Iranian travellers cross into Turkey to be able to keep working around internet blackout

(17 Jan 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kapikoy border crossing, Van province, Turkey - 16 January 2026
1. People arriving from Iran through the Kapikoy border crossing in the eastern Turkish province of Van
2. SOUNDBITE (Farsi) Sami Ranjbar, traveler from Iran:
"My work depends on the internet, so I am forced to come here to access it and do my work, and then return to Iran to see how conditions develop. If the internet is restored, we stay. If not, we are forced to come out again to use the internet, and go to neighboring countries or elsewhere."
3. Passengers in area where transport vans are parked
4. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Mehmet Onder, Turkish businessman:
"I heard serious gunfire last Thursday, I didn’t leave my hotel at all. They were heavy weapons, not the regular weapons or anything, heavy machine guns. I heard a lot of it."
5. Wide of border crossing
STORYLINE:
Iranians crossing into Turkey said on Friday they were making short trips to the neighboring country to get around communications blackouts in Iran, but the border crossing in Turkey's eastern province of Van has not seen a major influx of Iranians fleeing the unrest in their country.

Several travelers told The Associated Press that they were crossing simply to use the internet, which has been blocked in Iran since Jan. 8.

Some of these travelers were returning to Iran after having done so.

This comes after nationwide demonstrations in Iran that began in late December in anger over Iran’s ailing economy.

Sami Ranjbar from Tehran, who was crossing from Turkey back into Iran Friday, said he works in e-commerce and had stayed in Van for four days to catch up on business.

"My work depends on the internet, so I am forced to come here to access it and do my work, and then return to Iran to see how conditions develop," he said. "If the internet is restored, we stay. If not, we are forced to come out again to use the internet, and go to neighboring countries or elsewhere."

Mehmet Onder, a Turkish national who was returning from a two-week business trip to Tehran, said he heard gunfire from his hotel room.

"I heard serious gunfire last Thursday, I didn’t leave my hotel at all. They were heavy weapons, not the regular weapons or anything, heavy machine guns,” he said.

AP video shot by Serra Yedikardes
Production: Ayse Wieting

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