US Embassy New Aug 29th Warning on Turkey

[cruiseerf]

"Threats to kidnap westerners"......This is a new part to these updates.

 

Last month the US Embassy allowed families of all US embassy personal to return home to the USA. They were strongly encouraged to go....

 

Safe Sails All! Keep your eyes open and your plans flexible. While terrorists acts can happen everywhere, Turkey is looking like a tough visit....

 

Sent from my U.S. Embassy Ankara

Security Message: Turkey Travel Warning Update

August 29, 2016

 

The U.S. Department of State continues to monitor the effect of terrorist incidents in Ankara, Istanbul, and Gaziantep, recurring threats, a visible increase in police or military activities, and the potential for restrictions on movements. U.S. citizens should carefully consider the need to travel to Turkey at this time. In addition, we have recently experienced delays securing consular access to U.S. citizens, some of whom also possess Turkish citizenship, detained or arrested by security forces. This replaces the Travel Warning dated July 26, 2016.

 

Foreign and U.S. tourists have been explicitly targeted by international and indigenous terrorist organizations in Turkey. As stated in the Worldwide Caution dated March 3, 2016, extremists throughout Europe have targeted large sporting events, theatres, open markets, aviation services, transportation systems, and public venues where people congregate as well as religious sites and high-profile events. Most recently, they have threatened to kidnap Westerners and U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens are reminded to review personal security plans, monitor local news for breaking events, and remain vigilant at all times.

[Adelen]

We are still scheduled to go there (Bodrum and Kusadasi) on cruise from Civitavecchia departing 19 Sept. I wonder if this will mean a changed itinerary? And when we'd find out....

[Goes Cruising]

Not to diminish the seriousness of the situation in Turkey, but the warning specifies U.S. citizens should avoid areas in close proximity to the Syrian border, or generally, southeast Turkey.

 

We also are scheduled to go to Kusadasi on our September 24th sailing, and would be surprised if Celebrity cancels based on this warning.

 

Kusadasi/Ephesus are at the Western edge of Turkey, and Bodrum is just below it but still far west. I would think they are still not included in the warnings.

[Xport]

Equinox is still scheduled to call at Kusadasi on Friday, 9 September...

[oldtownjns]

I felt perfectly safe in Kusadasi/Ephesus in early August and I was traveling with a 13 year old daughter (and my husband). Yes, parts of Turkey are quite dangerous and we'd all be wise to avoid them, but avoiding Kusadasi because of conflict in southeastern Turkey is like saying do not travel to Texas because there's a hurricane hitting Florida.

Just my two cents.

[MVPinBoynton]

With HAL just cancelling all port stops in Turkey, I wouldn't be surprised if our stop there in Oct will also be cancelled. In Sep & Oct, Celebrity has 11 port stops in Kusadasi and Royal Caribbean has 14, so we will see what happens. The Reflection is supposed to stop there on Sep 4 and the Equinox on Sep 5.

[floridatravelersforlife]

These threats have been there since the 90's As a businessman on trips there, I was warned not to travel east of Ankara.

[caladezi]

These threats have been there since the 90's As a businessman on trips there, I was warned not to travel east of Ankara.

 

Do you consider that a smart move? Not many people who get killed in a terrorist attack expect it, but many were foolish to put themselves in that position.

[happy 2 b cruising]

Do you consider that a smart move? Not many people who get killed in a terrorist attack expect it, but many were foolish to put themselves in that position.

 

So far Celebrity has not cancelled Kusadasi for a port stop on our cruise. My husband and I will be staying on the ship and will enjoy getting a massage, much better choice for us then going on shore. In my opinion hopefully Celebrity will decide to skip Kusadasi and choose another port stop.

[Softball20]

Hmmmmm. We booked our May, 2017 cruise in late March of this year, and it included a stop in Kusadasi. By mid June of this year, they cancelled the Turkey call and replaced it with Valetta. Interesting, however, is that we have friends who sailed on the Reflection a just couple weeks ago, and they went to two ports in Turkey. I guess I was kind of surprised that they cancelled stops in the future but didn't do anything this year with all the stuff going on. No big deal; we've been there, just kind of odd timing. Given where Kusadasi is in relation to the troubles in Turkey, it seems like it should be fine to still call there, but I guess they have to cautious.