KAPIKOY BORDER CROSSING, Turkey (AP) — After bombs exploded near her home in the eastern Iranian city of Golestan, hairdresser Merve Pourkaz decided to leave.

Pourkaz, 32, said she traveled nearly 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) to an alpine border crossing in the hopes of reaching the safety of the nearby Turkish city of Van.

“If they let me, I will stay in Van until the war ends,” she told The Associated Press recently while waiting at the crossing. “If the war doesn’t end, maybe I’ll go back and die.”

Pourkaz is one of the 3.2 million people in Iran who the U.N. refugee agency estimates have been displaced since the war began between Israel and the United States, and Iran. While some are seeking shelter in safer parts of Iran or one of its neighboring countries, others are returning from abroad, heading toward the fighting to protect their families and homes.

So far, relatively few people have chosen to leave: The U.N. estimates that only about 1,300 Iranians have fled via Turkey each day since the war started, and on some days, more people return to Iran than depart. But Iran’s neighbors and Europe are growing increasingly concerned about a possible migration crisis should the war drag on and are making contingency plans.

As Pourkaz was entering Turkey, Leila Rabetnezhadfard was headed the other way.

Rabetnezhadfard, 45, was in Istanbul preparing to marry a German university professor when the fighting started. She postponed the ceremony and left for home in Shiraz, in southern Iran.

“How can I feel safe in Istanbul when my family is living in Iran during the war?” said Rabetnezhadfard, explaining that bringing her family to Istanbul wasn’t an option because her apartment is small, her brother needs medical care, and life there is expensive.

“I will not leave Iran until the war ends,” she said.

Fleeing the fighting

The U.N. has warned that continued fighting will likely push more Iranians to flee their homes.

As in the 12-day conflict last year, many Iranians are now sheltering in place, without money to flee or perhaps because of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Feb. 28 warning.

“Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere,” he said.

Although large numbers of Iranians haven’t fled the country yet, people have been leaving major cities for the relative safety of the countryside bordering the Caspian Sea north of the capital, Tehran, according to the International Organization for Migration.

“Movement out of Iran appears limited mainly because people are prioritizing staying with their families, as well as the safety of their families and property, and due to security conditions and logistical constraints,” said Salvador Gutierrez, chief of the IOM’s mission in Iran.

If Iran’s critical infrastructure is destroyed, that could lead to waves of people trying to cross into one of Iran’s neighbors: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey and Iraq.

“If Tehran, a city of 10 million people, doesn’t have water, they’re going to go somewhere,” said Alex Vatanka, a fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

Iran is already grappling with one of the world’s largest refugee populations: roughly 2.5 million forcibly displaced people mostly from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Neighbors brace for impact

If the crisis deepens, aid groups say the most likely destinations for refugees are Iran’s borders with Iraq and Turkey, which stretch roughly 2,200 kilometers (1,367 miles) through rough alpine terrain that is home to many Kurdish communities and are difficult to police.

Turkey had a so-called open-door policy that allowed millions of Syrian refugees to enter the country during their country’s long civil war. But it has abandoned that approach for various reasons.

Instead, it has prepared plans to shelter Iranian refugees in “buffer zones” along the border, or in tent cities or temporary housing inside Turkey, the country’s Hurriyet newspaper quoted Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci as saying.

Iranians who have fled the war will likely not seek refugee status in Turkey because asylum claims might take years to process, if at all, said Sara Karakoyun, an aid worker at the independent Human Resource Development Foundation based near the border.

“They don’t want to wait in limbo for years for a refugee status they might not get,” she said.

Turkey’s defense ministry said in January that Turkey had hardened its border with Iran by adding 380 kilometers of concrete walls, 203 optical towers and 43 observation posts.

Turkey will likely send troops to secure its border and tightly control the flow of people into the country while seeking European Union funds to help deal with refugees, said Riccardo Gasco, an analyst at the IstanPol Institute.

Europe taps network to prepare for the worst

The relationship between the EU and Turkey was redefined by the Syrian refugee crisis a decade ago. Nearly two-thirds of the 4.5 million Syrians fleeing the civil war ended up in Turkey. Many then made their way to Europe via small boats.

