I've travelled in that region several times over the years, the insurgency and counter-insurgency vary in intensity, but the army / jendarma presence is always very strong. In my opinion, if there was something genuinely dangerous going on, the army / jendarma would keep you out; partly for your own safety but also because the authorities are very reluctant for foreign journalists to see what is going on.
I was last in the region in December 2021 and February of this year. My impression is that the major operations and switch of regional leadership in the last few years has greatly reduced the air of unrest - Diyarbakir felt calm and even Cizre seemed to be less tense.
Of course there is an element of unpredictability in the situation, but I don't believe there is a specific threat to foreigners. But if you need guaranteed security, south east Turkey is not the place.
Specific sites I would recommend are Gobeklitepe and Karahantepe (respectively close to Urfa and Harran) if you like archaeology. Also, if you are looping back to the west, the Tunceli / Pertek / Elazig / Sivas region is very scenic.
EO
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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.
Last edited by eurasiaoverland; 26 Jun 2022 at 14:29.
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