General safety :
Turkey remains one of the safety countries of the continent and Istanbul, (the biggers city of Eastern Europe), is very safety too.
For the travellers, there are very few risks. But, will be necessary to remain attentive in the touristic places of the city.
In Istanbul, the tourists are not harassing in the disinherited districts. it is possible moving  to districts like Fener, Balat, Ayvansaray or Dolapdere, with no risk. 
Sultanahmet is the big place of tourism, but nobody live here. The reputation of Sultanahmet is not really good for the inhabitant of Istanbul. For the tourists, the principal nuisance is the continual harassing of f the merchants of carpets which give not good image of Turkey.
Beyoglu (Pera) is a very large and very popular district, and all the time, the Istiklal Caddesi is full of people, not only safety persons. The district of Taksim (in the north of the Square of the same name) is not very well frequented in the evening. Some pickups  take the foreigners in bars with " konsomatriz " (kind of prostitute) where the beer is very expensive (around 1000.-- €).
The public parks are open all the night. It is not recommended to walk itself there in the night.

Small offences :
The most frequent offence for the tourist is the dishonest taxi drivers which ask too muth Money. For example, from center (Galatasaray) to Sultanahmet (St. Sophia), you must pay around 5 YTL.
It is not recommanded to buy false products near the bazaars.
Certain restaurants apply extravagant prices for the tourists, mainly in the districts of Kumkapi, in the quays of Karakoy/Galata, under the bridge of Galata and in the Flowers Passage (Cite de Pera).
Near the Blue Mosque, some bad people said to the tourists, the mosque  is closed to visitors, due to prayer and invite you to drink the tea... to a carpets shop.
All the mosques can be visited free, in all Turkey. It is possible to give some donation, but is not an obligation. In certain places (Rustem Pasa, Sokullu Pasa, Little Ste Sophie, Sehzade Mehmet Camii), the guardians ask the foreign visitors to pay entrance. Refuse vigorously. 
The small mosques and the small churches are often closed during the week. If a guardian would open the door to make visit, you can give something (1 or 2 YTL).

Special note for the families
As everywhere in Eastern Europe, the family with still very important in Turkey. The Turkish people adore the children and everywhere one will offer something to your children. One will ask for their age by adding "Masallah" and will ask a lot other questions.

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