TURKEY: New Customs Tax Regulations & more – 13th Jan 2026

Merhaba from Oakley! This is the Rorshok Turkey Update from the 13th of January twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Turkey.

On Monday the 12th, Mehmet Şimşek, the Finance Minister, kicked off a major investor roadshow in London as part of a tour that will also take him to New York. The Governor of the Central Bank also accompanies Şimşek on the trip, which is designed to engage with the world’s leading institutional investment firms.

Officials said strong interest in last year’s London investor event helped justify adding a New York leg to this year’s program. After London, Şimşek will meet global investors and credit rating agency representatives in New York, with discussions expected on twenty twenty-five evaluations, twenty twenty-six priorities, structural reforms and Turkey’s investment opportunities.

Last Tuesday the 6th, new customs rules published in the Official Gazette changed overseas online shopping in Turkey, becoming one of the most talked-about developments of the week.

The government removed the thirty-euro tax exemption. From now on, every item ordered from abroad will face customs tax, even very cheap products. This made shopping on platforms such as Temu, AliExpress, and Amazon far more expensive, ending their appeal as low-cost options for many consumers. Items arriving from European Union countries will face a 30% tax. Products from other countries, including China, the United States, and the United Kingdom, will face a 60% tax. Some products will also include the Special Consumption Tax, bringing the price even higher.

In some international news, on Tuesday the 13th of January twenty twenty-six, Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party or MHP, said protests in Iran that began after high inflation and currency devaluation have deeper forces behind them. He said that while economic hardship sparked public anger, organized intelligence operations and imperialist provocations also play a role. Bahçeli warned that unrest in Iran threatens Turkey and neighboring countries and said Iran’s political unity and internal peace matter for Turkey’s security.

He urged people to look beyond the surface and compared the situation to the twenty thirteen Gezi Park protests in Turkey, which began as a small environmental sit-in against cutting down trees and quickly spread nationwide after police intervention. Those protests later expanded into broader demonstrations about governance and policing.

In other news, on Wednesday the 7th, Hasan Ufuk Çakır, a lawmaker from the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party or CHP, resigned from the party, saying party members sidelined him because of his support for Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the former party leader. The same day, he joined the ruling Justice and Development Party or AKP.

On Monday the 12th, Çakır appeared at a party meeting. He told party members that the AKP would win the next election by a wide margin and praised President Erdoğan. He turned toward a photograph of the president in the hall and gave a military salute, raising questions for the public. Many wondered how an opposition lawmaker would become a heated AKP ally this quick.

Meanwhile, on Monday the 12th, public backlash followed after the Gray Wolves, an ultranationalist organization closely linked to the MHP, introduced a distance education program inside a public school, raising concerns about political influence in education.

Photos showing the Gray Wolves’ logo and a portrait of party leader Devlet Bahçeli on a classroom smart board fueled the controversy. Teachers’ unions, parents, and opposition figures questioned how a partisan organization gained access to a public school. The Gray Wolves said the activity aimed to raise awareness of national unity, Turkish nationalism, cultural identity, and social discipline, but critics argued it blurred the line between civic education and political propaganda.

Critics said schools should remain politically neutral and accused the group of using public education spaces to spread ideological messaging.

More on education, as on Monday the 12th, Istanbul’s Governor closed all schools across Istanbul for the day due to an expected severe storm. Authorities said meteorological data showed strong winds and heavy rainfall likely to affect the city overnight and throughout the day, raising safety concerns.

The closure applied to all public and private educational institutions. This included public education centers, lifelong learning institutes, driving schools, vocational courses, and special education and rehabilitation centers.

The governor’s office also granted administrative leave to disabled employees, pregnant staff, veterans, and women with children under eight. This exemption did not cover essential services such as health care.

On Thursday the 8th, Istanbul prosecutors widened a high-profile narcotics investigation that drew national attention as test results and detentions surfaced. The police briefly took into custody multiple well-known figures, including singer Aleyna Tilki, actor İrem Sak, and social media personality Danla Bilic, in late December twenty twenty-five in a probe into alleged drug use and related offenses.

This week, forensic reports entered the case file showing that Tilki’s drug test was positive for certain substances, while other results varied among suspects.

Authorities stressed the investigation remains active, with more celebrities joining the detainee list.

Speaking of narcotics, on Thursday the 9th, a Turkish court sentenced a police officer once praised for anti-drug work, and his wife to long prison terms over heroin trafficking.

The court ruled that they would each serve over twenty-six years in prison after authorities caught them with around twenty-five kilograms or fifty-five pounds of heroin. Police stopped him during a road check back in twenty twenty-one. He fled the scene, injured officers during the chase, and threw the drugs from his car before his arrest.

The case later widened to include a former prosecutor who received six years in prison for aiding drug trafficking.

On Friday the 9th, the district Mayor of Muratpaşa in the southern city of Antalya unveiled a new scientific search and rescue initiative using specially trained rats. The Hero Rats Scientific Research Project aims to deploy African giant pouched rats in disaster zones, where their keen sense of smell and small size help them navigate confined spaces that are hard for humans or dogs to reach.

The project is a collaboration between the municipality, the Belgium-based nonprofit, Anti-Personnel Landmine Detection Product Development, the GEA Search and Rescue Association, and Ankara University. Officials said the rats wear lightweight backpacks equipped with cameras and communication tools to transmit real-time data from rubble. The Mayor said this innovation is vital in a country prone to natural disasters, and researchers hope the project can set new standards in rescue operations.

On Monday the 12th, the İstanbul Family Foundation unveiled a new storytelling project aimed at reducing children’s dependence on digital screens and strengthening parent-child communication. The initiative features more than 300 short fairy-tale videos, each lasting seven to eight minutes, to be shared every other day on the foundation’s YouTube channel.

The project revives traditional storytelling to support children’s imagination, critical thinking, and emotional development. Yusuf Duru, a storyteller and writer, recorded tales such as Dede Korkut, Keloğlan, La Fontaine fables, and One Thousand and One Nights in a warm, grandfather-style tone.

The foundation also prepared a companion book with storytelling guidance and plans to offer storytelling training in other cities, aiming to rebuild family bonds in an increasingly digital age.

Closing this edition, on Friday the 9th, in an English-language article published in the Daily Sabah, Tarık Güngen, a columnist and foreign policy analyst, reported that relations between Turkey and Malaysia have entered a new and more strategic phase despite the two countries’ geographical distance. He explained that historical ties date back to the sixteenth century but remained largely symbolic for decades.

According to the article, recent developments show a clear shift toward practical cooperation, especially following Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to Ankara and the launch of the Turkey–Malaysia High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council. Güngen also wrote that both countries agreed to raise bilateral trade from around five billion dollars toward a ten billion dollar goal. These steps show how two Muslim-majority middle powers can deepen practical cooperation despite geographic distance.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Quick question, is there a specific monopoly in Turkey you think is a big problem? Let us know at info@rorshok.com

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