Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) warned Monday that foreign intervention in neighboring Iran would worsen unrest there and deepen regional instability, with party spokesman Ömer Çelik singling out Israel as a driver of further crises.
Çelik was speaking to reporters after a meeting of the AKP Central Executive Board chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at party headquarters in Ankara.
“We do not want any chaos to emerge in our neighbor Iran,” Çelik said, adding that Iran’s problems should be resolved “through the internal dynamics of Iranian society” and “the national will of Iran.”
He said “foreign intervention” would lead to worse consequences and warned that intervention “provoked by Israel” would “lead to even greater crises.”
Çelik’s comments came as Iran faces its biggest demonstrations since 2022, with protests that began over economic hardship and later turned political, including calls for an end to clerical rule.
Iran has imposed broad internet restrictions during the unrest, complicating efforts to verify casualty and arrest figures and limiting reporting from inside the country.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it had verified 544 deaths and 10,681 arrests since the protests began on December 28, adding that it was not able to independently verify the tallies.
Turkey previously called for US and Iranian negotiations as a path to stability.
The remarks also followed statements from Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who said the demonstrations reflect “genuine reasons and structural problems” but are also being manipulated by Iran’s rivals from abroad.