In 2016, Brussels and Ankara forged a migration deal where the EU offered Turkey incentives and up to 6 billion euros ($7.1 billion) in aid for Syrian refugees on its territory to persuade Ankara to stop tens of thousands of migrants from setting out for Greece.

Aid groups said that deal created open-air prisons with squalid conditions. But for the EU leadership, the deal saved people, kept many migrants from reaching EU territory, and bettered the lives of refugees in Turkey.

Renewal of that deal is up this year, but Turkish citizens have soured on Syrian refugees and anti-immigrant right-wing parties have surged in popularity in parts of Europe.

And another refugee crisis is already underway even closer to Europe, with fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah displacing more than 800,000 people so far.

“We’ve got a situation (in the Middle East) that could have grave humanitarian consequences right at a time where humanitarian funding has been completely slashed,” said Ninette Kelley, chair of the World Refugee & Migration Council, pointing to the Trump administration’s gutting of USAID. “Is the world ready for another humanitarian disaster?”

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McNeil reported from Brussels. Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Fay Abuelgasim in Cairo, and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.

KAPIKOY BORDER CROSSING, Turkey (AP) — A land crossing near eastern Turkey’s Van province is one of the few routes connecting Iranians to the rest of the world amid an airspace shutdown in Iran since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Tehran over a week ago, triggering war in the Middle East.

Most travelers at the border gate in recent days had connections with Turkey through work, family, and friends, and many had moved up preplanned visits because of the war. Some had residency or citizenship in a third country and were transiting through Turkey.

Only a small number of Iranians who spoke to The Associated Press at the Kapikoy crossing said they planned to stay in Turkey to escape the war for an indefinite period.

Reza Gol, a 38-year-old plastic surgeon, said the war was not the only reason for his trip. He was traveling from Urmia in western Iran to see patients in Istanbul, where he used to live.

“It’s not clear whether we will leave Iran for good, but I can clear my head a little bit in the meantime,” he said. “You can see it’s not that crowded at the border. Everyone is staying in their houses. For now, people are not leaving everything they have behind and running away.”

Pooneh Asghari and her husband, Iranian-Canadian citizens, were reluctantly preparing to fly to Canada, although they no longer have a house there and both of them work in Iran. Asghari said they are hoping the trip will be brief.

“We’ve been living in Iran for over the last five years,” she said. “All our life is there.”

Fariba, a woman who asked to be identified only by her first name out of security concerns, was headed to İzmir in western Turkey to wait out the war with her son.

She said most of her friends and neighbors don’t have the means to escape — which might explain the lack of a major exodus across the border.

“People are very poor now,” she said. “So they are staying at home, and they are scared.”

Border restrictions and canceled flights

Iranians normally enter Turkey without visas. On Monday, Turkey’s trade minister announced the mutual suspension of crossings for day-trips, while Iranian border officials have restricted the passage of some Iranian nationals, according to travelers and local media.

However, since Thursday morning, both Iranians and third-country nationals have been crossing the mountain ringed Kapıköy border gates normally.

Turkey’s Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said in a statement that 2,032 travelers entered Turkey from Iran on Wednesday, while 1,966 of them departed to Iran. More recent figures were not available.

Most of those who crossed then made their way to the Van airport to continue their journey. On Friday night, about 20 passengers, mostly Iranians, were lying on rows of chairs waiting to get a flight the next morning.

Mehregan, a 26-year-old who studies in China, was visiting her family in Ahvaz for the winter holidays when the war broke out. She drove more than 15 hours across Iran to cross into Turkey. She asked not to be identified by her full name out of fear that speaking to media would cause her problems with Iranian authorities.

The cash-strapped student decided to sleep in the airport while waiting for the next day’s flight to Istanbul, from which she would fly to China. But on Saturday, her flight was canceled because of snowstorms and she was preparing to look for a hotel in the city rather than sleeping in the airport for a second night.

“If I can’t get on a flight tomorrow from here I will miss my flight to China” and lose the cost of the nonrefundable ticket, she said.

Van, which is a 1.5-hour drive from the border, has long been a popular destination for Iranians for work, travel, and trade. The hotels and shops that normally do bustling business during Iran’s Nowruz holidays in mid-March are now expecting to take a hit.

