I travel a lot (including to Mexico) and normal rules of caution are usually sufficient. I have a friend who has gone to Turkey a lot, and while she said Turkish women are coming under increasing Islamic pressure, in general it’s not a problem for a visitor.
I would suspect there was more going on in this story than we are getting. I think she might have been naive and lured into something, or possibly there was something going on that her husband didn’t know about.
This is an odd story. She travels first to Turkey...stays a few days...flies to Amsterdam for 24 hours, then onto Munich for 3 days....and back to Istanbul (was only going to stay 48 hours before leaving for the US). No, she’s not known as a international traveler either.
My humble opinion is that she was a courier for diamonds or drugs. This story has too many points about it. Supposed to have been her first trip overseas...but she spends almost $10k on this episode.
As for Istanbul...around seventy percent of the city is fairly safe for anyone to walk around...day or night. I’d suspect she was in on some deal and screwed up somewhere in the middle of it.
“I would suspect there was more going on in this story than we are getting. “
Yes sounds like she was spook or something and the hubby just didn’t know.