Istanbul

[Amandistan]

I am making me way there tonight from Marmaris. i love Marmaris but keep hearing locals say how horrible and dangerous Istanbul is. I am going anyway.   

I realize it's 20 million people and am a bit overwhelmed by the numbers. However beautiful architecture  and market culture. I am also fearful sexual harassment. I have had 7 men so far in Turkey follow me and expect sex. One nearly acted on it. 4 more buy me tea and say they love me after two minutes. I imagine this is far worse in Istanbul as many cultures exist there with different views of women.   


Any suggestions on what to see, how to stay safe etc.
I can not deal with another man thinking western women are so cheap, they will have sex with you for a cheap coffee. This is the first city that has truly intimidated me.

[Bunny]

I dont think theres anything you can do A. Turkey is known for it tbh. Especially as a tourist destination, white women can be seen as a soft target for Romeo's! But then its only a small number of all the people you'll encounter.

[Amandistan]

It's far more common than people think. I am fairly certain I was sexually assaulted by the owner of a carpet shop near Blue Mosque. I though about going to police but am going to tripadvisor instead. He started hugging me and shoved his hand down m pants onto areas that did not want to be touched (and it's still pretty sore)  to my protest. He asked me to come in to see carpets and gave me a tea. Nobody was in the shop but him. I did not realize it.   This is taking it to the next level. It is not acceptable. 

 Oriental women don't get this nor do Turkish.


Another thing is they allow Arabic kids to sleep in streets with no shoes in the cold. Nobody stops. They were not begging. Just in the street. He looked like he was going to die soon. I wanted to pick him up and take him to hospital. I asked locals to take him home and nobody listened.
There are refugees all over. They can not get work or be educated. They are not treated like respectable human beings here. Many Turkish people hate Syrian people for no reason.  They hate Kurds even more. 

I don't like cities with so many poor people and damaged people but nothing can be done to help them. It's horrible.

[Stephanie]

Being confronted with a culture that is so very different from our own is pretty tough, I imagine.

In a big city like Istanbul - as opposed to the more rural areas, people probably have a very wrong image of what "westerners" are like. Sad as it is, this is not least due to how some tourists behave when on holiday.

That, of course, doesn't give anyone the right to generalise - I hate when people do that - but it seems to be a (bad) human habit and explains it.

Sorry you had to deal with this, hope you liked some of your stay, though, I have heard that Istanbul is a beautiful, impressive city.

[Amandistan]

It is impressive. It is beautiful. Hagia Sophia is one of the most amazing sites i have ever seen.
 The building are remarkable. For the most part it's beautiful. The thing i don't like about the culture is the lack of respect of boundaries and person space.