“It gets really lively here over Nowruz. A lot of our friends come and spend their holidays here with us,” says Resat Yeşilağaç, owner of two hotels in Van. “Now it’s mostly quiet, apart from people who come because of the war. Most of them are dual nationals and they stop in Van for a day or so before flying out.”

Fears around migration in Turkey

Migration is a sensitive topic in Turkey, which was at one point hosting nearly 4 million Syrian refugees.

Turkey has been further enhancing its border defenses to be able to respond to a potential influx of people fleeing unrest after mass anti-government protests in Iran were met by a brutal crackdown in January.

Turkey’s defense ministry said in January that Turkey had 380 kilometers (235 miles) of concrete walls, 203 optical towers and 43 elevator-equipped towers along the country’s 560-kilometer (350-mile) border with Iran.

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said Turkey had drawn up contingency plans that involve tent camps and buffer zones to respond to a potential influx of people fleeing the war from Iran. So far that influx has not materialized.

Harrison Mirtar, 53, an Iranian-Canadian, crossed the border at Kapıköy before continuing his journey back to Canada, after a visit to his parents in Tehran. He said he was angry about the foreign intervention in his country, but he was not too worried about leaving his parents behind. They had lived through the brutal Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

“They are in their homeland,” he said. “Life is going on, but with some bombs.”

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Canadian and Australian prime ministers on Thursday called for a de-escalation of the Iran war but added the Iranians must never gain a nuclear weapon.

Canada’s Mark Carney and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese discussed the war during their meeting in Australia’s capital, Canberra.

The meeting came after news that a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean and Turkey said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkey’s airspace.

“We want to see a broader de-escalation of these hostilities with a broader group of countries than just the direct belligerents involved,” Carney said at a press conference with Albanese.

“We stress that that cannot be achieved unless we’re in a position that Iran’s ability to acquire a nuclear weapon, develop a nuclear weapon, and to export terrorism, is ended. So that process must lead to those outcomes,” Carney added.

He said the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which were “showing tremendous restraint,” should become involved in the de-escalation process.

Albanese said: “The world wants to see a de-escalation and wants to see Iran cease to spread the destinations of its attacks.”

“We’re seeing Gulf states, that have not been involved, attacked across the board, including the attacks on civilian and tourist areas as well. But we also want to see the objectives achieved. I want to see the possibility of Iran getting a nuclear weapon removed once and for all,” Albanese said.

Questioned by a reporter, Carney could not rule out the Canadian military ever becoming involved in the conflict.

“You’ve asked a fundamental hypothetical in a conflict that can spread very broadly,” Carney said.

“So one can never categorically rule out participation. We will stand by our allies when it makes sense,” he added.

Carney is in Australia on a trade-focused, three-nation visit that began in India last week. He addressed the Australian Parliament on Thursday and will fly to Japan on Friday.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The imprisoned leader of a militant Kurdish group in Turkey on Friday urged for new legislation that would advance a peace initiative with the Turkish government in the wake of their decades‑long conflict.

The appeal by Abullah Ocalan came a year after his historic call for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, to lay down its arms and dissolve itself.

His latest message, read out in parliament by a senior member of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party, followed weeks after a parliamentary committee recommended a series of reforms to support the peace efforts — including measures to reintegrate PKK members who renounce violence.

“The transition to democratic integration necessitates laws of peace,” read Ocalan’s message.

“We aim to close the era of politics based on violence and to open a process based on a democratic society and the rule of law,” legislator Pervin Buldan read from the message.

“We invite all segments of society to create opportunities and take responsibility in this direction,” it also said.

The PKK has waged an armed insurgency since 1984 in Turkey that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and spilled into neighboring Iraq and Syria. The group is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

After Ocalan’s Feb. 27, 2025 announcement, the PKK said in May that it would disarm and disband, ending more than four decades of hostilities.

The group later held a symbolic disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq — where its fighters had long found safe havens during the insurgency — and burned dozens of weapons in a cauldron before starting to withdraw its remaining fighters from Turkey to Iraq.

Earlier this month, a multi-party parliamentary commission recommended a series of reforms, including the reintegration of PKK members who renounce violence, while stressing that legal steps should be tied to state security institutions verifying that the group has surrendered its weapons.

Among other measures, the commission also called for steps to expand freedom of expression, release older or sick prisoners and ensure that nonviolent acts are not prosecuted under anti‑terror laws.

