A young woman’s first solo experience outside an airport turned frightening after she was followed by a stranger while exploring Istanbul. Sophia, en route to Belarus, had planned to spend a day and night discovering the city—but her visit took a disturbing turn near the Sultan Tombstone.

Expecting to be asked for an entry fee, Sophia was instead approached by a man who repeatedly asked her out for coffee using a translation app. At first, she mistook the interaction for a joke—until she realised he had been trailing her. Alarmed, she contacted a local family who quickly notified the police. Authorities launched a search for the man, and Sophia later thanked the family for their swift support.

I've never been alone in a country and then FOLLOWED. This was a very scary experience for me. I never thought this would happen to me because of how secure l am. I've been traveling and flying from a young age. I've flown alone before, but l've never actually been outside the airport and alone in a foreign country. This time I had to stay a day and night in Turkey before my flight to Belarus and I wanted to explore Istanbul. Yet, since the incident occurred with this guy I wasn't able to fully enjoy my time in Turkey. After the family notified the police about this dude, they went to search for him. I thanked the family and later found some Erasmus students from Germany and spent the evening with them. I was so afraid to be alone.
When I walked back to my hotel alone I still got approached by random men, so l pretended to be deaf. After that no one bothered trying to communicate with me and I got back to my hotel safely.