Me and my husband are intending to visit Turkey for 10 days next month (11 to 20 June ’11) but we heard that the General Elections will be held on 15 Jun. We are worried about the safety during this period of time (eg. anti-government activity, riots, etc). Can you please advise us on the current situation? Will shops and business be closed during the general elections?
The general elections in Turkey are due to happen on the 12th of June and whether it will affect your travel plans purely depends on where you plan to go.
If you visit any of the traditional holiday resorts such as Bodrum, Cappadocia or Didim, you will not see a lot of difference in daily life. Leading up to the day of the Turkish elections, vans with loud speakers will be going around the streets playing horrendous music and shouting at the top of their voice on loud speakers. The occupants of these vans are just the candidates and their supporters trying to drum up last minute support.
In the evening time at the local headquarters of each party, you may notice men gathering. It is just a meeting of supporters who like to get actively involved in politics but also enjoy a good gossip at the same time. Local branches of each party will also be going around the streets and speaking to locals but when they realize that you are not Turkish and are of no good to them, they will not approach you.
If you are in any of the big cities like Istanbul, Izmir or the capital of Ankara then you may come across gatherings of hundreds of people. These are very organized with controlled police presence and the topic will purely be dependent on which candidates are holding the rally.
Of course, if the candidate is not part of the current ruling party, then you will find criticism of the government but I would not take this as anti-government riots. If there is going to be any anti-government rioting, then my guess is that it would be in cities more towards the East of Turkey rather than the popular holiday resorts frequented by foreigners.
Depending on your holiday location, it would be quite possible for your whole day to pass without you even knowing that there is an election being held. The shops, bars and restaurants will stay open and bus services will carry on like normal. The only rule that has applied in past years is that no alcohol is allowed to be served however some restaurants get around this by serving tourists alcohol in tea cups!
My only word of warning is never discuss politics with a Turk. If you do make sure you have a comfy seat and lots of refreshments as the discussions will go on until the early hours of the morning!