On Friday, the pro‑Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, also urged the adoption of such legal measures.

“The state and the executive branch are obligated to move this process forward with the seriousness and determination that matches Mr. Ocalan’s pace for a solution” DEM party co-chairman Tuncer Bakirhan said. “The responsibility now rests with the state and the executive branch.”

Ocalan, 76, has been imprisoned on the island of Imrali, off the coast of Istanbul, since 1999, after being convicted of treason. Despite his incarceration, he continues to wield significant influence over the PKK. The group initially sought an independent Kurdish state but later shifted to demands for autonomy and expanded rights in Turkey.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Turkish parliamentary committee on Wednesday recommended a series of reforms to advance a new peace initiative with the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, while stressing that legal steps should be tied to state security institutions verifying that the group has surrendered its weapons.

The recommendations, which were overwhelmingly approved by the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission, call for a temporary legal measure to reintegrate PKK members who renounce violence, according to the final draft of a report made available to journalists.

The commission also calls for measures to expand freedom of expression, release older or sick prisoners and ensure that nonviolent acts are not prosecuted under anti‑terror laws. It proposes an end to the practice of appointing government trustees to replace elected mayors from the country’s pro‑Kurdish party.

Designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, the PKK has waged an armed insurgency since 1984 that has claimed tens of thousands of lives and spilled into neighboring Iraq and Syria.

The group initially sought an independent Kurdish state but later shifted to demands for autonomy and expanded rights in Turkey.

The commission report says state verification that the PKK has laid down its arms and dissolved itself is “the most critical threshold in the process.”

The recommendations stop short of proposing parole for the PKK’s imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, instead urge compliance with rulings by the European Court of Human Rights and Turkish Constitutional Court on improving detention conditions. Reflecting strong public opposition to leniency toward the PKK, the draft report avoids calling for a blanket amnesty, suggesting instead that fighters’ cases be reviewed individually.

“The report is not an amnesty arrangement,” Parliamentary Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş stressed ahead of the vote, describing the commission’s work as “a clear expression of the determination to build the future together without denying our suffering.”

The report says that “legal regulations must not create a perception of impunity or amnesty in society.”

The recommendations were approved by 47 votes in favor, with two opposing votes and one abstention, Haberturk broadcaster reported.

It was not clear what the next step in the process would be.

The commission was formed in August to oversee the peace effort after the PKK, following an appeal by Ocalan, announced in May that it would disarm and disband, ending more than four decades of hostilities. The group later held a symbolic disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq and began withdrawing its remaining fighters from Turkey.

There was no immediate statement from the PKK, which has pressed for formal legal guarantees from the government for the process to move forward.

In a televised address, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the commission’s report, saying it has “put forward a perspective that will give momentum” to the reconciliation efforts.

The draft report also recommends broader democratization steps, including a review of media laws to ensure that freedom of expression and the right to legitimate criticism are protected. It proposes that if a mayor is removed from office, the successor be chosen through an internal election by the municipal council instead of being appointed by the government.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A brawl erupted in Turkey’s parliament on Wednesday after lawmakers from the ruling party and the opposition clashed over the appointment of a controversial figure to the Justice Ministry in a Cabinet reshuffle.

Opposition legislators tried to block Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Akin Gurlek, who President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed to the top judicial portfolio, from taking the oath of office in parliament. As tempers flared, legislators were seen pushing each other, with some hurling punches.

As Istanbul chief prosecutor, Gurlek had presided over high‑profile trials against several members of the main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party or CHP — proceedings that the opposition has long denounced as politically motivated.

The former prosecutor was later seen taking the oath surrounded by ruling party legislators.

Erdogan also named Mustafa Ciftci, governor of the eastern province of Erzurum, as interior minister.

Hundreds of officials from CHP‑run municipalities have been arrested in corruption probes. Among them was Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, widely seen as Erdogan’s chief rival, who was arrested last year.

The government insists the judiciary acts independently.

No official reason was given for Wednesday’s shake‑up, though the Official Gazette said the outgoing ministers had “requested to be relieved” of their duties.

The new appointments come as Turkey is debating possible constitutional reforms and pursuing a peace initiative with the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, aimed at ending a decades‑long conflict. Parliament is expected to pass reforms to support the process.