Turkey ninth most dangerous country to live: The Spectator Index 2019
Istanbul – Turkey has been listed at the ninth position as “the most dangerous country to live” according to a study conducted by weekly British magazine The Spectator Index, which was tweeted on Saturday.
The magazine listed over all 20 countries among which Brazil tops the list and Thailand is at the last position. While India is listed at fifth position and United States at 16th position.
Most dangerous places to live, 2019.
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) January 18, 2020
1. Brazil
2. South Africa
3. Nigeria
4. Argentina
5. India
6. Peru
7. Kenya
8. Ukraine
9. Turkey
10. Colombia
11. Mexico
12. UK
13. Egypt
14. Philippines
15. Italy
16. US
17. Indonesia
18. Greece
19. Kuwait
20. Thailand
(InterNations)
The study measures the safety and security of a country which exposes tourists and businesses to security risks mainly related to serious harm to people (violence and terrorism).
According to Saudi Gazette, the number of Saudi tourists to Turkey declined by 33.2% during the first six months of 2019 to reach 122,115 people compared to the same period last year when their number totaled 182,689.
Lonely Planet forum listed the number of crimes people have to face in Turkey. “Sexual assaults have occurred against travellers of both sexes in hotels in central and eastern Anatolia. Make enquiries, check forums and do a little research in advance if you are travelling alone or heading off the beaten track”.
It also mentioned about various scams targeting tourists, “Various scams operate in İstanbul. In the most notorious, normally targeted at single men, a pleasant local guy befriends you in the street and takes you to a bar. After a few drinks, and possibly the attention of some ladies, to whom you offer drinks, the bill arrives. The prices are astronomical and the proprietors can produce a menu showing the same prices. If you don’t have enough cash, you’ll be frogmarched to the nearest ATM”.
About the traffic rules it’s said that “some Turks are aggressive, dangerous drivers”.
Moreover, a lot of street crimes are also reported including pickpocketing, bag-slashing, bag-snatching and, very rarely, mugging.
