Crime in Istanbul, Turkey
Crime rates in Istanbul, Turkey
| Level of crime | 51.91 | Moderate | |
| Crime increasing in the past 3 years | 70.24 | High | |
| Worries home broken and things stolen | 41.86 | Moderate | |
| Worries being mugged or robbed | 44.99 | Moderate | |
| Worries car stolen | 32.13 | Low | |
| Worries things from car stolen | 43.64 | Moderate | |
| Worries attacked | 48.59 | Moderate | |
| Worries being insulted | 50.53 | Moderate | |
| Worries being subject to a physical attack because of your skin color, ethnic origin, gender or religion | 33.12 | Low | |
| Problem people using or dealing drugs | 43.77 | Moderate | |
| Problem property crimes such as vandalism and theft | 46.30 | Moderate | |
| Problem violent crimes such as assault and armed robbery | 41.65 | Moderate | |
| Problem corruption and bribery | 71.21 | High |
Safety in Istanbul, Turkey
| Safety walking alone during daylight | 70.03 | High | |
| Safety walking alone during night | 39.93 | Low |
Contributors: 1171
Last update: September 2023
These data are based on perceptions of visitors of this website in the past 3 years.
If the value is 0, it means it is perceived as very low, and if the value is 100, it means it is perceived as very high.
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Nearby cities:| Crime in Esenyurt | 19.48 miles |
| Crime in Kocaeli | 62.63 miles |
| Crime in Bursa | 164.05 miles |
| Crime in Zonguldak | 210.49 miles |
| Crime in Eskisehir | 220.30 miles |
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During my 2 weeks visit there I was in 3 fights, 2 of them were fist fights.
Turkish people have an obvious bias against Arabs and they're not even ashamed to admit it.
This is one place I won't be visiting anytime soon.
after the exodus of syrians and afghanis also pakistanis and also banhgladesh men. turkey is the one of the most dangerous country in the world.
You dont visit Afganistan, right? Millions of afghans are living in turkey. so you should not visit turkey too. Its a gambling and you might pay this gambling with your life.
After that happened to me i was really scared to go out and two times I went out to get some food I was followed by two guys ( on separate occasions). Luckily second time I was in an area with people and I saw a police guy, who helped me.
It is not a safe city for a woman.
And the worst thing I have witnessed was one guy beating up another guy with a bat brutally (in 2019). However, this is not a random thing to happen in the streets, I would suspect some background story: fighting over a girl or some political dispute.
And, I can recommend a few things to avoid problems:
You need to know the place you are going beforehand. Istanbul is a very big city, population-wise even bigger than some countries. So the differences between districts, even streets can be huge. Some districts might be considered as unsafe during night, but usually okay during daylight, try to ask some locals.
For the taxi problem: it is true, but of course, I also needed taxis occasionally (maybe after a long night out), I used taxis always with friends (might be a deterrent for the driver to cheat), and always checked the route. Note that, the roads are very, VERY intricate in Istanbul, still looks like a labyrinth to me. Thankfully, google maps is your good old friend.
Lastly, for women, it might get a bit uncomfortable during night. You can still enjoy the great nightlife city offers, but it is better to be precautious: sticking to your friends group and not wandering alone on 'quiet' streets during night are some basics that all locals know. This 'quiet' thing is a warning especially for people coming from Europe's calm and relaxing places. Istanbul city center is almost never a calm place, if you see any, it is for a good reason. However, the city overall might be more secure and joyful than you might have been thinking.
I don't know the situation after I left, but I am hearing it is changing recently.
I've read some of the comments and, yes, sometimes taxi drivers will take advantage by taking a longer route than necessary, but that happens to some extent everywhere. The fare is always displayed in the rear view mirror and can't be adjusted by the driver. If you plan to travel to İstanbul and take taxis download one of the taxi apps, they are in English as well as Turkish and drivers won't mess around if you are using one. Estimated fare and route is displayed before you ever get in the taxi and you also have a chance to rate the driver. But in 4 years I think I have had 1 or 2 bad drivers and I taxi often. Taxis are very affordable here so even if they take a longer route it's not a lot of money. It's not nice to be taken advantage of but you won't get stuck with an enormous fare. And if you are a tourist, public transportation here is cheap, spotlessly clean, easy to use and goes everywhere, and includes buses, metro, ferries, and funicular, all for pennies. And on holidays all public transportation is free!