November 25, 2010 1:27 AM GMT
Turkey is a member of NATO and has troops in Afghanistan. They are not a government that would want to anger the US. and it has been seeking membership in the EU. U.S.-Turkish friendship dates to the late 18th century and was officially sealed by a treaty in 1830. the LGBT community has problems but they are beginning to be addressed, with a long way to go. It is not a country I would recommend open travel to for LGBT persons. Other than that, Influenza has been the only serious State Dept warning, along with the TB problem that is endemic. I would not consider it normally a dangerous country to travel in for most people, despite a late October "terrorist" bomb in Istanbul. Problems are usually in the Southeastern areas and involve Kurdish groups.
http://www.fco.gov.uk/res[...]map.pdf
Connecting to the Internet in Turkey is pretty easy and inexpensive.
http://www.turkeytravelpl[...]ss.html
I hope this covers your questions, Ellen.
By the way, Turkish is not an Arabic language. They use a Latin-based alphabet. The language comes from Central Asia.
November 29, 2010 6:15 AM GMT
The problem has been resolved. Everyone is safe at home, now.