Inhalt

Terror Holiday

By Colin Guest

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Edited by Doug Watts

Dedication

This book is dedicated to all those killed and injured during the attempted coup attempt in July 2016, to overthrow the Turkish Government

Terror Holiday

When Simon booked a family holiday in Turkey for his wife Barbara and his two young daughters, Mary eight, and Shelly six years old, little did he know of events that would unfold before finishing their holiday? What had been intended as a happy holiday out in the sun would turn out to be nothing short of frightening. Had he known about the danger they would find themselves in, he would never have booked a holiday in Turkey. At least, not in the middle of July in Istanbul, 2016. But then again, nor would anyone else.

On their arrival at Heathrow airport for their British Airways flight to Istanbul, everyone felt in high spirits and looking forward to seeing all the sights. During the past few years, Simon and his family enjoyed several happy fun filled holidays in Turkey. However, these were at coastal resorts at Antalya and Bodrum, with this trip to Istanbul being their first visit. Simon and Barbara had always wanted to visit Istanbul, to explore the many beautiful sites both in and around this amazing city. Barbara in particular, wanted to visit the Grand Bazaar, one of the largest and most famous bazaars in the world. She read that to fully explore it and go around the narrow passageways lined with a huge variety of small shops, would take a whole day. However, she knew this would prove too much for Simon and her two daughters, so realised half a day would have to do.

On joining a queue at the check-in counter, they found themselves among many families with the sounds of excited children filling the air. Everyone seemed happy and excited about their flight to one of the most exciting cities in the world. What made Istanbul so unique; it straddled two continents, Europe and Asia. After checking in and getting rid of their cases, with only their hand-carry bags, they went to passport control. This as usual took some time, due to the strictness of the security checks. All belts watches having to be removed and sent through the x-ray machines along with jackets and hand-luggage. A number of women wearing high block heeled shoes having to take them off and put them through the machine to be checked in case they concealed anything dangerous. Although this caused numerous people to moan and groan about these checks, Simon had no such problems. To him, the more security the better, as it lessened the risks of a terror attack.

Once they’d passed through, Simon replaced his watch and belt, and they wandered around the duty-free shops. Barbara felt disappointed to find she could buy the same thing in her local high street in Bromley at less cost. She knew many people had complained about duty-free prices at airports, with the authorities responding by stating their prices were based on average prices in high street stores. However, from what she could see, numerous things were more expensive, so she did not buy anything.

Simon however, bought a bottle of Smirnoff vodka, remembering from previous trips that alcohol in Turkey was more expensive than in England.

Simon thought it strange that although a Muslim country, with an Islamic government, there were no restrictions on the sale of alcohol. This he felt necessary, as due to the enormous amount of tourists who visited Turkey every year, if banned they would simply move to another country.

The girls were thirsty, so they went to McDonald’s for cokes and shared a bag of fries. Shortly afterwards, Simon found their departure gate open, so they made their way to it. Here, they found yet another security check, which caused rumbles of discontent from several travelers. At last, once all passengers were allowed to board, a short time later, the plane set off towards the takeoff area. After building up power, like a cork from a bottle it shot off down the runway.

In no time at all they reached their cruising altitude, with the seat belt sign switched off. However, an announcement advised all passengers to keep their belts fastened. As Simon had recently read of a plane dropping several thousand feet that resulted in a number of passengers being injured, he told Barbara and the girls to keep theirs on.

During the flight, they were pleased when the stewards appeared pushing heavily laden food trolleys. The meals were tasty and filling, leaving Simon and his family with contented smiles. To pass the time away, while the girls and Barbara watched films, Simon put on the news channel to check on the latest news.

Although a suicide bombing had occurred at Ataturk airport a few weeks earlier, the situation quickly returned to normal.

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 15.11.2016
ISBN: 978-3-7396-8341-6

Widmung:
This book is dedicated to all those who lost their lives and were injured during this time.

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