I should, first, thank you for doing an Istanbul meetup in Europe, than say Paris.

The reason? Turkey is accessible for more nationals of less fortunate countries. It is still accessible to most Europe too.

But given Turkey issues with ISIS recently, it would have been better to consider other countries. For example, having a Turkish stamp can be an issue while accessing Germany.

Some alternatives: Casablanca, Tunis, and Belgrade.

They are cheap, have touristic resorts and also beer friendly :)

Edit: Looking at Asia now, it would be better to have the meetup in Hong Kong than in Singapore. Both are world-class cities and HK is accessible to more nationals.