To report back on my trip for anyone interested, it was completely safe and dare I say, uneventful. Road quality was excellent to Mardin (two lane highway) and from there still pretty good the rest of the way. Only issue was Google Maps decided to take me through a steep mountain pass over a gravel road in Agri province, followed by a freak hailstorm. Thankfully a friendly local let me shelter inside his van.
There wasn't an overt military presence and although there were checkpoints at the entrances to all towns from Urfa through to Kars, I wasn't stopped at one of them, and indeed most looked completely empty at the moment. The Police I did see were friendly, stopping up next to me on their bikes while I was parked to compare motorcycles and ask where I was from.
The one thing I'd say is, you have to get used to some downright hostile staring in Urfa, I don't know if it's due to the influx of refugees or simply that the city is extremely conservative but I got the impression that Europeans aren't exactly welcome there, while Mardin (and of course the rest of Turkey) was the complete opposite.
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