Demonstrators in Turkish city rally in support of Iranian protest movement

(16 Jan 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yalova, Turkey - 16 January 2026
1. Various of demonstrators waving pre-1979 Iranian flags and posters; chanting UPSOUND (Farsi) 'My life for the pure soil of my homeland' (lyrics from famous song), and 'Khamenei is a murderer - an empty fantasy', and 'Death to Khamenei'
2. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Amin Nayamin, demonstrator:
"Iran generally supports terrorists, and when we object, they kill people, imprison them, and cut off the internet. And the people aren't living anyway. They spend all their money on terrorists, Hezbollah, Hamas; wherever there are terrorists, Iran is there. We don't want this, we don't want terrorists. We want our rights and we want to live. We don't want the regime. We want religion to be separate from the state."
3. Demonstrators setting fire to photo of Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
4. Woman lighting her cigarette from burning picture
5. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) No name given, demonstrator:
"I am very surprised that the world is silent right now. Why are they killing Muslims? All the countries, all the Muslim countries, are silent now and nobody is saying anything."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Between Istanbul and Yalova, Turkey - 16 January 2026
6. Close of hand on flag
7. Wide of demonstrators traveling on ferry from Istanbul to Yalova to join the demonstration
8. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Mikail Alizari, demonstrator:
"The situation in Iran is very bad. They are killing our people in Iran. It's been a week now since they cut off our internet and electricity. Iran is in complete darkness."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yalova, Turkey - 16 January 2026
9. Various of demonstration
STORYLINE:
Dozens of people took to the streets in Turkey’s western province of Yalova on Friday to demonstrate against the Iranian government and in support of protesters in Iran.

Some traveled from neighboring Istanbul to join the demonstration where crowds waved old Iranian flags and burned pictures of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Harsh repression that has left several thousand people dead appeared to have succeeded in stifling demonstrations that began December 28 over Iran’s ailing economy and morphed into protests directly challenging the country’s theocracy.

That figure dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the mayhem of the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

There have been no signs of protests for days in Tehran, where shopping and street life have returned to outward normality, though a week-old internet blackout continued. Authorities have not reported any unrest elsewhere in the country.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Friday put the death toll, at 2,797. The number continues to rise.

AP video shot by: Emrah Gurel

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