TURKEY: Turkish Figures in Epstein Files & more – 3rd Feb 2026

Merhaba from Oakley! This is the Rorshok Turkey Update from the 3rd of February twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Turkey.

On Sunday the 1st, new documents from the Jeffrey Epstein archive sparked debate in Turkey after the U.S. Department of Justice released more than three million pages of material linked to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.

Among the records are email exchanges that include the name of Ahmet Davutoğlu, the chairman of the Future Party and a former prime minister. His party spokesperson said Davutoğlu had no involvement in the correspondence, that he was only named in some emails, and described the circulation of his name as organized provocation.

The archive also contains a twenty fourteen email from Landon C. Thomas Jr., a trustee of the American Robert College in İstanbul, seeking support for the school, prompting a statement from the institution saying the views did not represent the college. Some politicians urged a formal investigation of Turkish figures named in the documents.

On Wednesday the 28th, Turkish authorities arrested six people, including one Iranian national, on suspicion of spying for Iran. The arrests came after coordinated operations by the National Intelligence Organization and counterterrorism police across five provinces, with suspects held for political and military espionage.

Authorities say the detainees allegedly monitored military sites and sensitive facilities, including NATO’s Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, and passed intelligence to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The move reflects rising regional tensions as the U.S. and Iran remain at odds and Turkey has publicly warned against foreign military intervention, saying it could lead to instability and a refugee crisis.

Europe may soon place a digital gate in front of holders of Turkey’s green passport, the special passport that currently allows certain public officials and their families to travel to much of Europe without a visa.

On Sunday the 2nd, Vesta Global, a private investment and residency advisory company, said the EU plans to launch the European Travel Information and Authorisation System in twenty twenty-six. The system will require travellers who enter Schengen countries visa-free, including green passport holders, to complete an online pre-approval before departure. It will not function as a visa, but it will introduce an extra layer of screening.

As visa access becomes more complicated, some Turkish citizens now consider residency-through-investment programs in countries such as Greece and Portugal as a more predictable route into Europe.

On Sunday the 1st, a passenger bus crash near Antalya in southern Turkey killed eight people and injured at least twenty-six others as heavy rain and fog made roads treacherous.

The bus, carrying thirty-four passengers from the northwest, failed to navigate a curve and overturned into a ditch on a highway. Reports said that several of the injured were in serious condition. The driver was among the dead. Authorities opened a judicial investigation into the accident, noting slippery conditions and possible speeding.

In an unrelated incident the same day, another collision in a nearby province killed seven people and injured several others.

People online expressed grief over the crashes and voiced anger, saying the accidents once again exposed serious road safety problems during Turkey’s wet winter months.

In other news, on Monday the 3rd, Atatürk University in the eastern city of Erzurum announced it has begun producing pharmaceutical raw materials that Turkey currently imports mainly from China and India. The university launched work on 100 strategic medicines, including painkillers, fever reducers, blood thinners, anesthesia drugs, and treatments for blood pressure and diabetes.

The rector said that Turkey manufactures almost 85% of finished medicines domestically, yet relies heavily on imported raw materials, which creates risks during international disputes.

The Ministry of Health provided a purchase guarantee for the materials produced. With over ten million dollars in support, the university plans to lay the foundation of a factory in April and complete it within two years.

Meanwhile, President Erdoğan appointed Fatma Özkul and Gazi İshak Kara as the new deputy governors of the Central Bank. Özkul was a member of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, while Kara led the Financial Stability Assessment unit in the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The appointments drew mixed reactions online, with some commentators welcoming fresh expertise and others urging the government to commit to greater Central Bank independence amid ongoing economic pressures.

The opposition said that strengthening institutional autonomy remains a key concern for stable monetary policy in Turkey’s next phase of economic management.

On Sunday the 2nd, the riot police surrounded warehouse workers protesting low pay and poor conditions at the Migros depot in İstanbul’s Esenyurt district on their eleventh day of demonstrations.

Workers, organized under the Warehouse, Port and Shipyard Workers’ Union, began their strike on the 23rd of January to oppose a 28% pay rise they call insufficient and to demand better conditions.

On Sunday, police blocked much of the space in front of the depot and, despite heavy rain, refused to let the workers put up a tent, saying it violated regulations. Protesters responded angrily, asking why standing soaked in rain was allowed but shelter was not.

Union representatives called on supporters to expand resistance at every Migros location and vowed to keep protesting until they achieved their goals.

Speaking of strikes, on Monday the 3rd, Turkish teachers at the Private Italian High School went on strike after months of failed collective bargaining talks over pay and working conditions.

Members of The Commerce, Office, Education and Fine Arts Workers’ Union said the school offered a 15% raise, which would bring salaries to around seventy-five thousand lira, around 1,700 dollars. Teachers argue that Italian staff earn nearly six times more despite similar workloads. Union representatives described the strike as a fight for equal treatment, not just higher wages.

Some teachers also accused the administration of intimidation during the process. Students and several parents showed support, while the dispute sparked wider debate about wage gaps and labor rights in foreign private schools in Turkey.

On Monday the 2nd, the eastern city of Erzincan introduced a duty notary system after repeated requests from the local business community. The president of Erzincan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced that the measure took effect following formal applications to the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges, among other institutions.

Business owners argued that commercial life doesn’t pause on weekends and that urgent paperwork delays caused financial losses. Contracts, powers of attorney, sales, and transfer documents often require immediate notarization, and without weekend access, companies face stalled transactions and missed deadlines. He said the chamber acted on direct member feedback and will continue pursuing steps that support local trade.

On Tuesday the 27th, Turkey and Nigeria took a major step to boost bilateral trade, with President Erdoğan announcing plans to raise trade volume from about two billion to five billion dollars.

The announcement followed a state visit by the Nigerian President. During the visit, the two presidents signed multiple agreements on economic cooperation, defense training, investment, and infrastructure development. Leaders also established a Joint Economic and Trade Commission to oversee expanded exchanges. Erdoğan said the initiative aims to create business opportunities and deepen long-term commercial ties between the two countries.

Analysts see this as part of Turkey’s broader strategy to diversify economic partnerships beyond traditional European markets and strengthen its role in Africa’s growing economies.

Closing this episode, on Saturday the 1st, in a Turkish article published in the BirGün daily, Yakup Kepenek reported on the current state of the Council of Higher Education, or YÖK. A former chair of YÖK described the institution as facing institutional collapse. He explained that the Council, created after the nineteen eighty military coup, centralized control over universities and replaced broad academic self-governance with a system shaped by state appointments.

Kepenek cited the recent rector appointment at Abant İzzet Baysal University, where the final choice reportedly came from outside the three names submitted by the Council. Critics argued this move weakened the body’s credibility. The article also referenced the dismissal of more than 1,400 academics in twenty sixteen over a peace petition and the long-running dispute over trustee rector appointments at Boğaziçi University, presenting these as signs of declining university autonomy in Turkey.

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

And that's it for this week. But wait, we have an important thing to tell you. We've decided to bring the Rorshok Turkey Update to an end. We've loved doing it and it has been going since twenty twenty-two. Originally, we'd sort of hoped that the listeners could connect and a small community might form, but one way or another, we didn't know how to do that, and it hasn't really happened. And putting them out every week is lots of work and not cheap....so we're just going to stop and focus on the other community building things Rorshok is doing. You can check out our projects on our website. Thank you for listening all these years. We'd love to hear from you, so if you’ve got any questions or ideas, send us an email at info@rorshok.com.

Hoşça kalın!