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After Istanbul Bombing, German Tourists Warned To Avoid Crowds

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Now to the aftermath of that attack in Istanbul on Tuesday. Most of those killed and wounded in the suicide bombing were German tourists. After Paris and now Istanbul, many Germans no longer feel as secure as they used to. Esme Nicholson reports from Berlin.

ESME NICHOLSON, BYLINE: It's another cold and rainy day in Berlin. This is the time of year many Germans try to escape the weather and head for sunnier climes. Last year, about 5 million Germans went to Turkey, making them the country's best tourist customers. But after at least 10 German nationals were killed in Tuesday's suicide bombing in Istanbul, the German government has warned travelers going there to avoid crowds and tourist sites. Foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier reminded Germans they are not immune from terrorism.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

FOREIGN MINISTER FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER: (Through interpreter) For many years now, we Germans have been spared a terror attack of this scale. But we've always known that the cancerous virus of terrorism is indiscriminate and threatens us all in equal measure, whether in Turkey, Europe or elsewhere.

NICHOLSON: Some Germans are unsettled by the constant onslaught of bad news. Seventy-one-year-old Dorit Nurith from Bavaria is in Berlin on vacation. She says she knows Istanbul well and was horrified by the news. But she says she'll never change her travel plans.

DORIT NURITH: (Speaking German).

NICHOLSON: "You can't stop living your life," she says, "even after Paris, Istanbul or Tunisia. It could happen to any of us. It's a matter of luck." Nurith's plucky determination will be good news for the German tour companies. But they say more anxious customers can cancel or rebook trips to Istanbul for no extra fee. For NPR News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Berlin. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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