Is Tarsus safe?
Turkey · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Tarsus is a city in Turkey, home to about 227k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,065 of 6,168, with a safety score of 64.1 out of 100, placing it clearly above the global midpoint.
Emergency 112 (ambulance, fire, police)
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country1 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Turkey-Syria border
Named in the official UK travel advice for Turkey (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Tarsus.
How safe is Tarsus really?
No published homicide figure exists for Tarsus itself, so the national rate stands in: Turkey recorded 2.4 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Turkey's income inequality is middling (Gini 43.7) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
Tarsus also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 3 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 1 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Turkey at level 2 of 4 - "Exercise increased caution" (updated 2026-06-08). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 1 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Turkey
Terrorism in Turkey · Political situation · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Counterfeit banknotes · Drink and food spiking · Methanol poisoning · Sexual assault · Taxi safety · E-sims · Ramadan · Personal ID · Children and accommodation · Dress code · Personal injury claims · +19 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Turkey — country-level, not specific to Tarsus. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 2.4 /100knational rate, 2024
- Conflict deaths
- 3within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 43.7country, 2023
- Human development
- HDI 0.853country, 2023
- Income
- $44,630/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 227kurban centre · 7,092/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 6.7 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 49/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 42/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 31/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 5.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.66Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 26.4 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- no dataof the population · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 2.2 doctors /1k3.1 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2020 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Turkey
- Earthquake
- 9.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 6.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 5.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 2.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Turkey as a whole, not Tarsus specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Turkey (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Turkey; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Tarsus that gives 64.1/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Tarsus compared with Mersin
| Measure | Tarsus | Mersin | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 64.1 | 64.1 | ±0.0 |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 2.4 /100k | 2.4 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 3 | 3 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Turkey, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Mersin →
Nearby cities
- Kazanlı Mah. 64.1
- Yenice 64.1
- Mersin 64.1
- Adana 64.1
- Yumurtalık 58.1
- Niğde 67.9
- Kadirli 63.0
- İskenderun 48.1
See Tarsus on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →