Hello,

personelly i would not go to Turkey at the moment.
Tuerkei Iran Grenze??? - Seite 1 von 2 - Radreise & Fernradler Forum

Regards

Mike

Can I get an overview please?

We're heading to Northern Turkey in August.

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Paul "Every county of England, every country of Europe and every (part of every inhabited) continent of the Earth" 94% done! What's left? Central America, East, Central and West Africa, Australia & New Zealand

The link Mike refers to tells the story of two guys that pitched their tent in a small village near Ganziantep. In Ganziantep they had asked a policeman whether they could camp next to the castle. He suggested it would be safer outside the town in a small (kurdish) village and showed them the way. During the night the police pitched up with two security officers and arrested the two. They were charged for espionage activities. Apparently their passports had many stamps from all over the world, besides that they had a laptop with lots of photos from Iran and Turkey.... Even reporters are spies according to the latest Turkish laws Besides that, Germans are a "red rag" to the Turks at the moment ;o)

I have just returned from a circular trip right into the south-eastern and north-eastern regions of Turkey, April/May. Fortunately I didn't have any tense situations anywhere. Maybe the difference was that I never camped in the wild, but stayed in small B&B's and hotels, which is quite affordable in Turkey.

Due to frequent guerrilla operations in the Kurdish south-east the armed forces are jittery and extremely suspicious. So I always made a point of having as little contact with these guys as possible, not even asking them for any directions. Trying to keep a low profile

Still, travelling by m/c and staying in hotels, hostels and B&B's shouldn't be a problem for anybody. In the west and the north, outside the Kurdish provinces, camping in the wild shouldn't be a problem at all. Just keep clear of the police....

No-go places are Diyarbakir, Cizre and Sirnak, where there has been serious fighting. The city centers are destroyed, and I presume the army has sealed off these towns anyway. But the non-Kurdish provinces are absolutely safe to visit. I even consider Istanbul as a fairly safe place to visit. Just keep away from tourist groups. There aren't any tourists anyway. You'll be treated as VIP's ;o)

If you need any infos on places to stay, just PM me.

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Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

Thanks Vaufi. That's totally true.

Turkey is full of beautiful places that you should not miss. Just stay away from kurdish areas which are on the eastern part. Turkish army/police are extremely alert on the eastern Turkey.

Staying in the North, South, East is very safe.