My mum got angry and said that the government keeps tabs on people who go to those places: she gave an example of a guy she knew who was involved with socialist groups who was then banned from travelling to the USA. Kind of a shitty argument, I think, because socialist and jihadi terrorist groups are pretty much unrelated. I also have no history of extremism, accessing extremist material or even interest in Islam (aside from the academic).
Anyway, the more pressing question- could I get kidnapped, as a young white guy? I look quite young for my age and I know I'm vulnerable because people inevitably think they can "try it" with me however wrong they may be. Am I at risk or should I go for the experience of living in Antakya? My family also think I'm being brash and stupid- do you think I am or are they worried and overreacting?
Safer than travelling to the US , anyway , Turks do not give up reading having mastered Noddy at age 5 , nor do they go around brandishing military issue weaponry at each other .
Turkey is actually a very civilised country with a terrific culture , and Antakya is of course classical and Bible era Antioch , with a huge history and many links to the west rather than to the east and south where the islamo-loonies are currently rampaging over the border .
Ask your mum who Mustapha Kemal Ataturk was ; If she doesn't know , then her knowledge about the area is based on the perverted lies told by the British media and her own True-Brit Xenophobia , frankly she has no idea what she is talking about , and you should ignore her .
As for the Brit Government , you assume that their security organs are both competent AND all-seeing .
In fact they are nearly all an overloaded bunch of ignoramuses , and the administration a shambles .
I seriously doubt if anyone will even notice you've been there , nor care . As a teacher , you have a perfectly good reason to be there , anyway .
As for Antakya being near the border , so what ? Anyway , it isn't THAT close , unless you are working from your junior-school Atlas map . And there's half the Turkish army ( one of the biggest in all N A T O ) between you and the crazies .
Go , enjoy your work there , or you will kick yourself for the rest of your life that you bottled out .
Tell your mother that Turkey is a secular republic, and that it's far more likely that, given the present situation in Syria, the Turkish government will be keeping even closer tabs on you than your own.
I lived in Turkey for over a year and truly enjoyed it... BUT that was in the 70s. From what I understand Turkey has changed a lot since then. The fundamentalists are starting to get a foothold in the government. As a result, Europeans and Americans aren't as welcome as they once were. So are you at risk... based on what I know... yes.
Edit:
The point is not your geographic location, it's that the government has moved from a secular mostly democratic government to an increasingly theocratic fundamentalist government.
yeah
