Hi

I am a little bit concerned about the security situation in east turkey. I though about getting from Agri to Dogubayzit to cross to Iran. Today I met a bicycle rider who said he was attacked by people there who were trying to stop him and beat him up. Fake checkpoints ... guns pointing at him ... etc.

All went good in the end, but my head is spinning a little bit right now, if I should go there after all or just skip it ...

Thanks for your advice.
Julian

It's all a bit nasty to be honest. Likely to get worse in the run up to the November elections. Have a look at the Turkish news in English.
Hürriyet Daily News | LEADING NEWS SOURCE FOR TURKEY AND THE REGION

Cheers,

Dicky

So the roads in that area were not closed as was suggested in another thread recently?

I did not hear anything about that. But PKK has checkoint there and they are not supposed to be very friendly ...

Current news..

Erzurum horasan part of E80 road is just closed..Sept.6 oo.55 am. after 4 cars have been put on fire...Operations started...

Never take the roads heading to kars or passing through kars.
from blacksea coast line,gümüşhane,bayburt,erzurum line recommended to get to gürbulak gate..keep staying with army check points to continue with escorts..never be on the road in early morning and in dark..If you are stopped by fake pkk check points, stop and say you are tourist and never try to run away...They are after trucks and military personel on the road.. Erzurum is safe to keep waiting if needed..Other bordergates to Iran are all closed..only bezirgan -gürbulak works...If anyone wants to keep staying in trabzon,ı can recommend my friend Sedat and university campus across the airport.. He can recommend the best for the area.... https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bilte...74?pnref=story

""""06 Eylül 2015 - 00:55 Kars Haberleri » Haber
KARS’TA PKK YOL KESTİ, 4 ARACI ATEŞE VERDİ
Kars’ın Sarıkamış ilçesinde PKK’lı teröristler, Karakurt-horasan-Erzurum karayolunu ulaşıma kapatarak 1 otobüs ve 3 kamyonu ateşe verdi.
Edinilen bilgilere göre, Sarıkamış-Karakurt-Horasan-Erzurum karayolunda yol kesen PKK’lı teröristler, yolu trafiğe kapatıp durdurdukları 1 otobüs ve 3 kamyonu ateşe verdi.
Öte yandan, Kars-Sarıkamış-Karakurt-Horasan-Erzurum karayolu güvenlik gerekçesiyle trafiğe""""""""

"""""Ağrı Dağı ve Tendürek Dağı Geçici Güvenlik Bölgesi İlan Edildi
04 Eylül 2015 Cuma 01:13
Ağrı Valiliği; Ağrı Dağı ve Tendürek Dağı’nın askeri operasyonlar dolayısıyla özel geçici güvenlik bölgesi ilan edildiğini duyurdu.""""""

****On the other side mount ararat and tendürek is announced as nonsecure areas for military operations between 4 and 19 sept. by the mayor of ağrı.

Georgia,armenia,iran also is an option if you will not be meeting the iranian escort.gate visa available for most citizens for georgia and armenia...No insurance for georgia and short term 8-15 usd. for armenia...

Unlucky days..Good luck all and I wish road angels be with you..

__________________
Mehmet Zeki Avar
''Borderlines divide countries,HU friendship finds a way to reunited"
https://www.facebook.com/mehmet.avar.12?ref=tn_tnmn

Thanks for posting this, but very sad to hear.

Thanks for the update Mehmet. That was really important since I was just going to take taht way. But how did you mean to get to the Gurbulak gate from below that line you mention if the road E-80 is closed?

"From blacksea coast line,gümüşhane,bayburt,erzurum line recommended to get to gürbulak gate..keep staying with army check points to continue with escorts."

Any idea when that road is open again? Perhaps it is faster to try via Georgia and Armenia. Pity that one cannot get directly to Armenia.

I'd echo this advice, but for other reasons than any current tensions....

Great to see Mehmet is still providing excellent advice and keeping travellers safe on the road. He was a life saver for me earlier in the year when I had an accident in Kars, not sure what I would have done without him. Anyone travelling through Turkey should listen to his advice and experience.

Dave



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Thanks for the updates Mehmet, your information is invaluable.

I will be over there in 2 weeks or so. Was considering flying my bike from Istanbul to Tehran but you have given me another option, Georgia -Armenia-Iran.
No visa needed for Georgia and Armenia.
Batumi-Gyumri-Meghri border with Iran = 8 14 km or 13 hours.

Mehmet, when does the weather start getting too cold in this area?

Thanks

Thank you Mehmet for posting this info. Also other friends in Istanbul told me about the difficult situation at the moment. Where are you based in Turkey?

