ISTANBUL (AP) — 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 stakes.

“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?”

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.

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 to talk to her daughter since she left because of a monthslong internet blackout in Iran.

Many Iranians have temporary status

Turkey has not seen an influx of refugees, as most Iranians have sought safety within their country. Many who have crossed the land border were transiting to other countries where they have citizenship or residency.

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.

“There are people who have lived on them for over 10 years,” he said.

If the war continues, more may have to return

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.

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 they would adapt to living 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 bad life’ in Turkey and Iran

A 42-year-old Iranian woman came to Turkey eight months ago, hoping to make money to support her family. She and her daughter registered as university students to get study visas. She attends classes in the morning to keep her legal status before rushing to service jobs, sometimes working until 3 a.m.

They share a room with six other people at a women’s boarding house, she said, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear for her security should she return to Iran.

“I truly love Iran. If necessary, I would even go and defend it in war,” she says. But she sees no future there, while in Turkey, she’s barely scraping by and only able to send small amounts of money to her parents.

“I have a bad life in Turkey, and my parents have a bad life in Iran,” she said. “I came to Turkey with so much hope, to support my parents and build a future. But now I feel hopeless.”

From one temporary refuge to another

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.

“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.

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.

Instead, she has decided to go to Malaysia, where she will get free accommodation in return for building shelters during a month of visa-free stay.

She has no plan for what comes next.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Six hotel staff and pest control workers went on trial in Turkey on Tuesday, charged with causing the deaths of a family-of-four from Germany poisoned by insecticide while on vacation in Istanbul, media reported.

The Turkish-German Bocek family were staying at the Harbour Suites Old City hotel in Istanbul’s Fatih district when they fell ill on Nov. 12, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

They took a taxi to a hospital complaining of nausea and vomiting before returning to the hotel. The following day they were taken to hospital by ambulance, where 6-year-old Kadir Muhammet and his sister Masal, 3, died. Their mother, Cigdem, died on Nov. 14, while their father, Servet, died on Nov. 17.

The Boceks’ deaths raised concerns over hotel safety standards in Turkey and prompted calls for stricter oversight. In January last year, 78 people were killed when a fire swept through a ski resort hotel in northwest Turkey.

Medics were initially unable to reach the Bocek family because, disturbed by the smell from the insecticide-treated room, receptionist Muhammad Moeen had left and locked the hotel entrance door, according to an indictment presented to the Istanbul 30th High Criminal Court.

Images published at the time showed Servet Bocek carrying his daughter into the reception area before frantically trying to break the glass door.

The seven-minute delay before Moeen returned to open the door was cited in the indictment as a factor contributing to the family’s deaths, as were the lack of precautions while spraying and the absence of staff to respond to emergencies.

Although the case was initially treated as food poisoning, an inspection found traces of the insecticide phosphine gas on towels, masks and swab samples taken from the hotel. Phosphine is a highly toxic substance that can cause severe respiratory problems and organ damage.

The now-closed Harbour Suites is one of many low-cost hotels lying within walking distance of tourist attractions such as the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.

Prosecutors are seeking prison terms of between 2 years and 8 months to 22½ years for causing multiple deaths through negligence against hotel owner Hakan Oglak; the owners of DSS Pest Control, Zeki Kisi and Serkan Kisi; DSS worker Dogan Cagferoglu; and receptionist Moeen.

Another hotel worker, Rustemsha Batyrov, faces 2 to 15 years for the same offense.

Cagferoglu, who sprayed the ground floor room immediately below the Boceks’ room, was not certified to use hazardous chemicals, according to the indictment.

The company was also uncertified and used aluminum phosphide, a substance unsuited for residential spaces. The indictment also says it employed unauthorized staff and failed to take safety precautions.

Oglak is accused of approving the use of dangerous chemicals by unqualified personnel, failing to take safety measures during the spraying and failing to evacuate the hotel.

Three other tourists staying at the Harbour Suites at the time also suffered the effects of poisoning but recovered after treatment.

