We have been talking this over (and over) for a week now and have finally decided, reluctantly and very regretfully, to give Turkey a miss next year. I guess we have visited Turkey 25 times or more in the last 20 years. It will feel odd not to be going next year. But the country's human rights abuse has just gone too far for us. I appreciate it will be different for those who own property there and, more so, for expats. But as holiday-makers we can go anywhere in the world we want. A great deal of the holiday experience is eager anticipation of your visit; not muddied by feelings of guilt at visiting such a country.
I know that I won't see signs of the current brutality in the resorts and that the people who make a living there are not to blame for the horrible regime (unless they voted AKP and there aren't many like that in the South West). But I know about it and cannot obliterate that knowledge. I also know that when I first visited Turkey in 1997 over 30,000 people had already been killed in the civil war in South East. But we had a civil war in our own country at the time and excesses, on both sides, have to be understood in that war context. Today we have widespread, state-sponsored, violence against all oppositional forces in Turkey and blatant denial of human rights everywhere. It is, of course, a subjective opinion - it's about how you feel about a place - and we feel we can't stomach it.
I shall still be following what is happening in Turkey closely. I hope we may be able to say we can visit in 2018 because reforms have been made. I am sure this forum will continue to be a valuable resource in gaining knowledge and interpretation. These are sad times for Turkey.
