Tourists in Turkey warned of the threat of new terrorist attacks: a house was blown up

This Saturday, the Turkish authorities, for the first time after the November terrorist attack in Istanbul, warned tourists “about the insecurity” (until that day they tried not to frighten them so as not to reduce the tourist flow). And, as they put it in the Turkish segment of the Internet, as if by “shaitan’s command”, on Sunday morning a residential building exploded in a Turkish city.

We found out whether the warnings made the day before are related to the tragedy that has occurred? And what to expect for our tourists who are already in Turkey or going there.

– Sanliurfa, aka Edessa, where the house exploded, the city is not a resort, but sacred to Muslims, 45 km from the Syrian border, – a Russian-speaking employee of the Turkish tourism industry answers the question. – Whether this is a terrorist attack or a domestic tragedy, it is still being clarified, but I think this has nothing to do with tourists. These are typical Syrian-Turkish showdowns.

– Wow “typical” – six hospitalized! And the tourists were warned just the day before!

– From the very beginning of geopolitical disputes, tourists were warned that in such conditions it would be better to walk around Turkish settlements less on their own. The hotels have everything and they are safe there. And the warning that sounded the day before was simply voiced on TV by the Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs for tourists from his country. But there was nothing fundamentally new in it.

Indeed, what can you think of a new one, everything has been worked out: on September 26 in Mersin (a resort on the southeastern coast of Turkey), armed people opened fire on a police station in the middle of the city and killed a policeman, on November 13 an explosion in the very tourist heart of the Turkish cultural capital Istanbul, and through a day in another Istanbul district beloved by guests of the country. The geography of evil obviously does not gravitate only to the Syrian border, so are those who are now resting on the Turkish Riviera for a lot of hard-earned money safe? Here is what Ivica Dacic, the head of the Serbian Foreign Ministry, told his people on national TV: “I want to warn our citizens: according to the information received from our security agencies, terrorist attacks may occur in Turkey. Therefore, citizens of Serbia should refrain from traveling to the country.” As the most dangerous city for tourists in Turkey, the Serbian minister pointed to Ankara, stressing that there is a risk in other Turkish cities: “We recommend that tourists and our other citizens already in Turkey avoid crowded places, such as pedestrian zones, metro, bus and railway stations.

Let’s check how our tourists and relocators feel. 36-year-old Muscovite Maria is resting in the Kemer “five-star” with two friends. When asked if the ladies have heard about the threat of terrorist attacks, the tourist seethes with indignation:

– Tortured already with their attacks! Our hotel is full of vacationers with small children. And, as you know, a lot of things are attached to them – a stroller, a toy, a bottle, all sorts of walkers …. And if the mother is alone with the child, then she will definitely leave either a stroller, or a bag with diapers, or something else somewhere on the territory of the hotel. And we have a special operation right here. They begin to yell over the speakerphone that everyone should gather in the lobby, a check is being made on an “object of unidentified belonging”. Only mothers are comfortable: every time the police with dogs are looking for their lost pacifiers. And we just run back and forth, waste precious time from rest.

– But it’s good, they care about your safety! It would be worse if no one cared.

– No, the Turks do not give a damn about their lives – we immediately noticed this. Ours don’t care anymore – especially if they have already taken it on their chests. Of course, thank you that the Turks take care of us too. The main thing is that it does not work out, as in a fairy tale about Petya and the wolves.

Turkish Russians – but not new ones, but from the previous relocation wave – as a rule, know Turkey almost better than the Turks themselves: preparing for the move, they carefully studied the issue, fortunately it was from 3 to 10 years ago, when there was no need to rush. We ask them about the threat of terrorist attacks.

– The Turks, of course, are scared and alarmed, – the ex-Muscovite assesses the environment, now living permanently on the Turkish Riviera for the fourth year. – I can’t say that they constantly warn about danger here, it’s not in the local mentality: the Turks try not to scare people once again, especially tourists. But in their Oriental allegorical ornate style they still warn. “Come on, maybe, if you don’t mind, we won’t go there today, but we’ll go tomorrow!” – this is how the last Turkish warning sounds. But it is enough for an intelligent person to say it once to make him vigilant. And those tourists who have not understood anything, there is no point in scaring them further, they will only snap back that their vacation is being limited. As the Turks say, inshallah (if it is the will of the Almighty – author), that these people will go home safe and sound.

– And how can a single tourist be vigilant in the conditions of a Turkish resort?

– At least listen to what the city authorities say, the guide is obliged to convey all this. And ours, as usual, the forbidden fruit is immediately the sweetest. The other day I literally watched a scene in our town. A small group of tourists in a minivan with a Turkish guide. Someone calls him on his mobile, he listens for a minute, and then tells his group: they say, we won’t go along such and such a route, everything is blocked there, a police check is underway. And the tourists in response will squeal all at once: yes, these checks and pointers of yours are tired, they just interfere with rest, but I have a favorite store there, I paid money for it, or – I thought, at least I’ll be free on vacation, but there are restrictions. Well, and so on. Sometimes it directly seems that for our Russian brother, freedom is not responsibility for oneself, but the ability to argue with everything indiscriminately.