Meanwhile, it emerged Tuesday that two Dutch teenagers died from phosphine poisoning in another hotel in Istanbul’s Fatih district a few months before the Boceks.

Jamil Yusuf Mohammed, 17, and his 15-year-old brother Yazdani were found dead in their room in the Grand Sami Hotel on Aug. 22 last year. Their father, Rashid, recovered after hospital treatment.

Five hotel staff and pest control workers have been charged and jailed pending trial, Demiroren News Agency reported.

ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — Iran is not yet ready to hold a new round of face-to-face talks with U.S. officials, a senior Iranian official said Saturday, citing Washington’s refusal to abandon “maximalist” demands on key issues.

In an interview with The Associated Press on the margins of a diplomacy forum in Turkey, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh also said his country will not hand over its enriched uranium to the United States, rejecting claims made by President Donald Trump.

“I can tell you that no enriched material is going to be shipped to United States,” Khatibzadeh said. “This is non-starter and I can assure you that while we are ready to address any concerns that we do have, we’re not going to accept things that are non-starters.”

On Friday, Trump said that the U.S. will go into Iran and “get all the nuclear dust,” referring to the 970 pounds (440 kilograms) of enriched uranium believed to be buried under nuclear sites badly damaged by U.S. military strikes last year.

Khatibzadeh said there have been many exchanges of messages between the sides but accused the United States of holding firm on demands Iran deems to be excessive.

“We are still not there yet to move on to an actual meeting because there are issues that the Americans have not yet abandoned their maximalist position,” Khatibzadeh said. Iran was seeking the finalization of a “framework agreement” before moving to an in-person meeting, he added.

The Iranian official would not go into specifics of the negotiations with the United States or say which issues remain unresolved but called on Washington to address Iran’s concerns, including sanctions imposed on Iran.

“The other sides also should understand and address our main concerns, which are illegal unilateral sanctions that Americans have imposed on Iranians and this economic terrorism which has targeted Iranian people to suffocate them and make them to revolt against the political structure inside Iran,” Khatibzadeh said.

Asked whether Iran would respond to renewed attacks by Israel on Lebanon despite the ceasefire, Khatibzadeh said: “Iran has no option, just to stop aggressors once and forever.”

Trump said that Israel is “prohibited” by the U.S. from further strikes on Lebanon and that “enough is enough” in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

The State Department said the prohibition applies only to offensive attacks and not to actions taken in self-defense.

The Iranian official renewed Iran’s position that Tehran’s actions were defensive and in response to unprovoked aggression occurring in the middle of negotiations.

He also reiterated Iran’s position that the ceasefire must extend to Lebanon, where Israel had been fighting with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

When the U.S. and Iran declared a temporary truce last week, Pakistan and Iran said it extended to Lebanon, but Israel — and later the U.S. — denied this. Israel then launched a series of airstrikes on central Beirut, prompting Iran to announce it was once again closing the Strait of Hormuz. Following implementation of a truce in Lebanon Friday, Iran said it had reopened the strait.

“Iran negotiated with good faith, accepted a ceasefire and told everybody that this ceasefire should include all countries, including Lebanon,” Khatibzadeh said. “Then the other side said that, it is not committed to this and then started atrocities.”

He said that a “new protocol” would be put in place for the Strait of Hormuz as part of the negotiations with the U.S. and it would “remain open and safe for all civilian passage.”

Trump has said a U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will remain and attacks will resume if no agreement is reached with Iran.

ISTANBUL (AP) — The death toll from Turkey’s second school shooting in two days rose to 10 Thursday after another victim died while being treated in hospital, authorities said.

Six of the wounded were in critical condition before the death early Thursday following the shooting the previous day, officials said.

Isa Aras Mersinli, 14, opened fire on two classrooms at a middle school in the southern city of Kahramanmaras on Wednesday, killing a teacher and eight students and wounding 13 others.

The gunman, who was also killed, arrived at the school with five firearms and seven magazines belonging to his father, a retired police superintendent, who was arrested after the attack.

