Istanbul not Constantinople

[ashling]

That seemed funny yesterday when somebody said it ... not so much now.

As some of you know my daughter has been teaching English in Korea. She is leaving there and starting a new job in Romania. She is leaving Korea tomorrow.

The thing is, her flight has A2 hour layover in Istanbul. Because of the time difference and the damned International Date Line I wasn't sure that she wasn't actually in Istanbul

When her mom heard about the attack there she called me from work. I messaged my daughter. She had not heard about it.

She.checked.with the airline and her.flight is scheduled as regular. She would rather not go there but can't get any changes. She would just cancel and.reRrange, but her visa expires tomorrow

Thanks for listening.

[csziggy]

1. Hope she will be safe

Chances are the terrorists will not hit the same place twice in two days.



She should be fine.





I understand - my niece just finished a year of work with a NGO in the Philippines and is now in Afghanistan. It scares the hell out of me but she loves the work and her life goal is to help people.

All we can do is to hope they are safe.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Istanbul is a major hub..

I imagine many flights from East Asia stop there for connections.

Hope all goes well for her.

[MADem]

3. Security at the airport tomorrow will be Top Of The Line.

They always triple bolt the barn door after the horse is gone, for some reason.

She should keep her wits about her, be observant of her surroundings, but not panic. Tell her don't be nervous if there's lots of military or police around with intimidating weapons. Just stay alert and if needs must, See Something/Say Something.

That's probably a good practice in any event, if you're in a crowded environment.

Security will likely be elevated at her destination, as well.

She should allow extra time for processing as her departure airport will probably have heightened security, too.

[BlueMTexpat]

4. I hear your concern.

But having recently traveled throughout Turkey and flown through Istanbul from Izmir on my return, I can assure you that airport security IN the building is very tight. You can't even enter the terminal without having yourself and ALL luggage (both luggage to be checked and hand luggage) put through screeners, Then you still have to go through regular security once you've checked your bags in.

These attacks, heinous as they were, occurred OUTSIDE the terminal. So yes, while security outside the terminal was also tight already, it will now be reinforced and be even tighter.

My husband will is scheduled to travel through IST (Ataturk) next week, does not plan to change his route. and is no more fearful of that route than any other.

If anything, IST may now be safer than some. May your daughter arrive home safely! The odds of that happening are very good.

[Recursion]

5. That must be awful :(

I'm so sorry.

I've been in and out of that airport more times than I can count. I can't imagine what that must have been like

Istanbul is such a wonderful city. This really breaks my heart.

[SunSeeker]

6. Amazingly, the airport reopened within hours of the attack.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/06/28/istanbul-airport-reopens-after-terror-attack.html

Your daughter should be fine, although security will be everywhere and it will be frightening. But your daughter sounds like the adventurous sort and if anyone can handle it she will.

[ashling]

7. She finallh got. there

[It wasn't really a question of physical security, she just did not want to be in that place wher so many.were brutally murdered.

She was supposed to be there for 2 hours before their connecting flight to Bucharest. Their flight got to an hour and half late. They ran to.get to their connection - they made it.just in tiime but.due to passport or some.other complications they couldn,'t board.

They had.to stay overnight in a hotel in Istanbul.

I lleaving a lot out, but they finally got to Belgr as de.

[Wolf Frankula]

8. Constanbul not Istantinople.

Actually It's Byzantium.

Wolf

[whistler162]

9. WHich forces this

[Amishman]

12. Love me some TMBG

saw them years ago, they played at a Borders outside of Baltimore in the middle of a snow storm (yes, really)

fun experience, got to talk a tiny bit afterwards. Really nice people.

[elleng]

10. For smiles:

[ashling]

11. Is that Tom Cotton

??