The Foreign Office says there is no evidence to suggest an escalation of the PKK's campaign to attack civilian targets but has advised 'against all but essential travel' to the south east of Turkey, in particular the provinces of Hakkari, Sirnak, Siirt and Tunceli.

The Foreign Office has also urged tourists to remain vigilant when travelling in other provinces in south eastern Turkey in particular Van, Bitlis, Bingol, Elazig, Mus, Batman, Erzincan, Diyarbakir, Mardin and Agri.

More information here: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/europe/turkey/?ta=safetySecurity&pg=2

Thanks for the link to the FCO website dande
Darren

Am not sure that the Home Office warning takes into consideration that the PKK doesn't just operate out of South Eastern Turkey but will target typical tourist hot spots such as Marmaris, which they are known to have done in the past.
We knew all about this when we holidayed in Marmaris last year, and we have also holidayed in Sharm el Sheikh a couple of years after the bombings.
The thing is there are so many groups out there ready to target innocent bystanders that if we listened to every warning we would never dare leave our homes.
And perhaps if individual governments acted on international pressure to solve long-standing injustices towards certain peoples, this would not occur in the first place.
But that is just my opinion on it.

I must say that this is worrying me a bit. We're off to Olu Deniz in just under 2 weeks and this will be in the back of my mind It definitely won't put me off going but did this have to happen now? sorry if I'm sounding selfish because whenever it happens won't be a good time.

Shirley, the PKK have been fighting the Turkish military for decades, and occasionally targetting Turkish towns/resorts, and I must emphasize the word OCCASIONALLY. In fact there were more bombings on the British mainland by the IRA during the troubles, and that never put me off living here, or countless visitors coming to the UK during this time, also the 7/7 bombings in London did nothing to deter myself and my family attending a concert in Hyde Park the week-end following the tragic event.
So by all means be alert when on holiday and if you see anything suspicious report it immediately to the police, but otherwise have a great time and remember that nowhere in the world is totally safe. In fact my daughter just came back from Israel, where she has been working as a volunteer reporting for an Arab news agency, working inside Palestinian refugee camps, and she didn't encounter any problems whatsoever.
Enjoy.

These terrorism threats have been around for years across the world. As pointed out above, if you thought about it too much, you'd never leave your doorstep. Don't forget the UK is also subject to similar threats and the UK is currently on hightened security too. I was in the Marmaris / Icmeler area in 2006, not long after the Marmaris bomb had gone off and saw where it all happened. You'll notice bins in the streets were removed soon after given that's where devices were being placed. The security across the tourist resorts at the time was increased, with coast gaurd helicopter patrols a daily accurance. There's a funny story about that but I'll not go in to here! I wouldn't worry about travelling to Turkey unless the FCO state all non-essential travel is not advised. They're in the know, not newspapers who generally make things more dramatic than they are for headlines. I'm not going to Turkey this year, but I'd certainly not worry too much about travelling there at the moment and even if there was an increased security threat, as long as the FCO weren't advising against travel, I'd be happy to trust local security services given past experience.

Darren

I have to agree with ardath, the PKK have been fighting for many, many years now and so there is always going to be the threat somewhere in Turkey, just as thre will always be the threat that ETA could casue problems in Spain. I live in London and so thre is always the threat of terrorist activity there too. However I don't let it interfere with my day to day life and I am certanly not going to let it interfere with the enjoyment of my holiday.

We went to Turkey 3 years ago, and just before we flew out, there was a
couple of dolmus bombings around the very resort we were staying at.
It worried us a bit, but we carried on with our holiday anyway.
I can honestly say, we witnessed nothing scary whilst we were there,
(except our awful hotel that is).
Sorry, I lied!!
We travelled to Turkey during Ramadan, and were sitting on the balcony of our hotel.
Suddenly, there was a huge bang, and I thought the terrorists had arrived.
We later discovered it was just the cannons that mark the end of the fast.(scary at the time though).

We found the Turkish people friendly and helpful, and didn't feel
threatened at all.
I live in a tiny rural village in Cornwall, so even a balloon popping
makes me nervous Turkey is as safe as anywhere else, so relax and enjoy

Thanks for the posts. I've put it to the back of my mind and intend enjoying my hols. I just hope I don't hear of anything happening before we go

I read about this on the FCO site a couple of days ago, not what you really want to hear just before you are due to go!!!

The last time we were in Turkey (Marmaris) there was the liquid on the airline threat the day before we were due to leave so had to goand buy another suitcase as we were told absolutely no hand luggage except passports etc!!! About a week after our return was the Dolmus bomb in Marmaris which could have been us a week earlier......

Going back to Turkey next week and after the initial feelings of not wanting to go now, putting it into perspective as has been said there is a risk anywhere these days and we are probably more likely to be killed or injured in a road accident on our way to the airport!!! So am putting it to the back of mind.......

It could happen everywhere in world.Holiday resorts in Turkey are protecting by military.24/7. So it is safe..

Have to say that I dont know if it is usual or coincidental, but there was a very noticable police prescence in Icmeler, much more than I remember from our previous visit to Marmaris some years ago.

Hi
yes, we noticed a lot of police around in Icmeler, especially around the beach.

Dawnie-Rob