Wednesday’s attack came just a day after 16 people were wounded when a former student opened fire at a high school in nearby Sanliurfa province. The victims were mostly students. The assailant later killed himself. As of Thursday, 20 people had been detained in connection with Tuesday’s shooting in Sanliurfa.

The interior and education ministries held a joint school security meeting in the capital, Ankara, on Thursday, that was attended by both ministers and all 81 of Turkey’s provincial governors, as well as police chiefs and provincial education directors.

Turkey’s national police headquarters revealed the suspect’s profile picture on the messaging platform WhatsApp was a photo of Elliot Rodger, a college student who killed six people in California in 2014.

The Ministry of Family and Social Services announced Thursday it had set up a team to “provide psychosocial support” to students and their families. It also plans to conduct a comprehensive investigation of similar incidents.

Funerals were held Thursday afternoon for each of the eight students, all age 11, who were killed Wednesday. Math teacher Ayla Kara, 55, who died during the attack, also was buried Thursday.

Cevdet Yesil, whose son Adnan Gokturk Yesil was among the victims, said he rushed to the school Wednesday after being informed of the shooting.

“And unfortunately we searched for our child, our son, until 5 p.m. One way or another, our security forces found him,” Yesil said. “We went to the hospital and identified (his remains). We saw he had died.”

Hundreds of educators gathered in Ankara and the city of Izmir to demand greater school security. Until this week, school shootings were rare in Turkey. But dozens of students were arrested Thursday over social media posts implying they might stage similar attacks. Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced that 67 social media users were detained over posts targeting 54 different schools.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A student opened fire randomly at two classrooms at a middle school in southeast Turkey on Wednesday, killing four people and wounding 20 others, an official said, in the second such shooting in the country in two days.

The student, who was also killed, arrived at the school, armed with guns believed to belong to his father, a retired police officer, Kahramanmaras provincial Gov. Mukerrem Unluer said. The gunman was carrying five firearms and seven magazines.

The victims included a teacher and three students, Unluer said. At least four of the wounded were in serious condition. The motive of the attack wasn’t immediately known.

The attack came just a day after 16 people, mostly students, were wounded when a former student opened fire at a high school in nearby Sanliurfa province. The assailant later killed himself.

Until this week, such school shootings were rare in Turkey.

Earlier, media reports said that authorities sent police and ambulances to the school in the Kahramanmaras’ Onikisubat district, after gunfire was heard there. Images from the scene showed at least two people being put into ambulances.

Parents rushed to the school after hearing reports of an armed attack, NTV television reported, adding that police took security measures around the school.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A former student opened fire at a high school in southeastern Turkey on Tuesday, wounding at least 16 people, before killing himself, an official said.

The 18-year-old attacker fired randomly inside a vocational high school in Siverek, Sanliurfa province. He later killed himself with the same shotgun after being “cornered by police,” Gov. Hasan Sildak said.

The attack wounded 10 students, four teachers, a canteen employee and a police officer, Sildak said. While most of them were being treated in Siverek, five of the teachers and students were transferred to a hospital in the provincial capital because their conditions were more serious, the governor said.

The motive for the attack was unclear. School shootings are rare in Turkey.

The attacker did not have a criminal record, Sildak said. The school had been declared safe and no permanent police officer was assigned to protect it, he added, calling the shooting an “isolated incident.”

NTV television and other media reports said the assailant had threatened an attack on the school on social media prior to the shooting.

One student told the state-run Anadolu Agency that he and a friend jumped out of their classroom window to flee the attacker.

“He suddenly entered the classroom and fired. He fired four or five times. Two people were hit. He then went into the next classroom,” Anadolu quoted Omer Furkan Sayar as saying. “We first threw ourselves to the ground and then two of us jumped out of the window.”

Sayar continued: “He didn’t say anything, he entered and started to shoot directly.”

Earlier, media reports said all students were evacuated and police special operations units were deployed after the assailant refused to surrender.

“The individual was cornered inside the building through police intervention and died after shooting himself,” Sildak told reporters, adding that a “comprehensive” investigation into the shooting would be carried out.

Video footage showed dozens of students running out of the school toward the gate and onto the street.