Foreign Office updates Turkey travel advice with summer safety message
James ChappleThe Foreign Office has updated its travel advice for Turkey with new safety guidelines, with record numbers of Brits expected to head to the country this summer.
More than 3.3 million British nationals visited Turkey in 2022 according to the FCDO, up from around 2.5 million in 2019. However, airlines and operators such as Jet2holidays and Corendon Airlines have significantly extended their programmes for summer 2023.
The FCDO said that while most visits were "trouble free", travellers should be "alert to their surroundings" and "remain vigilant in crowded places".
Last year, 51 cases of sexual assault – including rape – were reported to British consular staff in Turkey, up from 30 in 2019. The majority, said the FCDO, occurred during the summer in coastal tourist areas, and were typically committed by someone the victim had met during the day.
"There have also been sexual attacks on minors visiting toilet facilities alone," said the FCDO. "You should be extra vigilant in these situations."
Drink spiking is a particular focus for the FCDO update, with Brits encouraged to buy their own drinks and be wary of strangers offering food and drink, to change money, or to take them to a restaurant or nightclub.
"Generally, crime levels are low," said the FCDO. "You should maintain at least the same level of personal security awareness as in the UK."
Visitors are encouraged to keep their passports secure, with the FCDO confirming reports of passports being stolen from rented villas "even when they have been kept in the villa safe".
"This is a particular problem in Didim, Kas, Kalkan and the Fethiye/Hisaronu/Ovacik areas," said the FCDO.
In addition, visitors are urged not to accept lifts from strangers and instead travel using registered yellow taxis, noting the registration before getting in.
The intervention by the FCDO comes after it warned, shortly before Christmas, of the risks involved in travelling to Turkey for medical procedures, highlighting the deaths of 22 British nationals in the country since January 2019 on medical tourism visits.
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