I will stay on the coast, going West from Georgia (Batumi) to Istanbul this week.

For those wanting to go from Azerbaijan to Iran (or Central Asia), you can get an E-visa now, without waiting at an embassy

Read my post here:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...h-e-visa-83332

See you on the road
mika

We rode from Trabzon down the E97 towards Erzurum, up to Tortum waterfall then across to Narman and back down to the E80 to Dogubayazit last week.

We never felt unsafe, everyone we met along the way were really friendly and happy to see us, bought us tea and had a good look at the bike. It was only when we got to Dogubayazit that we could sense a bit of tension, but we never saw any bother, there was only one little kid who threw a stone at the bike when we wouldn't give him money at the lights.
Plenty of armoured vehicles around but we got to the Iranian border and passed through to Iran with no problems. No checkpoints on the roads we took but there were plenty of stories on the news about PKK and police.

Safe travels
Jaime

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Life's a Journey, Not a Destination http://www.notadestination.co.uk
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I thought about the situation Mehmet told about and drove to Erzurum where I had to decide the route. I asked the local police and he said it's OK to drive to the border to Gümrük. He said, if it's needed there will be police escort and that there are already many policemen around. So was by the way also in Erzurum, the city was full of police. I asked also a couple of other people whether they thought it would be risky to take that route but they said that tourists have no problems going there.

Anyway, I realised that EU citizens do not need visa to enter Georgia or Armenia and I thought why not go and see those countries. So tomorrow I'll be going to Georgia and Armenia. I know Armenia is a corrupt country but hope that I manage somehow.

Can anyone elaborate on the problems in Kars? I was hoping to go through there next spring.

If you're looking for somewhere to stay:

Tbilisi, Georgia

The Green House Hostel

Central - easy walking distance to the Old Town. Clean and friendly. You can park your bike off-road inside the premises on their secure forecourt. If you stay there please give my best regards to the owner, Maia.

There is an terrific mechanic in Tbilisi if you need any work done on your moto: Awesome Mechanic in Tbilisi.

------------------------

Kapan, Armenia

The Darist Hotel

Cheap and clean. Good food .. cold beer. Will allow you to park your bike in their lock-up garage (rear of hotel) overnight.

All the best

Keith

__________________
Right Way Round ...

****Kars,Ağrı,Van,diyarbakır,tunceli are currently the most dangerous cities for travellers..no power and most road bridges are bombed and mines placed under the roads by terrorists.military operations continue in all these cities and roads heading there..Erzurum is safe..Blacksea coastline is never a problem..local people dont rent their flats to foreigners or sell them anything..

4-5 weeks ago I called back my children from cappadocia too while they were on a turkey tour for 1 month on the new bike..

@Dave
Spirit of adventure travellers..you will never walk alone!!

@Lonely
Isil inside turkey now because turkey started bombing their bases together with usa.. terrorists keep hiding in ararat and tendürek mountains..they are being bombed everyday...Fake checkpoints on the roads by them are valid generally for several hours till military forces are there..so I guess escort ride will be on as usual as this main road E 80 is very important for turkey to connect to midasia..(Erzurum,agrı,doğubeyazıt.)..Also when security forces are informed about a road block,the closest team to the problem area closes the road on both directions till the end of the operations..Trains to kars and tehran turn back at erzurum...

armenia, great countryside,nice people..dont speed on the road not to be welcomed! by the traffic police....

@motoreiter
USA and TR. war planes started bombing isil bases whereever they are..We have no government now.as somebody didnt like the result of the ex elections in june,it will be renewed on Nov.1..so its expected to calm down till the end of the year..Hopefully you will meet peaceful roads and friendly people on your trip in spring as all will be over till that date...

@Keith
any programs for turkey again? Hope it will cover a bikers festival next time...Big selams from istanbul.

Let me clear out 1 point even ı dont like to talk about politics..

1-UK is the only european country helping the refugee camps inside turkey.
If others dont help to keep them inside camps, seems more syrian refugees will be on the european roads soon...currently increasing to 3 millions inside turkey and getting harder to keep them under control...

We are also very sad to see all these problems inside our country..I Hope will be normal within a few months after these refugee camps are transported inside syria on secure areas next to the borderlines which is planned to be realised by USA and Turkey and operations started 3 days ago for this purpose...

Wish you all the best and safe,happy trips...

__________________
Mehmet Zeki Avar
''Borderlines divide countries,HU friendship finds a way to reunited"
https://www.facebook.com/mehmet.avar.12?ref=tn_tnmn