TURKEY: Unrest in Iran & more – 20th Jan 2026

Merhaba from Oakley! This is the Rorshok Turkey Update from the 20th of January twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Turkey.

On Thursday the 15th, Hakan Fidan, the Foreign Minister, outlined Turkey’s position on the unrest in Iran, firmly opposing any foreign military intervention. Fidan said Turkey sees regional stability as a priority and believes Iran must address its internal challenges without outside force. He held diplomatic talks with Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s foreign minister, and remained in contact with US officials as tensions escalated.

Turkish officials stressed that external military involvement could deepen instability and complicate diplomatic efforts. The government also noted that the US has not issued any formal sanctions-related decisions that would force Turkey to revise its ongoing trade and energy relations with Tehran.

Still on the conflict within Iran, last week dozens of Iranians crossed into Turkey amid Iran’s harsh crackdown on widespread protests. The arrivals took place at the Kapıköy border gate in the eastern Van province as violence escalated against demonstrators in Iran’s largest unrest in years. Many arrivals carried personal belongings and headed into nearby towns. Authorities said the crossings didn’t amount to mass migration, though the situation has heightened security concerns along Turkey’s eastern frontier.

Speaking of regional tension, on Sunday the 18th, President Erdoğan spoke on the phone with Ahmad al-Sharaa, the Syrian leader, and said eliminating terrorism from all of Syria was essential for both regional stability and Syria’s future. Erdoğan said Turkey would increase support for Syria in counterterrorism efforts and backed the country’s territorial integrity and unity.

The call came days after the Syrian government announced a ceasefire and integration deal with the Syrian Democratic Forces or SDF, a U.S.-backed group active in northern and eastern Syria. Under the agreement, the SDF will hand control of key provinces and resources to the state, while vetted fighters join the army or the police.

Turkey welcomed the deal, calling it a rare opportunity for stability, reconstruction, and regional calm.

Next up, on Thursday the 15th, Turkey announced it will deploy fighter jets to Estonia and Romania under NATO air policing missions. The move is part of NATO’s efforts to strengthen allied airspace security amid reported Russian airspace violations. Turkey plans a rotation in Estonia from August to November twenty twenty-six and another in Romania from December twenty twenty-six to March twenty twenty-seven.

The deployments continue Turkey’s active role in NATO operations. Turkey is also preparing to host the twenty twenty-six NATO Summit in Ankara in July.

On that note about security, on Sunday the 18th, renewed discussions about a strategic defence pact between Turkey, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia gained traction in international forums. Reports suggested that the countries are exploring a formal alliance structured somewhat like NATO, in which an attack on one member of the organization would be considered an attack on all.

The proposed pact reflects shifting security dynamics among key Muslim-majority states and marks a significant potential step in regional cooperation beyond traditional Western alliances.

On Wednesday the 14th, a street fight between two groups, including children, ended with the fatal stabbing of Atlas Çağlayan, a seventeen-year-old boy, after an argument that reportedly began over a hostile look. The police said a fifteen-year-old boy stabbed Çağlayan in the chest. Officers arrested the suspect at the scene, while paramedics rushed Çağlayan to hospital, where he later died.

The killing triggered strong public reaction, with anger spreading on social media over youth violence, knife access, and the young ages involved. Many users linked the case to earlier deaths of teenagers, including Ahmet Minguzzi, saying repeated incidents show a wider problem. Calls grew for stricter controls and better protection for children.

Police later detained people accused of posting provocative messages and threatening the family of the deceased. Cybercrime investigations raised the total number of detainees to six.

More about youth violence, as in an article published in Turkish on the BirGün news outlet, Ayça Söylemez examined a newly completed indictment involving minors in the Casper criminal gang. Söylemez reported that prosecutors prepared an indictment covering sixty-eight children, most of them between fifteen and seventeen at the time of the alleged crimes. Six of the suspects are girls, and some were born outside Turkey.

The article described how the gang allegedly targeted teenagers from low-income neighborhoods, assigning them violent roles and promising payments that often never arrived.

Söylemez argued that the case exposed a system where both victims and perpetrators were children, raising wider concerns about youth exploitation, organized crime, and the failure to protect minors from being pulled into violence.

To read the full piece, check out the link in the show notes.

On Sunday the 18th, motorcycle couriers across forty cities, including İstanbul and Ankara, began a three-day work stoppage, halting deliveries to protest low pay, long hours, and unsafe working conditions after months of failed talks with delivery companies.

The president of the Motorcycle Courier Workers’ Association said companies announced pay increases that never reached workers, leaving many earning less while working shifts of up to fifteen hours a day. He also said the widespread belief that couriers earn high wages has reduced tipping and shifted public attention away from real problems.

However, safety has become the central issue. Association figures showed fifty-eight couriers died in twenty twenty-four and sixty-eight in twenty twenty-five, most were around twenty-five years old, turning the protest into a warning about lives being lost, not just income.

In other news, on Monday the 19th, the parliament sent presidential motions seeking to lift legislative immunity for several opposition lawmakers to the Joint Committee, made up of members of the Constitution and Justice commissions. The files cover a broad political spectrum and include Özgür Özel, the head of the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party or CHP, the party’s parliamentary group deputy chair, and lawmakers from the CHP, the Good Party, the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, and the Workers’ Party of Turkey.

On Tuesday the 20th, residents in the southern city of Adana stepped up protests against the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (or TOKİ), saying a promised housing project has left them stuck with rising costs and unpaid homes. People living in the Yüreğir district said they gave up their old houses in twenty twenty-one for a renewal project that was supposed to finish in about eighteen months. TOKİ officials had told them they would only start paying after they moved into their new homes, and that they would get rent support in the meantime.

Four years later, those apartments are still unfinished, rent help falls far below real rents, and residents said their debts have ballooned to roughly five times what they originally signed for. With money tight, families called for debt relief and direct talks with officials.

Also on Tuesday the 20th, the country’s statistics authority reported that home sales rose sharply last year, showing signs of renewed demand in the housing market. Reports show that total home sales in December twenty twenty-five climbed nearly 20% compared to December twenty twenty-four, reaching over 250,000 units. For the full January–December twenty twenty-five period, sales rose about 14% to almost 1,700,000 homes compared to the previous year.

Foreign buyers purchased over 2,500 homes in December, up around 5% year-on-year, but accounted for roughly 1% of total sales. Over the year, foreign purchases fell nearly 10% to a little over 21,500 units, making up about 1.3% of overall sales. Russians led foreign purchases, followed by buyers from Iran and Ukraine, with Istanbul, Antalya and Mersin topping the city list.

Finally, on Monday the 19th, President Erdoğan approved the second phase of a long-term strategy targeting the Roma community, an ethnic group within Turkey. Roma communities often face lower access to education, higher unemployment, insecure housing, and discrimination in daily life. Many work in informal jobs such as seasonal labor, recycling, or street vending, which limits stable income and social security.

The twenty twenty-six–twenty thirty action plan follows an earlier phase launched in twenty twenty-three. The government says the plan aims to improve access to public services and strengthen social inclusion. The plan focuses on education, health care, employment, housing, and social support. The Ministry of Family and Social Services will coordinate the program, with other ministries involved and provincial governors responsible for local implementation.

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

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