Iranians have long sought work and relative stability in Turkey. The war could force some to return
ISTANBUL: Sadri Haghshenas spends her days selling borek — a layered, savory pastry — at a shop in Istanbul, but her mind is on her daughter in Tehran.
The family had to send her home to Iran after they ran into difficulties renewing her visa, despite fears that a shaky ceasefire could soon collapse.
For years, short-term residency permits have allowed tens of thousands of Iranians to pursue economic opportunities and enjoy relative stability in neighboring Turkey. But it’s a precarious situation, and the war has raised the I swear, I cry every day,” Haghshenas said, raising her hands from behind the counter of the pastry shop. “There is no life in my country, there is no life here, what shall I do?”They could not afford a lawyer this year, because her husband is out of work due to health problems. As a result, they missed the deadline to apply for a new visa for their 20-year-old daughter, Asal, who is still in her final year of high school.
Asal was detained at a checkpoint earlier this month and spent a night at an immigration facility. Her mother found a friend to take her back to Tehran rather than face deportation proceedings that could complicate her ability to return to Turkey. They hope she can come back on a student visa.
Haghshenas has been unable her daughter since she left because of a monthslong internet blackout in Iran.Nearly 100,000 Iranians lived in Turkey in 2025, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute. Around 89,000 have entered Turkey since the start of the war, while around 72,000 have departed, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency.
Some Iranians have used short-term visa-free stays to wait out the war, but there are few options for those who want to stay longer.
Sedat Albayrak, of the Istanbul Bar Association’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Center, said that getting international protection status can be difficult, and the system encourages Iranians to apply for short-term permits instead.Nadr Rahim came to Turkey for his children’s education 11 years ago. Now, the war may force him to go home.
Because of the difficulty of getting a permit to start a business or work legally in Turkey, he lived off the profits of his motorcycle salesroom in Iran. But there have been no sales since the war started, and international sanctions — and the internet outage — make it extremely difficult to transfer funds.A 33-year-old freelance architect from Tehran traveled to Turkey during Iran’s violent crackdown on mass protests in January. She had planned to return after the situation calmed down, but then the United States and Israel went to war with Iran at the end of February.She has been unable to work for her usual clients back in Iran because of the internet blackout. With the end of her 90-day visa-free window approaching, she can’t afford to apply for a longer stay in Turkey
“I started to believe that it’s a very bad situation, worse than I expected,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of persecution if she returns to Iran.
His family only has enough money to stay in Turkey a few more months. His children grew up in Turkey and don’t read Farsi or speak it fluently. He worries about how theyliving in Iran, but said “if the war continues, we will have no choice but to return.”
In the meantime, he spends most of his days scrolling on his phone, waiting for news from his parents in Tehran or discussing the war over waterpipes with Iranian friends.
A daughter sent back
Haghshenas and her husband moved to Turkey five years ago with their then-teenage daughters and have been living on tourist visas renewable every six months to two years