Advice to Visit Turkey Cautiously The recent anti-government protests in Turkey over the future of an Istanbul park may have given some travelers pause about going to the country this summer. But James Bainbridge, an author of "Lonely Planet Turkey," said last week that tourists need not cancel their trips, no matter the resolution of the dispute between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has overseen plans to convert Gezi Park, in Taksim Square, into a commercial replica of an Ottoman-era army barracks, and protesters who want to keep it as a park. "My advice would be to go," Mr. Bainbridge said, "but avoid any rallies and large gatherings of people," which, at times, have erupted into violence. Travelers can stay abreast of demonstrations, he added, by reading the news, talking to locals and signing up for the State Department's alerts at travel.state.gov. Anti-government protests in Istanbul have been confined to Taksim Square, above, a district known for its night life and sleek new hotels. Should they continue, Mr. Bainbridge said, tourists may want to book accommodations and limit their exploring to Istanbul's old city, which counts the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia among its sights. Ankara, Izmir and other cities have also seen protests. Should the situation deteriorate in these cities and Istanbul, Mr. Bainbridge said, travelers can avoid them altogether and head to other popular destinations in the countryside like the lunar-like Cappadocia region or the Aegean coast. The country's well-developed tourism infrastructure, Mr. Bainbridge said, allows travelers to change their plans on the fly, should the need arise.