Crime in Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul is an enormous city. It is hard to give a accurate description, especially in a limited opportunity survey. Generally, crime rates or the risk of incidents, are high in some neighborhoods outside the central areas, and low to moderate in the central areas and the recently built modern neighborhoods in the periphery areas outside the center. You should seek more detailed information elsewhere and also locals will tell you where it is safe and where no. You can use as a rule of thumb the political map of Istanbul - the more support for AKP (conservative) or HDP (kurdish), the higher is the criminality. Even more for personal crimes, especially against women. Sadly, women walking with shorts in the conservative areas, is a dangerous thing. But you will be perfectly safe in most of the city, including where the fun and business stuff to do is - particularily in the affluent areas in the center.

is there lots of car thefts ? do people use devices against car theft ? can you please post some links ?

If you are not a Schadenfreuder to it, you will eventually see that there actually no state ever existed here in Istanbul but remotely organized indo-iranian crime and torture machine in sinister "occult" disguise.

once and maybe still is a beautiful and vibrant city,going down the drain fast like whole asia minor.
population growth is off the charts with thousands of non - vetted syrians. Appr 22 million people wandering around shoulder bumping on purpose.
green is being clinically razed by islamist government.
no street mugging gangs but burglary and thievery is rampant.
not safe for lone women/men other than certain districts and certain daylight.
road rage is common.
homicides are focused on archaic values against women separated and such.
tourists are conned by local restaurants usually easily.
traffic is very aggressive,no zebra crossing respect whatsoever,still better than arab lands and india.
pollution is a big issue all over turkey.Littering and spitting normal.
education has gone down dramatically.
there are english speakers but few.
no gun control,fire arms or cutting instruments,never argue with a testosterone loaded turk.
be vigilante and safe.

Istanbul is very safe & secure more than regional European countries.
Antalya is beautiful & safe.
love to see Turkey progressing with stability.
Love you Turkish brothers.
From: Pakistan

We will retake Constantinople (it should have been done centuries ago). Then Eastern Anatolia can become Western Greece. And what is today Eastern Turkey would become part of a larger, unified Kurdistan.

Ok people i live since came from anatolia for university edutacion to this city always stayed at state student dorms know as "Kyk"even for me this city unsafe daytime is ok but. After 19-20 pm streets and transport options mostly unsafe i always wonder why people came here pippa raped here dont forget

I first visited Istanbul in 2012 for one week and enjoyed the city immensely . I returned briefly in 2014 and 2015 and possibly from news reports of bombings I felt progressively unsure and insecure. Again I visited in 2016 for one week and was vastly overcharged by a restaurant and mugged by owners of a bar. This was not a casual rip off or mugging, this was organised crime by local Istanbul people. It seems (read other comments) that people in Istanbul accept that ripping off or mugging tourists is acceptable.
The city is beautiful and vibrant , but I think the image of Istanbul is becoming tainted by eventa and attitudes to tourists.

Well, Istanbul is no crime free neither other cities..

There are some ghetto like or lower income people settlements in istanbul, you guys just be careful in those parts..

Our people wont kill you while robbing like the monkeys in rio da j. Middleeast people got this islam thing, they

are not in favor of killing.. plus there is nothing to see in those parts anyways.. you people just wander around

seaside districts.. istanbul is no the most crimeful citi btw..

We dont have; "people robbing gangs" on the streets.. We are not that poor in this country.

lately we got syrian immigrants and those bunch might be leechy on you..

crime is all about couples killing each other over divorces or quarrels, homicides about traffic quarrels..

sexual harrasments against grown ups or kids,

thievery is mostly common cuz we got this economical inflatation. 1 dollars is 3 times turkish lira..

if you guys are carrying dollar or euro you people can feel so rich with 2000 dollars or 1500 euros here.

you tourists most likely would be conned... thats our country's crime scheme..

they invite you to the bars and they give you bills like 100x times more expensive.

you get on the taxi they give you a tour and make you pay 3 times more...

they sell you stuff and demand for 10 times more expensive..

dont feel helpless and call 155 police. we got english language option for foreigners... they'll definitely help you

in those advanced districts..

Unsafe, don't talk to stranger near Taqsim Square. They lure me to a pub and rob me TR1000. Fucking bastards, never know how to entertain tourist.

I've been Istanbul many times and all long stays.. I can say It's as safe as other big cities in Europe... crowded, language is little problem in there too.. But people are nice and helpful. just for an information, I had experience that many Kurdish related groups using foreigners against the government and inviting them to their illegal actions, so need to be careful who and what reason people inviting you, police may not be so kind against to this type of actions. We are just visitor in here and should not involve any politics. It's same in every country...

Almost everyday we have sirious traffic accidents two or three. Sometimes public transportation vehicles kills or injure people who is walking on sidewalks. It is not safe in nights in most places for women. Even men whose appearance looks different or gays. The most unsafe city that I have ever been is Istanbul. Statistics are very optimistic. It is odd. I had been robbed for three times on the street. One of my pals' house and office broken in for three times. I had been attacked and insulted several times because of my hair style or my appearance (including by police). No body respects disabled persons, specially in public transportation. My kurdish friends are beeing insulted almost every day. Some parts are ok like Kadikoy, Besiktas but most parts are not safe in Istanbul.

#Abdullah

if yearly you can't, if monthly it's more than enough you can live in luxury and very well.

#Jessica Luthan

Because lot of them is originally from uncivilized areas of Turkey,İstanbul's population around 20 Million, only 2.5 Million people is natives of Istanbul, it's true that many of them is rude and pervert but also there are too many gentle and respectful men live in Istanbul.