unstable.