Thanks for your replies. The award ticket has been issued with M&S miles.
Getting to DXB first is not an option.
Getting to IST and then asking to rebook on another airline from IST (LH, for example) is an option, indeed.
An A321 on a 6am departure from DOH (instead of a lie-flat on a 2am departure), and then eurobiz onwards instead of a recliner (and that's the best case; worst case - overnight in IST) all sounds pretty ...... ) I would definitely prefer them to re-book me on QR
Do you think sales office agents would be willing/have more authority to do this than call center agents?
Is there a TK office in DOH?
Fun thing: the whole itinerary is still valid, even if the connection in IST is now 40min which is less than the MCT, and the call center agent has confirmed that i wouldn't be able to catch the connecting flight in IST.